Licensing, Recordkeeping, and Reporting Duties of Bail Bondsmen and Runners
Licenses and runners
South Carolina licenses bail bondsmen and runners through the DOI. A runner may act only under a licensed bondsman and within the scope of that employment; runners cannot independently write bonds or hold themselves out as separate bonding authority. Qualifications include age, good moral character, education, examination, and bond/fee requirements. Licensees must notify the DOI of changes and renew timely.
Records and reporting
Keep accurate records of every bond: defendant, charges, bond amount, premium, collateral, receipts, indemnitor, power of attorney, and disposition. Collateral and trust funds must be handled properly-no commingling with personal funds. Records must be available for DOI examination. Reporting duties include responding to DOI inquiries and filing required forms and reports.
Traps: assuming a runner can solicit or write bonds independently; assuming oral records suffice; forgetting collateral receipts; treating trust funds as operating cash.
Worked example
A runner signs a bond without the bondsman’s authority. The runner and bondsman face license action; the bond may still bind the surety. The DOI can examine the bondsman’s records to determine supervision and accounting failures.
Rule of thumb: “Runner = helper under supervision, not a separate bonding authority.”