3.2 Bond Records and Prohibited Conduct: Solicitation, Attorneys, and Blank Bonds
Key Takeaways
- Bail agents must keep all records of bonds they execute or countersign for at least three years after the surety's liability ends, open at all times to ODI and the insurer or MGA (ORC 3905.90).
- ORC 3905.932(B) bars soliciting in or on the grounds of any court or detention facility; in a jail, print advertising is limited to a telephone-directory listing and a posting of name, address, and phone in a designated location.
- OAC 3901-1-66(I) lists prohibited courthouse and jail solicitation, including approaching non-clients, handing out business cards or pens, and wearing bail-industry clothing other than the ODI ID card.
- A bail agent may not suggest, advise, or name a particular attorney for a principal, pay an attorney in a bail matter except in defense of an action on the bond, or act as the principal's attorney (ORC 3905.932(A), (E), (H)).
- An agent may not sign or countersign a bond in blank or authorize anyone to countersign the agent's name except a licensed, appointed agent the agent directly employs (ORC 3905.933(A)).
Record Maintenance and Examination (ORC 3905.90)
Every surety bail bond agent must maintain all records of surety bonds the agent executed or countersigned for at least three years after the liability of the surety has been terminated. The clock starts when liability ends, such as exoneration or payment of a forfeiture, not when the bond is written. A bond posted in 2024 that is exonerated in 2027 must be kept until at least 2030.
The records must be:
- open at all times to examination, inspection, and photographic reproduction by any employee or agent of ODI; and
- open to any authorized representative of the insurer or managing general agent.
The Superintendent may also require the licensee to furnish any information about its surety bond business, in any manner and form ODI requires. A related three-year rule appears in ORC 3905.932(G)(3). An agent who handles a permitted nonsurety court bond must give full written disclosure and receipts and keep copies for at least three years.
Solicitation at Courts and Jails
The Statute (ORC 3905.932(B) and (C))
An agent or insurer shall not solicit business in, or on the property or grounds of, a detention facility or any court.
- "Solicit" includes distributing business cards, print advertising, or other written information directed to prisoners or potential indemnitors, unless the prisoner or potential indemnitor initiated the request.
- Inside a detention facility, permissible print advertising is strictly limited to a telephone-directory listing and posting the agent's name, address, and telephone number in a designated location.
- Under 3905.932(C), an agent may not wear or display any identification other than the ODI wallet ID card in or on the grounds of a detention facility or court.
The Rule (OAC 3901-1-66(I))
ODI's conduct rule spells out what counts as prohibited solicitation on courthouse or detention-facility grounds:
| Prohibited (I)(1) | Not prohibited (I)(2), subject to (I)(1) |
|---|---|
| (a) Approaching a person who is not currently a client and initiating any communication about bail services | (a) Having personal business before the court or facility |
| (b) Writing bonds for someone without their direct knowledge and consent | (b) Attending a scheduled hearing or a meeting arranged before arriving |
| (c) Claiming or implying court appointment to write a bond for a defendant or case | (c) Being retained by a person to write and post a bond |
| (d) Wearing clothing showing bail-industry affiliation (except the ODI ID card) unless the court or facility directs otherwise | (d) Gathering court and docket information for business purposes |
| (e) Conducting business in a loud and conspicuous manner | (e) Writing and posting a bond with the court |
| (f) Distributing a business card, pen, or other item identifying bail services | (f) Returning a fugitive under ORC 2927.27 |
| (g) Blocking the public from viewing or obtaining the docket or bonding information | (g) Notifying the court or facility of professional, non-solicitation activity |
| (h) Hiring anyone to do (a) through (g) | (h) Filing required paperwork about bonds, prisoners, license status, or fugitives |
| (i) Any other activity that may be construed as selling or soliciting bail bonds |
Scenario: An agent in a courthouse hallway to file paperwork for a client sees a crying woman whose son was just held on a $20,000 bond. If the agent walks over and offers help, that is prohibited under (I)(1)(a). If the woman approaches the agent and asks for a card, the request was initiated by the potential indemnitor, but the agent should still avoid a conspicuous sales conversation on court grounds.
Attorneys and the Practice of Law
ORC 3905.932 draws a hard line between bail work and legal representation. An agent or insurer shall not:
- (A) suggest or advise the employment of, or name for employment, any particular attorney to represent its principal;
- (E) pay a fee or rebate, or give or promise anything of value, to an attorney in a bail bond matter, except in defense of an action on a bond; or
- (H) participate in the capacity of an attorney at a trial or hearing of a principal.
Recall also that attorneys and attorneys' office employees cannot be bail agents (ORC 3905.841(E)), and an attorney may not be a surety (ORC 2937.011(L)). When a family asks, "Who's a good lawyer?", the compliant response is to decline to name anyone and point them to a neutral source, such as a public defender or a bar association referral service.
Signing in Blank and Other Execution Rules
- ORC 3905.933(A): An agent may not sign or countersign in blank any bond, or give a power of attorney to, or otherwise authorize, anyone to countersign the agent's name to a bond, unless that person is a licensed and appointed surety bail bond agent directly employed by the authorizing agent.
- ORC 3905.931(A): Blank forms and soliciting supplies go only to licensed, appointed agents. An unlicensed employee may handle forms in the office under direct supervision, but never a power of attorney, bond form, or collateral receipt.
- ORC 3905.932(J): An agent may not execute a bond on the person's own behalf.
- OAC 3901-1-66(E)(3)-(5): Never submit an altered, erased, expired, or previously used power of attorney.
Soliciting Without a License
ORC 3905.84 bars anyone from performing a bail agent's functions without being qualified, licensed, and appointed. ORC 3905.02 bars selling, soliciting, or negotiating insurance without a license. A licensed agent who knowingly accepts business from an unlicensed person faces discipline under 3905.14(B)(13), and one who aids and abets a violation faces discipline under 3905.14(B)(39).
Loan Companies (OAC 3901-1-66(G))
No surety bail bond agent may be employed by, contract with, act as an agent for, or own an interest in any person or business that loans money, or takes collateral for a loan, to post a cash bond or surety bail bond for a defendant. The rule blocks agents from profiting on both the bond and a high-interest loan to pay for it.
A bail bond is written in March 2024 and the surety's liability ends when the case is dismissed in June 2026. Under ORC 3905.90, how long must the agent keep the records of that bond?
Under ORC 3905.932(B), which form of print advertising is permitted inside a detention facility?
A defendant's mother asks her bail agent to recommend a criminal defense lawyer. What may the agent do under ORC 3905.932(A)?
An agent plans a week out of town. He wants his office manager, who is not licensed, to complete and sign his name on bonds using powers of attorney he pre-signs. Is this permitted?