If you are working for a South Carolina bondsman as a runner and you are not licensed, you are working illegally. A bail bonds runner in South Carolina must be licensed through the state Department of Insurance to work legally. A runner assists the bail bondsman in managing the defendant and the defendant's appearance in court; helping the bondsman locate the defendant if she skips bail; and executing bonds when the professional bondsman gives that authority by executing a power of attorney with the state.
Instructions
1. Register with a state-approved technical college and take the required classes. South Carolina law requires all runners to take a 20-hour state approved bail bonds training course and the exam connected with the course. A certificate is given by the school certifying that you have completed the required training and passed the state test. Expect to pay $150 to $200 in total for the course and exam.
2. Find a bondsman to work for. Contact local licensed professional bondsmen and ask whether there is an opening for a runner. You are responsible for finding the bail bondsman to work for, the state does not assign runners to a bondsman.
3. Obtain a runner license application and instructions from the South Carolina Department of Insurance. Applications and licensing information is also available online at the Department of Insurance website.
4. Fill out the application and assemble the required items. The runner's license application requires the following: a $200 licensing fee; a full-face, passport-size photo; a complete FBI fingerprint card; a copy of your criminal history in South Carolina; and the certification letter from the school you took your pre-licensing education and exam from. South Carolina criminal history is purchased at a cost of $25 through the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. The agency uses L1 Identity Solutions to roll fingerprints on FBI fingerprint cards.
5. Submit the completed application, documents, fee and an Appointment for Runner card to the South Carolina Department of Insurance. Form BB1102 is the Appointment for Runner card and is available online or by contacting the Department of Insurance. The form is a separate document from the applications and it links the runner to a state-licensed professional bondsman. Runners may work for only one bondsman at a time.
6. Include Form BB1104 with your application if you will be executing bail bonds for your appointed bondsman. Form BB1104 is a power of attorney document legally assigning authority to the runner to execute the bonds for the bondsman. The form is available from the state's Department of Insurance website.
Tags: South Carolina, Department Insurance, bail bonds, Appointment Runner, Appointment Runner card