Oklahoma

Oklahoma Laws Regarding Bail Bonds & Apprehension

Below is basic information on bail bond laws for Oklahoma concerning Bail Enforcement, Bounty Hunters, Fugitive Apprehension and Bail Bondsman. This is not legal advice. Laws change frequently, please check the links provided for possible updates and current information.

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Bail bond law state statutes:
- Oklahoma Statutes Annotated Title 59. Professions And Occupations Chapter 33. Bail Bondsmen.
Licensing requirements for Bail agents:
- § 1301. Definitions
  As used in this act:
  
  1. “Commissioner” means the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Oklahoma;
  
  2. “Bail bondsman” means a surety bondsman, professional bondsman, property bondsman, or a cash bondsman as hereinafter defined;
  
  3. “Surety bondsman” means any person who has been approved by the Commissioner and appointed by an insurer or a professional bondsman, by power of attorney, to execute or countersign bail bonds for the insurer or a professional bondsman, in connection with judicial proceedings and charges and receives money for his services;
  
  4. “Managing general agent” (M.G.A.) means any person acting in the capacity of supervisor or manager over a licensed bondsman, who has been granted the authority or responsibility by a surety company to conduct surety business on its behalf, and to oversee the activities and conduct of the surety’s appointed licensed bondsman agents, and who generally functions as an intermediate manager between the surety and its licensed bondsman agents. A managing general agent fulfilling these functions shall be a natural person, shall meet the qualifications of paragraph 5 of this subsection and shall be licensed as a bondsman;
  
  5. “Professional bondsman” means any person who has been approved by the Commissioner and who pledges cash as security for a bail bond in connection with a judicial proceeding and charges and receives money for his services;
- § 1303. License required–Acts exempt–Individual license–Renewal– Corporations—Attorneys
  A. No person shall act in the capacity of a bail bondsman or perform any of the functions, duties or powers prescribed for bail bondsmen under the provisions of the act unless that person shall be qualified and licensed as provided in this act: [FN1] Provided, however, that none of the provisions or terms of this section shall prohibit any individual or individuals from (1) pledging real or other property as security for a bail bond for himself or another in judicial proceedings who does not receive, or is not promised a fee or charge for his services provided such person shall not be permitted to make in excess of ten bonds per year or, (2) executing any bail bond for an insurer, pursuant to a bail bond service agreement entered into between such insurer and any automobile club or association, financing institution, insurance company or other organization or association, on behalf of a person required to furnish bail in connection with any violation of law arising out of the use of a motor vehicle.
  
  B. No license shall be issued except in compliance with this act and none shall be issued except to an individual. License renewals shall be granted subject to all other provisions of this act. A corporation as such shall not be licensed. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as repealing Section 11 of Title 5 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and it is further provided that licensed attorneys are prohibited from signing any bonds as surety in any civil or criminal action pending or about to be filed in any court of this state.
- § 1304. Expiration Date.
  All licenses expire annually at 12:00 midnight on the last day of December.
- § 1305. Applications–Contents–Interrogatories and investigation–Fee– Second and subsequent applications
  A. The application for license to serve as a bail bondsman must affirmatively show that the applicant:
  
  1. Is a person who has reached the age of twenty-one (21) years;
  
  2. Is of good character and reputation;
  
  3. Has not been previously convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendere to, any felony, or to a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or dishonesty;
  
  4. Is a citizen of the United States;
  
  5. Has been a bona fide resident of the state for at least one (1) year;
  
  6. Will actively engage in the bail bond business;
  
  7. Has knowledge or experience, or has received instruction in the bail bond business; and
  
  8. Has a high school diploma or its equivalent; provided, however, the provisions of this paragraph shall apply only to initial applications for license submitted on or after November 1, 1997, and shall not apply to renewal applications for license.
  
  B. The applicant shall apply in writing on forms prepared and supplied by the Insurance Commissioner, and the Commissioner may propound any reasonable interrogatories to an applicant for a license pursuant to Section 1301 et seq. of this title, or on any renewal thereof, relating to qualifications, residence, prospective place of business and any other matters which, in the opinion of the Commissioner, are deemed necessary or expedient in order to protect the public and ascertain the qualifications of the applicant. The Commissioner may also conduct any reasonable inquiry or investigation relative to the determination of the applicant’s fitness to be licensed or to continue to be licensed.
  
  C. An applicant shall furnish to the Commissioner a license fee of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) with the application, a complete set of the applicant’s fingerprints and two recent credential-size full face photographs of the applicant. The applicant’s fingerprints shall be certified by an authorized law enforcement officer. The applicant shall provide with the application an investigative fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) with which the Commissioner will conduct an investigation of the applicant. All fees shall be nonrefundable.
  
  D. Failure of the applicant to secure approval of the Commissioner shall not preclude the applicant from reapplying, but a second application shall not be considered by the Commissioner within three (3) months after denial of the last application.
- § 1308. Examinations—Fees
  A. The applicant for bail bondsman shall be required to appear in person and take a written examination prepared by the Insurance Commissioner, testing the applicant’s ability and qualifications to be a bail bondsman. Applications are valid for six (6) months after submission. If an applicant has not acted upon the application within that period, a new application and fees shall be submitted for the applicant to be considered for licensure.
  
  B. Each applicant shall become eligible for examination ninety (90) days after the date the application is received by the Commissioner, if the applicant has completed sixteen (16) hours of education as required by Section 1308.1 of this title and the Commissioner is otherwise satisfied as to the applicant’s fitness to take the examination. Examinations shall be held at times and places as designated by the Commissioner, and the applicant shall be given notice of the time and place not less than fifteen (15) days prior to taking the examination.
  
  C. The fee for the examination shall be One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) in addition to the license fee heretofore provided and shall be submitted after approval of the application but prior to taking the examination. Results will be mailed to the applicant within thirty (30) days after the applicant is examined.
  
  D. The failure of an applicant to pass an examination shall not preclude the applicant from taking subsequent examinations; provided, however, that at least three (3) months must intervene between examinations; and provided further, after a third or subsequent examination failure, an applicant may not apply and be examined for at least one (1) year after the last examination failure.
- § 1308.1. Examination–Educational requirements–Fee—Penalties
  A. In order to be eligible to take the examination required to be licensed as a bail bondsman, each person shall complete not less than sixteen (16) clock hours of education in subjects pertinent to the duties and responsibilities of a bail bondsman, including all laws and regulations related thereto. Further, each licensee shall complete annually not less than eight (8) clock hours of continuing education in said subjects prior to renewal of the license. Such continuing education shall not include a written or oral examination. Provided, any person licensed as a bail bondsman prior to November 1, 1989, shall not be required to complete sixteen (16) clock hours of education prior to licensure but shall be subject to the eight-hours continuing education requirement in order to renew said license, except that a licensed bail bondsman who is sixty-five (65) years of age or older and who has been licensed as a bail bondsman for fifteen (15) years or more shall be exempt from both the education and continuing education requirements of this section.
- See § 1309 for procedure on renewal of licenses, which includes 8 hours of continuing education and a $100 fee.
- § 1310. Denial, censure, suspension, revocation or refusal to renew license—Grounds
  - (See statute for a list of more than 30 grounds for denial, revocation, etc. of a license).
- See § 1311 – 1312 for provisions regarding the appeal of penalties for misconduct.
- § 1320. Registration of license and fee–Proof of residency–List of bondsmen–County not having licensed bondsman–Filing of appointment–Number of bonds which may be written
  A. No bail bondsman shall become a surety on an undertaking unless he has first registered his license in the office of the sheriff and with the clerk of the district court in the county in which the bondsman resides or offices, but not both. In the county in which a bondsman registers his license, he shall provide the court clerk with proof that he is a resident of said county or that he offices in said county. The court clerk of the county shall provide a list of bondsmen permitted to write surety in that county to the judges and law enforcement offices of that county. In any county not having a licensed bondsman authorized to do business within said county, the court having jurisdiction shall allow and fix bail. A surety bondsman shall also file a certified copy of his appointment by power of attorney from the insurer which he represents as agent with each of said officers. A fee of Ten Dollars ($10.00) shall be paid to the district court clerk for each county in which the bail bondsman registers his license. The fee shall be payable annually by the date of license renewal. The clerk of the district court and the sheriff shall not permit the registration of a bail bondsman unless such bondsman is currently licensed by the Insurance Commissioner under the provisions of Section 1301 et seq. of this title.
  
  B. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, a bondsman may write bonds on no more than ten defendants per year in each of the remaining seventy-six counties of this state in which the bondsman cannot register his license. Provided, however, a bondsman shall not be limited to writing bonds on only ten defendants per year in a county which does not have a licensed bondsman registered in said county. The bondsman shall advise the court clerk of each such county in writing of his intention to write bonds in the county and shall file a certified copy of his license with and pay a fee of Ten Dollars ($10.00) to each such court clerk.
Bail agent’s arrest authority.
- Bounty hunter (fugitive apprehension) provisions:
- Links to State and Local Authorities:

Please check with the Oklahoma’s Department of Insurance, Licensing Board and/or Local Law Enforcement for the most recent updates. If you know of any updates to Oklahoma’s bail bond laws, please provide as much detail as possible and send to us using our contact form.

Bail Bond Laws

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Laws Regarding Bail Bonds & Apprehension