How to Get a License

Board of Professional Bondsmen

T.C.A. § 40-11-321: (a) On or after March 1, 2026, a person shall not operate as a professional bondsman in this state unless the person is licensed by the Board of Professional Bondsmen under this section. TCA § 40-11-321 directed the Board to establish rules for Professional Bondsmen. Emergency Rule 0780-05-20-.03 Qualifications, Applications, and Fees. (1) No person, company, partnership, or other entity shall act as a professional bondsman or professional bondsman company, directly or indirectly, in this state unless the person, company, partnership, or other entity is licensed by the Board. Any person, company, partnership, or other entity proposing to provide professional bondsman services or services as a professional bondsman company in this state shall apply on a form provided by the Board.

Step 1: Approval from the Court

The first step is to register and obtain approval from the Court in every jurisdiction where you provide bonding services. The court is the authority that approves you in its jurisdiction. This process could require you to complete a form and obtain approval from each local jurisdiction. This has not changed.

TCA § 40-11-124 (a) The clerk, sheriff, municipal courts, and other inferior courts shall have available a list of professional bondsmen or other sureties approved and qualified as solvent by the courts of record with criminal jurisdiction within the county. These approved lists shall be provided by the judges of those courts. No undertaking shall be accepted unless the professional bondsman or other surety is so certified as approved.

When an individual goes to bond out a person, they have the option to use a limited producer insurance license. This is not new, nor has it changed. If the bond is underwritten by an insurance company, you will continue to need an Insurance Producer license with Bail Bonds Line of Authority.  If you currently hold an Insurance Producer license, the license needs to be kept active if you decide to use an insurance company to underwrite the bond.

Licensing Requirements

  1.  Completed background check.
    • Each background check submitted as part of an application must be completed by an entity approved by the Department to contract with applicants to provide background checks. Please submit the TBI and FBI background checks directly to the Board with the application. Background checks must be dated within twelve (12) months of the date of the submitted application.
  2. Must be eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of application. 
  3. Approval from each Judicial District the bondsmen is approved to offer bail bonding services. 
  4. Company license number, written notice of company affiliation, or notice of operation as a sole proprietor, if the applicant is affiliated with such a company at the time of the application. 
     

Application and Fees

Complete the “Initial Professional Bondsman Application” online at core.tn.gov. The fee for an initial application is $250.

The bondsman company application must include all information and documents required by the Board and must be truthful and accurate.

Licensing Requirements

  1.  Completed background check for each owner of the company.  
    • Each background check submitted as part of an application must be completed by an entity approved by the Department to contract with applicants to provide background checks. Please submit the TBI and FBI background checks directly to the Board with the application. Background checks must be dated within twelve (12) months of the date of the submitted application.
  2.  Owner(s) of the company must be eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of application. 
  3.  Approval from each Judicial Disctrict the bondsmen company is approved to offer bail bonding services.
  4. A list of all bonding agents or professional bondsmen working on behalf of or under the supervision of the company. That list requires first name, last name, and the last four (4) digits of the Social Security Number. 
  5.  Copies of  business license or relevant business filings, if applicable, to establish the company's corporate status.
     

Application and Fees

Complete the “Initial Professional Bondsman Company Application” online at core.tn.gov. The fee for an initial application is $500. Additionally, a fee of $100 per professional bondsman, professional surety bondsman, and/or bonding agent affiliated with the company. Payment of this fee does not alleviate the requirement that each individual professional bondsman and professional surety bondsman be licensed under this chapter.