The South Carolina Surety Bail Bondsman license

Thirty hours under S.C. Code section 38-53-85(A)(1), in subjects pertinent to the duties of a bondsman or runner and covering the laws and regulations that govern them. Two things about it are unusual enough to matter to somebody shopping. A written examination is administered at the end of the coursework, approved by the Department and separate from the licensing examination, and it has to be passed before licensure. And the course work may not be satisfied by a mail order course, which 38-53-85(C) says in as many words, so a correspondence product does not qualify however many hours it runs. The curriculum is set by the South Carolina Bail Agent's Association or another association the Department approves rather than by the Department itself. Anyone already licensed as a professional bondsman, surety bondsman or runner before the section took effect is outside the thirty hours under 38-53-85(B) and owes eight hours of continuing education a year instead; that is a grandfather for existing licensees rather than a way in for a new applicant, which is why it is written here and not shown as a route. A surety bail bondsman has one more gate than the other two: the Department's guide has the applicant pass the surety producer examination as well as the bondsman and runner pre-licensing class and its examination, then be appointed by a licensed surety insurance carrier.

Read at the Department on 2026-08-16