NRS697.300. Collections and charges permitted.

      1.  A bail agent shall not, in any bail transaction or in connection therewith, directly or indirectly, charge or collect money or other valuable consideration from any person except for the following purposes:

      (a) To pay the premium at the rates established by the insurer, in accordance with chapter 686B of NRS, or to pay the charges for the bail bond filed in connection with the transaction at the rates filed in accordance with the provisions of this Code. The rates must be 15 percent of the amount of the bond or $50, whichever is greater.

      (b) To provide collateral.

      (c) To reimburse himself or herself for actual expenses incurred in connection with the transaction. Such expenses are limited to:

             (1) Guard fees.

             (2) Notary public fees, recording fees, expenses incurred for necessary long distance telephone calls and charges for telegrams.

             (3) Travel expenses incurred more than 25 miles from the agent’s principal place of business. Such expenses:

                   (I) May be billed at the rate provided for state officers and employees generally; and

                   (II) May not be charged in areas where bail agents advertise a local telephone number.

             (4) Expenses incurred to verify underwriting information.

             (5) Any other actual expenditure necessary to the transaction which is not usually and customarily incurred in connection with bail transactions.

      (d) To reimburse himself or herself, or have a right of action against the principal or any indemnitor, for actual expenses incurred in good faith, by reason of breach by the defendant of any of the terms of the written agreement under which and pursuant to which the undertaking of bail or bail bond was written. If there is no written agreement, or an incomplete writing, the surety may, at law, enforce its equitable rights against the principal and his or her indemnitors, in exoneration. Such reimbursement or right of action must not exceed the principal sum of the bond or undertaking, plus any reasonable expenses that may be verified by receipt in a total amount of not more than the principal sum of the bond or undertaking, incurred in good faith by the surety, its agents, licensees and employees by reason of the principal’s breach.

      2.  This section does not prevent the full and unlimited right of a bail agent to execute undertaking of bail on behalf of a nonresident agent of the surety he or she represents. The licensed resident bail agent is entitled to a minimum countersignature fee of $5, with a maximum countersignature fee of $100, plus expenses incurred in accordance with paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection 1. Such countersignature fees may be charged in addition to the premium of the undertaking.

      (Added to NRS by 1971, 1914; A 1997, 3390; 2003, 3336)