How to check a Florida bail bond agent’s license

Nobody may act as a bail bond agent or agency in Florida without being qualified, licensed and appointed (s. 648.30(1)(a)). The license is half of it: when an appointment expires the agent has no authority to write bonds (s. 648.384(1)), and a limited surety agent may only sell bonds of an insurer that the agent and the agency are currently appointed with (s. 648.30(1)(b)).

1. 1

   Open the DFS Licensee Search

   The Department of Financial Services publishes every insurance and bail license at licenseesearch.fldfs.com. It is free and needs no account.

2. 2

   Search by name or license number

   Enter the agent’s last and first name, or their Florida license number if you have it. To narrow the results, set License Category to Bail Bonds and License Status to Valid.

3. 3

   Open the agent’s record

   The record lists the person’s licenses, with each one’s type and status, and their appointments.

• License type 2-34 (limited surety agent) or 2-37 (professional bail bond agent). Temporary bail bond agent licenses stopped being valid on June 30, 2025 (s. 648.25(10)).
• A valid status. A license on probation is marked as such: DFS can place a licensee on probation for up to 2 years, on terms it sets (s. 648.53).
• An active appointment. For a 2-34 agent, it must be with the insurer named on the bond’s power of attorney (s. 648.30(1)(b)).

• Since January 1, 2024, bail bond agencies must hold their own DFS license (s. 648.285(2)). Search the agency by name in the same tool. Each location must display the license where customers can clearly see it (s. 648.285(4)).
• Every location must have a designated bail bond agent in charge (s. 648.387).
• An agent can only be a surety in a county where they are registered with the sheriff and the clerk of the circuit court (s. 648.42). The jail or the clerk can confirm it.

• They call themselves a bounty hunter or bail enforcement agent (s. 648.30(2)).
• They approach people at a jail or courthouse, or hand out cards there, when nobody asked them to (s. 648.44(1)(b)).
• They come to the home of the person arrested, or the family, to solicit before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., or call then (s. 648.44(1)(c)).
• They advertise “free” bail or a reduced premium (s. 648.44(6)). The premium can be neither more nor less than the approved rate (s. 648.33(2)).
• They charge for anything beyond the premium, an authorized transfer fee, collateral and the documented costs the rules allow (s. 648.44(1)(j), Rule 69B-221.105).
• They recommend a particular attorney (s. 648.44(1)(a)).

The Department of Financial Services’ Insurance Consumer Helpline is 1-877-693-5236 (1-877-MY-FL-CFO), Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. The department licenses bail bond agents and agencies and investigates complaints against them.

Every BailHub member is checked against these same DFS license and appointment records, and the records are checked again every day. How verification works.