KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to Tennessee

SB0464 • 2026

Bail, Bail Bonds

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 40, relative to pretrial release.

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Gardenhire, Doggett
Last action
2025-05-13
Official status
Effective date(s) 07/01/2025
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included details about collecting at least half of the total fee and limits on fees for non-residents which were not fully supported by the official source material. The bill text focuses primarily on setting minimum and maximum limits for bail bond premiums.

Bail Bond Premium Fees

This bill sets minimum and maximum limits for bail bond premium fees in Tennessee.

What This Bill Does

  • Sets a minimum of 5% and a maximum of 10% for the premium fee on criminal appearance bonds.
  • Changes the notice given to people getting a bail bond to include new limits on fees.
  • Requires professional bail bondsmen to collect at least half of the total fee when signing the bond agreement.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People who need bail bonds
  • Bail bond companies and insurance agents

Terms To Know

Premium fee
The cost paid to a bail bondsman for posting a bond.
Face amount of the bond
The total value of the bail bond set by the court.

Limits and Unknowns

  • Does not specify what happens if someone pays less than half of the premium fee at signing.
  • It is unclear how this will affect existing bonds before July 1, 2025.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to HB0528

Plain English: The amendment changes Tennessee law regarding bail bonds by specifying exact premium fees and prohibiting certain practices by professional bail bondsmen.

  • Sets a fixed ten percent (10%) premium fee for Tennessee residents on their bail bond, instead of allowing up to ten percent (10%).
  • Limits the premium fee for non-Tennessee residents to between ten percent (10%) and fifteen percent (15%) of the bond's face value.
  • Prohibits professional bail bondsmen from locking someone back up or surrendering them arbitrarily without good cause.
  • The amendment text does not provide specific details on how these changes will be enforced or monitored.
Amendment 1-0 to SB0464

Plain English: The amendment changes Tennessee law regarding bail bonds by specifying exact premium fees and prohibiting certain practices by professional bail bondsmen.

  • Sets a fixed ten percent (10%) premium fee for Tennessee residents on their bail bond, with no room for variation.
  • Establishes that non-Tennessee residents can have a premium fee between ten percent (10%) and fifteen percent (15%), but not less or more than this range.
  • Requires professional bail bondsmen to provide a detailed notice to clients about fees, collateral requirements, and their rights.
  • The amendment text does not specify the exact penalties for non-compliance with these new rules.

Bill History

  1. 2025-05-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 07/01/2025

  2. 2025-05-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 318

  3. 2025-05-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 318

  4. 2025-05-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for action.

  6. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  7. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  8. 2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled and ready for signatures

  9. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., Ayes 71, Nays 23, PNV 0

  10. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0372)

  11. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  12. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  13. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  14. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 32, Nays 0

  15. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0398)

  16. 2025-04-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/14/2025

  17. 2025-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/14/2025

  18. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/10/2025

  19. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee

  20. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0

  21. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/8/2025

  22. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/8/2025

  23. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 4/9/2025

  24. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/2/2025

  25. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/2/2025

  26. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary Committee

  27. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/1/2025

  28. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/1/2025

  29. 2025-03-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  30. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/31/2025

  31. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 4/2/2025

  32. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 4/2/2025

  33. 2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  34. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/26/2025

  35. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  36. 2025-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor change.

  37. 2025-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) withdrawn.

  38. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  39. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  40. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  41. 2025-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  42. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  43. 2025-01-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  44. 2025-01-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law requires a person utilizing the services of a professional bail bondsman or bonding agent to receive a copy of the following notice with the person's bail bond. The notice must state that the premi
um fee for a bond should not be more than 10% of the face amount of the bond. For example, if the bond is $2,500, the premium on the bond should not be more than $250. This bill prohibits the premium fee for the bond from being less than 5% of the face
a
mount of the bond. For example, if the bond is $2,500, the premium on the bond should not be less than $125 or more than $250.

Present law prohibits professional bondsmen and agents of insurance companies making appearance bonds of a criminal nature fro
m assessing more than 10% of the amount of the face value of the bond for premium fee and related charges, and the premium fee and related charge or charges must not be assessed but one time during the first 12 months of the pendency of the charge or char
g
es and indictment or indictments in either the trial court or any lower court. This bill prohibits such persons from assessing less than 5% of the amount of the face value of the bond.

Present law provides that if a professional bondsman, or agent of an
insurance company, is making a criminal appearance bond for a defendant who is not a resident of this state, the bondsman or agent may assess up to 15% of the amount of the face value of the bond for premium fee and related charges but only one time duri
n
g the first 12 months of the bond. This bill prohibits such persons from assessing less than 5% of the amount of the face value of the bond for residents outside of this state.

ON APRIL 14, 2025, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 4
64, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, make the following revisions to present law:



Revises the provision generally prohibiting p
rofessional bondsmen and agents of insurance companies making appearance bonds of a criminal nature
from
assess
ing
more than 10% of the amount of the face value of the bond for
a
premium fee and related charges
to, instead, require such persons to assess 10%
of the amount of the face value of the bond for
such
fee
and
charge
s.



Revises the provision authorizing a
professional bondsman, or agent of an insurance company,
who
is making a criminal appearance bond for a defendant who is not a resident of
this state
,
to
assess up to 15% of the amount of the face value of the bond for
a
premium fee and related charges
to, instead, authorize
no less than 10% and no more than 15% of the amount of the face value of the bond

for
such
fee
and
charge
s.



Adds as another requirement for a
professional bondsman or an agent of an insurance company making appearance bonds of a criminal nature
to
agree to accept the premiums and initiation fees

in equal installments
, that the
professional bondsman collects no less than 50% of the premium due at the time the bond is signed
.



Revises the notice that a person receives along with the person's bail bond from a
professional bail bondsman or bonding agent
to reflect the changes made in this amendment.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 528
By Helton-Haynes

SENATE BILL 464
By Gardenhire

SB0464
002119
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 40,
relative to pretrial release.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 40-11-151, is amended by deleting
the language:
The premium fee for your bond should not be more than ten percent (10%) of the face
amount of your bond. For example, if your bond is $2,500, the premium on the bond
should not be more than $250.
and substituting:
The premium fee for your bond should not be less than five percent (5%) or more than
ten percent (10%) of the face amount of your bond. For example, if your bond is $2,500,
the premium on the bond should not be less than $125 or more than $250.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 40-11-316(a), is amended by
deleting the language "more than ten percent (10%) of the amount of the face value of the
bond" and substituting "less than five percent (5%) or more than ten percent (10%) of the
amount of the face value of the bond".
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 40-11-316(c), is amended by
deleting the language "up to fifteen percent (15%) of the amount of the face value of the bond"
and substituting "no less than five percent (5%) and no more than fifteen percent (15%) of the
amount of the face value of the bond".
SECTION 4. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.