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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1785
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR HUDSON.
7492S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 544.455, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to bond for
violent offenders, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 544.455, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 544.455, 2
to read as follows:3
544.455. 1. Any person charged with a bailable 1
offense, at his or her appearance before an associate 2
circuit judge or judge may be ordered released pending 3
trial, appeal, or other stage of the proceedings against him 4
on his personal recognizance, unless the associate circuit 5
judge or judge determines, in the exercise of his 6
discretion, that such a release will not reasonably assure 7
the appearance of the person as required. When such a 8
determination is made, the associate circuit judge or judge 9
may either in lieu of or in addition to the above methods of 10
release, impose any or any combination of the following 11
conditions of release which will reasonably assure the 12
appearance of the person for trial: 13
(1) Place the person in the custody of a designated 14
person or organization agreeing to supervise him; 15
(2) Place restriction on the travel, association, or 16
place of abode of the person during the period of release; 17
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(3) Require the execution of a bail bond with 18
sufficient solvent sureties, or the deposit of cash in lieu 19
thereof; 20
(4) Require the person to report regularly to some 21
officer of the court, or peace officer, in such manner as 22
the associate circuit judge or judge directs; 23
(5) Require the execution of a bond in a given sum and 24
the deposit in the registry of the court of ten percent, or 25
such lesser percent as the judge directs, of the sum in cash 26
or negotiable bonds of the United States or of the state of 27
Missouri or any political subdivision thereof; 28
(6) Place the person on house arrest with electronic 29
monitoring; except that all costs associated with the 30
electronic monitoring shall be charged to the person on 31
house arrest. If the judge finds the person unable to 32
afford the costs associated with electronic monitoring, the 33
judge may order that the person be placed on house arrest 34
with electronic monitoring if the county commission agrees 35
to pay from the general revenue of the county the costs of 36
such monitoring. If the person on house arrest is unable to 37
afford the costs associated with electronic monitoring and 38
the county commission does not agree to pay the costs of 39
such electronic monitoring, the judge shall not order that 40
the person be placed on house arrest with electronic 41
monitoring; 42
(7) Impose any other condition deemed reasonably 43
necessary to assure appearance as required, including a 44
condition requiring that the person return to custody after 45
specified hours. 46
2. In determining which conditions of release will 47
reasonably assure appearance, the associate circuit judge or 48
judge shall, on the basis of available information, take 49
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into account the nature and circumstances of the offense 50
charged, the weight of the evidence against the accused, the 51
accused's family ties, employment, financial resources, 52
character and mental condition, the length of his residence 53
in the community, his record of convictions, and his record 54
of appearance at court proceedings or flight to avoid 55
prosecution or failure to appear at court proceedings. 56
3. An associate circuit judge or judge authorizing the 57
release of a person under this section shall issue an 58
appropriate order containing a statement of the conditions 59
imposed, if any, shall inform such person of the penalties 60
applicable to violations of the conditions of his release 61
and shall advise him that a warrant for his arrest will be 62
issued immediately upon any such violation. 63
4. A person for whom conditions of release are imposed 64
and who after twenty-four hours from the time of the release 65
hearing continues to be detained as a result of his 66
inability to meet the conditions of release, shall, upon 67
application, be entitled to have the condition reviewed by 68
the associate circuit judge or judge who imposed them. The 69
motion shall be determined promptly. 70
5. An associate circuit judge or judge ordering the 71
release of a person on any condition specified in this 72
section may at any time amend his order to impose additional 73
or different conditions of release; except that, if the 74
imposition of such additional or different conditions 75
results in the detention of the person as a result of his 76
inability to meet such conditions or in the release of the 77
person on a condition requiring him to return to custody 78
after specified hours, the provisions of subsection 4 of 79
this section shall apply. 80
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6. Information stated in, or offered in connection 81
with, any order entered pursuant to this section need not 82
conform to the rules pertaining to the admissibility of 83
evidence in a court of law. 84
7. Nothing contained in this section shall be 85
construed to prevent the disposition of any case or class of 86
cases by forfeiture of collateral security where such 87
disposition is authorized by the court. 88
8. Persons charged with violations of municipal 89
ordinances may be released by a municipal judge or other 90
judge who hears and determines municipal ordinance violation 91
cases of the municipality involved under the same conditions 92
and in the same manner as provided in this section for 93
release by an associate circuit judge. 94
9. A circuit court may adopt a local rule authorizing 95
the pretrial release on electronic monitoring pursuant to 96
subdivision (6) of subsection 1 of this section in lieu of 97
incarceration of individuals charged with offenses 98
specifically identified therein. 99
10. Any bonding company or agent executing a bond 100
pursuant to any provision of this section shall collect 101
fifty percent of any bonding fee prior to executing any bond 102
where the defendant is charged with a felony offense that: 103
involves a victim, is a violation of chapter 571, is a 104
violation of 577.010, the defendant is a prior or persistent 105
offender, or is a misdemeanor case involving a victim, 106
resisting arrest, or aggravated fleeing and eluding, or in 107
any case where the defendant has previously been found 108
guilty of any of the above listed offenses. 109
11. The bonding agent shall certify to the court under 110
the penalty of perjury that they have received the required 111
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percentage from the defendant. Such certification shall be 112
submitted to the court with all other bonding paperwork. 113
12. Failure to provide the required certification 114
shall be a class A misdemeanor for the first offense. 115
Falsification of paperwork shall be a class E felony. In 116
addition to any criminal charge by this section, the bonding 117
agent shall be disqualified from writing bail bonds for a 118
period of five years. 119
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