Ethics, fiduciary duties, and prohibited practices
Domain 5: Ethics, fiduciary duties, and prohibited practices
This domain tests the conduct rules that keep the bail process lawful and the surety's money safe.
Core rules
- The agent owes fiduciary duties to the surety, the defendant, and the indemnitor: honesty, accounting, confidentiality, and loyalty. Collateral and premium are not the agent's personal funds.
- Prohibited practices include soliciting business in jails or courthouses where not allowed, paying jailers or court staff for referrals, recommending or selecting attorneys for defendants, rebating premiums, and making false or misleading statements about fees, release, or court outcomes.
- The agent may not act as both bond agent and legal advisor, may not draft legal documents for a defendant, and may not interfere with the defendant's right to counsel.
- Conflicts of interest must be disclosed. The agent should not use a defendant's information for unrelated marketing.
- Records must be truthful; backdating bonds, forging signatures, or using an unauthorized power of attorney is misconduct.
Worked example
A jail officer offers to send new arrestees to an agent for $100 per bond. The agent declines. Paying for referrals from a public employee is a prohibited inducement and creates a conflict; it can also violate criminal law. The agent instead uses approved advertising and a posted fee schedule.
Traps
Free bail advertising that hides fees. Splitting fees with a bondsman not appointed for that surety. Advising a defendant to plead. Using collateral for personal expenses.