Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...The pertinent evidence and findings in support of each count are as follows: COUNT I Count I charged that the appellant knowingly hired one Delbert Leroy Sams to perform the duties of a bail bond runner, although Sams was not licensed as a runner, in violation of Sections 648.30 [1] and 648.45(1)(b), Florida Statutes (Supp....

...aring officer's findings of fact, yet drew the opposite conclusion from that recommended, holding on the facts found that the alteration of a jail card was, under the circumstances, reflective of untrustworthiness, and therefore was, as denounced by Section 648.45(1)(j), "a source of detriment, injury or loss to the public." We disagree....

...sman, limited surety agent, or runner, or perform any of the functions, duties or powers prescribed for bail bondsmen or runners under the provisions of this chapter unless that person shall be qualified and licensed as provided in this chapter. [2] Section 648.45(1)(b) permits the Department to suspend or revoke any license for violation of any law relating to bail bonding in the course of dealings under the license....

...JOANOS, Judge. This is an appeal from an emergency suspension order, suspending appellant's license to operate as a bail bondsman until final disposition of criminal charges filed against him. Appellant raises three issues directed to the constitutionality of section 648.45(1), Florida Statutes (1987): (1) whether section 648.45(1) violates substantive due process pursuant to the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution; (2) whether section 648.45(1) violates the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution, and article I, sections 2 and 9 of the Florida Constitution; and (3) whether section 648.45(1) violates article I, section 21 of the Florida Constitution by not allowing access to the courts for redress of an injury....

...ange County. On September 9, 1988, appellant was charged in a twelve-count information with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, loansharking, and illegal transportation of currency. On September 28, 1988, pursuant to sections 120.60(8), 648.45(1), and 648.50(1), Florida Statutes, the Insurance Commissioner issued an order temporarily suspending all licenses issued to appellant within the purview of the Department of Insurance....

...censes issued to appellant within the purview of the Department of Insurance, and an administrative complaint pursuant to section 120.60(8), Florida Statutes. Appellant's notice of appeal was filed March 14, 1989. The challenged statutory provision, section 648.45(1), Florida Statutes (1987), provides: The department shall immediately temporarily suspend any license issued under this chapter when the licensee has been charged with a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude or a crime punishab...

...onable, or oppressive. 471 So.2d at 143. We conclude that bail bondspersons, like time-share salespersons, are engaged in sensitive occupations which involve unique public interest concerns, justifying the special regulatory measures contemplated by section 648.45(1)....

...nt quality and require different remedies. 377 So.2d at 671, quoting Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc., 348 U.S. 483, 489, 75 S.Ct. 461, 465, 99 L.Ed. 563 (1955). The same can be said of bail bondspersons. Of the three Florida cases citing section 648.45(1), only one, Grantham v....

...The court further found that a person's right to be a bail bondsman is not so strong as society's interest in having as bail bondsmen persons not charged with serious crimes. 498 So.2d at 1334. In sum, the court found a discernible reasonable basis for the classification created by section 648.45(1), and affirmed the temporary suspension by emergency order. Because the tests applied under equal protection and substantive due process are essentially the same, we conclude that the Fourth District's determination, on equal protection grounds, that section 648.45(1) bears a reasonable relationship to a legitimate state purpose, warrants a similar result with regard to the substantive due process analysis in this case....

...See also Grantham, 498 So.2d at 1330-1331. Appellant concedes, as indeed he must, that the statute on its face does not deny him access to the courts. Instead, appellant asserts that he is denied meaningful access, due to the mandatory provisions of section 648.45(1), which permit of no exercise of discretion with regard to a temporary emergency suspension of the license of a bail bondsperson charged with a felony. The instant appeal illustrates the fallacy of this contention. In summary, although appellant has advanced a challenge to the constitutionality of section 648.45(1), a review of the relevant case law reveals, among other things, that the result which obtains when a bail bondsman is charged with a felony is no more egregious to the bail bondsman than the loss of a business license to a tattoo artist, due to a change in licensing requirements....

...While a law enforcement officer charged with a felony is suspended by the department during the pendency of the charges, there is no similar entity to suspend an independent bail bondsperson. Rather, the legislature has placed this supervisory responsibility on the Insurance Commissioner. Accordingly, we find that section 648.45(1) does not violate either the substantive due process or equal protection guarantees of the federal or state constitutions, nor does it bar access to the courts....

...Tindall, Fort Lauderdale, for appellant. Lealand L. McCharen, Tallahassee, for appellee. GLICKSTEIN, Judge. This is an appeal of the temporary suspension by emergency order of the insurance commissioner, of a limited surety agent's license, pursuant to section 648.45(1), Florida Statutes, which appellant contends is unconstitutional....

...edeliver a hired vehicle — was filed against appellant Jack Harold Grantham in Broward County. On January 24, 1986, the Florida Department of Insurance issued an emergency order suspending Grantham's limited surety (bail bonds) license, pursuant to section 648.45(1), Florida Statutes....

...Grantham subsequently filed a request for formal hearing and response to administrative complaint, wherein he temporarily waived his right to a hearing on the administrative complaint. There are two issues, both of which we answer in the negative: 1. Whether section 648.45(1), Florida Statutes (1985), is unconstitutional for violation of a licensee's right to due process. 2. Whether section 648.45(1), is unconstitutional for violation of a licensee's right to equal protection. Section 648.45(1), Florida Statutes (1985), contains the following mandate: The department shall immediately temporarily suspend any license issued under this chapter when the licensee has been charged with a felony or a crime involving moral turpitu...

...Moreover, an emergency license suspension order must show compliance with the requirements set forth in section 120.54(9) in connection with agency adoption of an emergency rule. Appellee urges, we believe correctly, that by implication the pertinent provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act are incorporated in section 648.45(1), and points out that the agency here scrupulously followed those procedures when it suspended appellant's license temporarily in an emergency....

...that state of facts will be presumed to have existed when the legislature enacted it. Northridge General Hospital v. City of Oakland Park, 374 So.2d 461, 464-65 (Fla. 1979). We can readily discern a reasonable basis for the classification created by section 648.45(1), Florida Statutes....

licensee); § 561.15(2) (alcoholic beverage licensee); § 648.45(1)(e) (bail bondsman or runner), Florida Statutes

which would subject her to discipline under section 648.45(3)(b), noting that section 648.57 provides