Judiciary Committee Approves State Board to License Bondsmen after Contested Hearing; Judges’ Authority and Constitutional Questions Raised

The Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 12-45, which would create a state Board of Professional Bondsmen to license and discipline bail agents, after an extended and often contentious hearing that drew sheriffs, bondsmen and prosecutors to the committee table.

As amended, SB 12-45 moves much of the regulatory authority over professional bondsmen from individual courts to a state-level board, while preserving an explicit, limited role for judges to restrict bondsmen from operating in a given courtroom. The committee added Committee Amendment 49-08 and a second amendment (67-86) to the bill before advancing the measure; the chair announced the bill would go to the finance committee after a recorded vote of nine ayes at the earlier amendment stage and, later in the day, SB 12-45 as amended went to finance with nine ayes. A separate vote on a later configuration recorded nine ayes; subsequently when the main bill was…