Ohio Code 3905.932 – Prohibited acts
A surety bail bond agent or insurer shall not do any of the following:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3905.932
- agent: means any person that, in order to sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance, is required to be licensed under the laws of this state, including limited lines insurance agents and surplus line brokers. See Ohio Code 3905.01
- Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
- anything of value: includes :
(A) Money, bank bills or notes, United States treasury notes, and other bills, bonds, or notes issued by lawful authority and intended to pass and circulate as money;
(B) Goods and chattels;
(C) Promissory notes, bills of exchange, orders, drafts, warrants, checks, or bonds given for the payment of money;
(D) Receipts given for the payment of money or other property;
(E) Rights in action;
(F) Things which savor of the realty and are, at the time they are taken, a part of the freehold, whether they are of the substance or produce thereof or affixed thereto, although there may be no interval between the severing and taking away;
(G) Any interest in realty, including fee simple and partial interests, present and future, contingent or vested interests, beneficial interests, leasehold interests, and any other interest in realty;
(H) Any promise of future employment;
(I) Every other thing of value. See Ohio Code 1.03
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
- Bond: includes an undertaking. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Insurance: means any of the lines of authority set forth in Chapter 1739. See Ohio Code 3905.01
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means an individual or a business entity. See Ohio Code 3905.01
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Rule: includes regulation. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Solicit: means to attempt to sell insurance, or to ask or urge a person to apply for a particular kind of insurance from a particular insurer. See Ohio Code 3905.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(A) Suggest or advise the employment of, or name for employment, any particular attorney to represent its principal;
(B) Solicit business in, or on the property or grounds of, a detention facility, as defined in section 2921.01 of the Revised Code, or in, or on the property or grounds of, any court. For purposes of this division, “solicit” includes, but is not limited to, the distribution of business cards, print advertising, or any other written information directed to prisoners or potential indemnitors, unless a request is initiated by the prisoner or potential indemnitor. Permissible print advertising in a detention facility is strictly limited to a listing in a telephone directory and the posting of the surety bail bond agent’s name, address, and telephone number in a designated location within the detention facility.
(C) Wear or otherwise display any identification, other than the wallet identification card required under division (G) of section 3905.85 of the Revised Code, in or on the property or grounds of a detention facility, as defined in section 2921.01 of the Revised Code, or in or on the property or grounds of any court;
(D) Pay a fee or rebate or give or promise anything of value to a jailer, law enforcement officer, committing magistrate, or other person who has power to arrest or to hold in custody, or to any public official or public employee, in order to secure a settlement, compromise, remission, or reduction of the amount of any bail bond or estreatment of bail;
(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 any action on a bond;
(F) Pay a fee or rebate or give or promise anything of value to the principal or to anyone in the principal’s behalf;
(G) Post anything without using a bail instrument representing an insurer, to have a defendant released on bail on all types of set court bail, except for the following:
(1) Cash court fees or cash reparation fees;
(2) Ten per cent assignments;
(3) Other nonsurety court bonds, if the agent provides full written disclosure and receipts and retains copies of all documents and receipts for not less than three years.
(H) Participate in the capacity of an attorney at a trial or hearing of a principal;
(I) Accept anything of value from a principal for providing a bail bond, other than the premium filed with and approved by the superintendent of insurance and an expense fee, except that the surety bail bond agent may, in accordance with section 3905.92 of the Revised Code, accept collateral security or other indemnity from a principal or other person together with documentary stamp taxes if applicable. No fees, expenses, or charges of any kind shall be deducted from the collateral held or any return premium due, except as authorized by sections 3905.83 to 3905.95 of the Revised Code or by rule of the superintendent. A surety bail bond agent, upon written agreement with another party, may receive a fee or other compensation for returning to custody an individual who has fled the jurisdiction of the court or caused the forfeiture of a bond.
(J) Execute a bond in this state on the person’s own behalf;
(K) Execute a bond in this state if a judgment has been entered on a bond executed by the surety bail bond agent, which judgment has remained unpaid for at least sixty days after all appeals have been exhausted, unless the full amount of the judgment is deposited with the clerk of the court.
As used in this section, “instrument” means a fiduciary form showing a dollar amount for a surety bail bond.