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Commerce and Insurance commissioner: bail-bonds board positions, line-of-duty benefits and funeral-directors deficit under review
Summary
Commissioner Carter Lawrence asked the committee to approve new board-member positions tied to the transfer of bail-bondsman regulation, noted recurring line-of-duty death annuity costs, and said the funeral directors and embalmers regulatory board shows a deficit that departmental rules and fee adjustments are being used to address.
Carter Lawrence, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, presented the department's segment of the governor's budget and said the agency needs seven board-member positions connected to the administration of the newly transferred bail bondsman program (six of the seven had been appointed). "What wasn't transferred to us when the law moved to Commerce Insurance...we just didn't get board member positions," Lawrence said, explaining the request shows zero dollars because the board members are part‑time.
Lawrence also described supplemental requests to cover line-of-duty death benefits administered as five‑year annuities and noted the department has ongoing pay supplements for law enforcement instructors. He confirmed that one regulatory board — funeral directors and embalmers — currently has a large deficit, and said rule changes to adjust fee schedules are in process to restore self‑sufficiency.
Members pressed on fee structures, the timing of board appointments and whether reserves would be used; Lawrence said reserves were used initially for some startup costs but long‑term administration is expected to be self‑funded by license fees.
