Art. 328. Bail undertaking

            A. The bail undertaking shall:

            (1) Be in writing.

            (2) State the court before which the defendant is bound to appear.

            (3) Be entered into before an officer who is authorized to take it.

            (4) State a single amount of bail for each charge.

            B. The bail undertaking shall be enforceable if the above requirements are met; and no officer may refuse to accept the posting of a bail undertaking and releasing a defendant on bail if the conditions set by this Title are met. A person shall not be discharged from his bail undertaking, nor shall a judgment of forfeiture be stayed, set aside, or reversed, nor the collection of any such judgment be barred or defeated by reason of any defect of form, omission of a recital, or of a condition of the undertaking, by reason of a failure to note or record the default of any defendant or surety, or because of any other irregularity. The bail undertaking shall run, subject to the provisions of Article 626, in favor of the state of Louisiana, or the city or parish whose ordinance is charged to have been violated, with the proceeds to be disposed of according to law. No error, inaccuracy, or omission in naming the obligee on the bail undertaking is a defense to an action thereon.

            C.(1) An electronic bond shall only be executed in a parish where the sheriff has electronic bond software in place. Only agents approved by the sheriff shall execute an electronic bond. A licensed bail bond producer applying for electronic bond authority shall make an application to the sheriff and shall be domiciled and maintain a principal place of business in this state and possess a Louisiana bail bond producer license for at least three years preceding the date of application.

            (2) The approving sheriff authority may require any documents deemed necessary to verify the information contained in the application and may establish additional requirements for approval of electronic bond authority within the parish, including but not limited to geographic limitations, proof of local domicile or principal place of business within the parish, geofencing parameters, or other requirements that the sheriff deems appropriate for the administration of electronic bonds within the parish.

            (3) Any parish that elects to implement electronic bonds shall allow both in-person and electronic methods of posting bail bonds.

            (4)(a) The electronic bond provider shall maintain a registry of agents approved by each participating parish sheriff to execute electronic bonds within that parish.

            (b) Prior to permitting the execution of any electronic bond, the provider shall verify that the agent seeking to post the bond is listed in the approved agent registry for the parish in which the bond is to be posted. The provider shall deny electronic bond access to any agent who does not appear in the applicable registry.

            (c) The sheriff shall provide the electronic bond provider with timely notice of any additions to or removals from the approved registry.

            (5) When an electronic bond is used, all of the following procedures shall be followed:

            (a) The electronic bond provider shall implement multi-factor authentication for each individual bond posting transaction, which shall include at a minimum both of the following:

            (i) Facial recognition liveness verification linked to the identity of the approved licensed agent executing the bond.

            (ii) A secondary authentication factor independent of the agent's account login credentials.

            (b) The electronic bond provider shall ensure that the authentication required by Subsubparagraph (a) of this Subparagraph is performed personally by the approved agent of record at the time of each individual bond posting. The provider shall not permit the use of shared login credentials, shared authentication devices or factors, or proxy authentication by any person other than the approved agent of record.

            (c) The approving sheriff may, as a condition of authorizing electronic bond posting within the parish, require the electronic bond provider to incorporate a geographic restriction, including a geofence, limiting electronic bond posting to a defined geographic area within or proximate to the parish.

            (d) The electronic bond provider shall offer automated clearing house (ACH) electronic funds transfer as a method of payment for fees associated with the posting of an electronic bond.

            Acts 1993, No. 834, §1, eff. June 22, 1993; Acts 2016, No. 613, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017; Acts 2024, No. 564, §1; Acts 2026, No. 489, §1, eff. May 29, 2026.