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HB0271 • 2026

Foreign and Alien Bail Bond Insurers

Foreign and Alien Bail Bond Insurers

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Valdés
Last action
2026-05-07
Official status
Chapter No. 2026-61
Effective date
2026-07-01

Plain English Breakdown

The bill amends existing statutes rather than creating entirely new ones from scratch.

Rules for Foreign and Alien Bail Bond Insurers

This law requires bail bond insurers from other states or countries to report specific financial details about their premiums, keep accurate records of payments made for bonds, and disclose certain information in annual statements filed with Florida regulators.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires foreign and alien insurers (along with domestic ones) to report bail bond premiums after subtracting amounts kept by agents.
  • Sets a rule that reported premiums cannot be less than 6.5 percent of the total money paid for bonds written by an agent.
  • Mandates that these insurers keep complete records of all payments made for their bail bonds.
  • Requires insurers to list specific financial details in the notes of their annual statements filed with regulators.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Foreign and alien bail bond insurers doing business in Florida
  • Domestic bail bond insurers doing business in Florida
  • The Office of Insurance Regulation

Terms To Know

Bail Bond Premiums
The money paid to an insurance company for a promise that someone will appear in court.
Foreign and Alien Insurers
Insurance companies based outside of Florida or the United States.
Consideration
The total amount of money paid for a bail bond service.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This law applies to domestic, foreign, and alien insurers doing business in Florida.
  • The text does not explain what happens if an insurer fails to follow these new rules.
  • The specific forms for reporting are not included in this summary.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-07 The Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives

    • Chapter No. 2026-61

  2. 2026-05-06 The Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives

    • Approved by Governor

  3. 2026-04-30 The Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives

    • Signed by Officers and presented to Governor

  4. 2026-03-06 Senate

    • Withdrawn from Rules -SJ 673 • Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading • Substituted for SB 642 -SJ 673 • Read 2nd time -SJ 673 • Read 3rd time -SJ 673 • Passed; YEAS 34 NAYS 0 -SJ 673

  5. 2026-03-06 House

    • In Messages • Ordered enrolled

  6. 2026-02-18 Senate

    • Referred to Rules • Received

  7. 2026-02-17 House

    • Read 2nd time • Added to Third Reading Calendar • Read 3rd time • Passed; YEAS 107, NAYS 1

  8. 2026-02-17 Senate

    • In Messages

  9. 2026-02-10 House

    • Bill added to Special Order Calendar (2/17/2026)

  10. 2026-02-03 House

    • Favorable by Commerce Committee • Reported out of Commerce Committee • Bill released to House Calendar • Added to Second Reading Calendar

  11. 2026-01-30 House

    • Added to Commerce Committee agenda

  12. 2026-01-29 House

    • Favorable by Insurance & Banking Subcommittee • Reported out of Insurance & Banking Subcommittee • Now in Commerce Committee

  13. 2026-01-27 House

    • Added to Insurance & Banking Subcommittee agenda

  14. 2026-01-13 House

    • 1st Reading (Original Filed Version)

  15. 2025-11-04 House

    • Referred to Insurance & Banking Subcommittee • Referred to Commerce Committee • Now in Insurance & Banking Subcommittee

  16. 2025-10-28 House

    • Filed

Official Summary Text

Foreign and Alien Bail Bond Insurers; Provides duties of certain foreign & alien bail bond insurers relating to reporting bail bond premiums to OIR, keeping records of considerations paid for bail bonds written by insurers, & disclosing certain information in financial statements filed with office.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
ENROLLED
HB 271 2026 Legislature

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb271 -00-er
Page 1 of 2
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

1
An act relating to foreign and alien bail bond 2
insurers; amending s. 624.4094, F.S.; providing duties 3
of certain foreign and alien bail bond insurers 4
relating to reporting bail bond premiums to the Office 5
of Insurance Regulation, keeping records of 6
considerations paid for bail bonds written by the 7
insurers, and disclosing certain information in the 8
financial statements filed with the office; providing 9
an effective date. 10
11
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12
13
Section 1. Section 624.4094, Florida Statutes, is amended 14
to read: 15
624.4094 Bail bond premiums.— 16
(1) The Legislature finds that a significant portion of 17
bail bond premiums is retained by the licensed bail bond agents 18
or appointed managing general agents. For purposes of reporting 19
in financial statements required to be filed with the office 20
pursuant to s. 624.424, direct written premiums for bail bonds 21
by a domestic, foreign, or alien insurer doing business in this 22
state shall be reported net of any amounts retained by licensed 23
bail bond agents or appointed managing general agents. However, 24
in no case shall the direct written premiums for bail bonds be 25

ENROLLED
HB 271 2026 Legislature

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb271 -00-er
Page 2 of 2
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

less than 6.5 percent of the total consideration received by the 26
agent for all bail bonds written by the agent. This subsection 27
also applies to any determination of compliance with s. 28
624.4095. 29
(2) Premiums assumed by a domestic, foreign, or alien 30
insurer shall be reported consistent with subsections (1) and 31
(4) for purposes of filing financial statements with the office. 32
(3) Each domestic, foreign, or alien bail bond insurer 33
shall keep complete and accurate records of the total 34
consideration paid for all bail bonds written by such insurer. 35
(4) Each domestic, foreign, or alien bail bond insurer 36
shall disclose the following information in the notes to the 37
financial statement in the insurer's annual statement filed with 38
the office. 39
(a) The gross bail bond premiums written in each state by 40
agents for the company. 41
(b) The amount of premium taxes incurred by the company in 42
each state. 43
(c) Total consideration withheld by agents and not 44
reported as an expense by the insurer in financial statements 45
filed with the office. 46
(d) The amount of bail bond premium included on the surety 47
line of the annual statement filed with the office. 48
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 49