Provides relative to electronic bonds. (8/1/26)

Senate Bill 321 amends Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 328(C) to establish mandatory conditions for parishes that implement electronic bonds. The bill retains existing authority for electronic bond posting but converts several permissive provisions to mandatory requirements. Specifically, the legislation changes language from "may" to "shall" regarding sheriff approval of agents and applications from licensed bail bond producers, and it adds two new subsections establishing parallel requirements. Subsection (3) mandates that any parish electing to implement electronic bonds must simultaneously allow in-person bond posting methods. Subsection (4) imposes two technical requirements on electronic bond providers: incorporation of a geofence technology limited to a radius not exceeding ten miles from the jail facility and implementation of FACE Recognition Liveness authentication technology.

The practical effect of this legislation impacts sheriffs, licensed bail bond producers, and defendants seeking to post bail. Sheriffs in parishes with electronic bond systems must now approve both electronic and in-person bail posting options, eliminating any discretion to rely exclusively on electronic methods. Licensed bail bond producers seeking electronic bond authority remain subject to the three-year Louisiana licensure requirement and domicile obligation, but the mandatory approval language creates a clearer framework for their applications. Defendants benefit from guaranteed access to in-person bail posting alternatives in any parish that has implemented electronic bonds, while the geofence and facial recognition requirements are designed to prevent remote bail postings that exceed a specified proximity to the jail facility.

Senate Bill 321 operates within the existing bail undertaking framework established in Code of Criminal Procedure Article 328, which governs the conditions under which bail bonds may be executed and the qualifications of parties authorized to execute them. The amendment modifies Article 328(C) specifically, which has historically addressed electronic bond execution requirements. The legislation introduces biometric authentication technology requirements by mandating FACE Recognition Liveness, a fraud prevention measure intended to verify that a person posting bail is physically present during the electronic transaction. The geofence requirement similarly restricts the geographic parameters of electronic bond transactions to ensure that bail is posted with proximity verification, thereby preventing interstate or remote execution of electronic bonds in ways that might circumvent local judicial oversight.