3. Are there any educational requirements?
Yes. The total number of pre-licensing educational hours required for a Professional or Surety Bondsman, or Runner is twenty (20) hours. A Professional Bondsman or Runner must pass the Professional Bondsman Runner State Examination Series [19-16], before obtaining a license.
A Surety Bondsman must pass the Professional Bondsman Runner State Examination Series [19-16], as well as the Surety Insurance Examination Series [19-08] before obtaining a license. Surety Bondsmen are licensed as Insurance Agents and are therefore required to take the Surety Insurance Exam.
4. Are there any fees required of bondsmen?
Yes. Professional Bondsmen and Surety Bondsmen are required to pay the Clerk of the Court of his or home home county, the sum of one hundred fifity dollars ($150) annually for each licensee. There are no fees for Runner Bondsmen in their home county. Each Professional Bondsman, Surety Bondsman, and Runner is required to pay any other county where he or she is doing business the sum of one hundred dollars ($100) to the Clerk of the Court.
[SC Code Section 38-53-100]
5. How much money must a Professional Bondsman pledge to his or her home county to write bail bonds?
Each Professional Bondsman must maintain a minimum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the form of a cash deposit or certificates of deposit. [SC Code 38-52-270]
6. If a Professional Bondsman pledges the minimum deposit of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), how much can he/she write in bail bonds?
A bondsman can write four (4) times the amount of collateral pledged to his/her home county Clerk of the Court. Example: $10,000 pledged as collateral will allow the bondsman to write up to $40,000 in bail bonds. [SC Code 38-52-270]
7. Are Surety Bondmen required to pledge collateral?
Yes, Surety Bondsmen pledge a Power of Attorney that is issued by the Surety Insurance Company. [SC Code Section 38-53-260]
