Senate Bill 425 Summary

• Bail undertakings expire 36 months after posting unless the defendant remains a fugitive, in which case the undertaking does not expire.

• Reduces the deadline for sureties and bail agents to produce a defendant from 365 days to 180 days after notice is sent, and eliminates the tiered late surrender fee structure in favor of a flat 80% fee of the bond's face value.

• Requires sureties and bail agents to establish and maintain email addresses by June 1, 2013, and allows courts to send notices by electronic mail.

• Eliminates the assessment of costs resulting from a defendant's failure to appear against bail agents and sureties.

• Redirects late surrender fee distribution: removes the 50% deposit to police pension trust funds and instead allocates fees as follows—25% to court operations and diversion programs, 25% to county electronic monitoring fund, 25% to court operations, and 25% to county jail maintenance.