Surety Bond News

Several public officials in the state of Utah no longer need to worry about surety bonds. The new bill, labeled HB 40, terminates multiple public official bond requirements and allows certain officials to be covered under the State’s Risk Management Fund. Make sure to check with the state to find out which public officials are included in this bill.

Miners in Utah State are affected by new legislation that was recently enacted. The new law is named SB 15 and allows the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining to estimate the average cost of reclamation per acre which will determine the amount of the surety bond required for land reclamation/mining.

Utah State legislators have been working on a bill that impacts highway construction projects within the state. The new bill is named HB 296 and authorizes local highway authorities who are sponsors on any federal highway construction projects to be a supplementary contractor alongside the Utah Department of Transportation (DOT); but this change is only effective for Class B and Class C roads. HB 296 also states that the local highway authorities can be an additional bondholder or obligee with the Department of Transportation on performance bonds.

Utah legislatures seem to be trimming off quite a few surety bond requirements for various state officials. The officials that no longer need bonds to work legally include the treasurer of the regional grazing boards, employees of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission; the Labor Commissioner and the Labor Commission’s employees; the adjutant general, the property and fiscal officers of the United States for the Utah National Guard; the business administrator including other appointed board officers of a local school board; the Transportation Commission; the Utah Insurance Commissioner and employees of the Insurance Department; officers of the State militia; the officers and employees of the Division of Finance; employees of the Division of Fleet Operations and Administration of State Motor Vehicles; the State Auditor; and the Attorney General. Hopefully the termination of all of these public official bonds doesn’t backfire on the state since the individuals in the list above are no longer required to be covered by a surety bond which in the end is meant to protect public money.

HB 366 is a new bill that was presented in Utah State concerning pawn brokers. The new bill requires pawn brokers that sell, trade, or pawn motor vehicles as a function of their usual business practices to become licensed as a used motor vehicle dealer. HB 366 requires used motor vehicle dealers to acquire a surety bond to attain the license required under the newly enacted legislation for supplementary locations. HB 366 also requires a $75,000 surety bond in relation to a dealer’s license.