HB466 Alabama 2022 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Chris PringleRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2022

Title

Bail bonds, cash bail only requirement removed, under certain conditions, arrest and delivery of a defendant further provided, time frames for providing notice and conducting hearings increased in conditional forfeiture proceedings, Bail Bond Reform Act of 1993, Secs. 15-13-103, 15-13-107, 15-13-111, 15-13-114, 15-13-118, 15-13-125, 15-13-128, 15-13-131, 15-13-132, 15-13-136, 15-13-137, 15-13-138, 15-13-141, 15-13-145, 15-13-159, 15-13-160, 15-13-164 am'd.

Summary

HB466 would expand bail options beyond cash and tighten oversight and procedures for bail bonds and forfeitures in Alabama.

What This Bill Does

It removes the cash-bail-only rule for initial custody arrests in certain cases and broadens bail options to include cash, property, and professional surety bail. It adds bonding rules: sureties can arrest and deliver defendants with no court costs charged to the surety; bondsman process forms must include the license number; sheriffs or jailers may accept certain filing fees; and counties with 200,000+ people face higher corporate surety bond and escrow requirements. It extends and clarifies forfeiture procedures, including longer notice and hearing timelines and more ways to set aside forfeitures, and it clarifies eligibility for judicial public bail, while adding penalties for unlawful conduct and making technical updates to the code. It specifies an effective date (the first day of the third month after passage) and notes an Amendment 621-related local-funding exception for this bill.

Who It Affects

• Defendants/arrestees: gain access to non-cash bail options and face updated forfeiture and judicial public bail rules that may affect how they are released and how forfeitures are handled.
• Bail bonds industry and enforcement/court staff: face new licensing/financial requirements, processing form details (license numbers), filing-fee rules, and larger county bond/escrow obligations, along with revised forfeiture procedures and penalties.

Key Provisions

• Expands bail types by removing the cash-bail-only restriction for initial custody arrests and clarifying cash bail and property bail definitions.
• Allows arrest and delivery of a defendant by a surety with no court costs charged to the surety; requires bondsman process forms to include license numbers; permits sheriff/jailer to accept certain filing fees; bans charging the surety for bondsman’s process or certified bond copies.
• Raises timeframes for notice and hearings in conditional forfeiture proceedings and relaxes the rule that a set-aside judgment must be absolute for the entire sum; outlines when forfeiture may be set aside and who may be eligible for judicial public bail.
• Increases corporate surety bond and escrow requirements in counties with 200,000+ population, with annual renewals and stricter documentation.
• Imposes criminal penalties for unlawful bonding activities and includes nonsubstantive technical updates to modernize the code; clarifies that the bill is exempt from certain local-funding vote requirements due to creating new crimes or changing existing ones; establishes the bill’s effective date.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Bail Bonds