Following Missoula shooting, state auditor's office proposes stricter bond agent rules

After two bail bond agents on temporary licenses were charged with involvement in a fatal shooting in Missoula in March, the Montana commissioner of securities and insurance is proposing stricter, clearer rules around bond agent certification and supervision.

The new rules, proposed Friday, will prevent any bond agent on a temporary license from apprehending someone without a fully licensed agent present.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to further safeguard Montanans through a commonsense rule change that will help ensure that inexperienced agents are not engaging in serious situations —unsupervised — where lethal force can be administered," Tyler Newcombe, the commissioner's office spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

According to charging documents, on March 4, four bail bond agents from Mr. Bail, a bail service headquartered in Billings, were in Missoula to apprehend Joshua Wykle. Prosecutors alleged that one of these agents, Brandon Wakefield, fatally shot the victim. He has been charged with deliberate homicide. Another of the agents, Austin Mistretta, has been charged with attempted assault.

The licenses of the agents involved, as well as the license of Mr. Bail, have been revoked.

According to filings from the office of the Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, James Brown, who also serves as the Montana auditor, all four bond agents were on temporary bond agent licenses and were not directly supervised by anyone with a permanent license.

In Montana, a string of bail agent incidents prompted the passage of House Bill 62 in 2023, which mandates that all bail bond agents complete 40 hours of training before getting their licenses and contact law enforcement before attempting to apprehend a defendant.

In 2025, House Bill 726 authorized the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance to issue temporary bail bond insurance licenses that would allow temporary licensees to operate under the supervision of a fully licensed bail agent while completing their training. This law didn't strictly define what "supervision" would look like.

"To guide the commissioner in exercising the statutory discretion, it is necessary to adopt rules concerning the supervision of temporary surety bail bond insurance licensees," the proposed rule change filing says.

Under Montana law, Brown is authorized to implement reasonable rules to enable administering Montana insurance and securities law.

The main change to Montana law is a new section about supervision for people with temporary bail bond agent licenses.

Under the proposed rule, someone applying for a temporary license would have to identify a fully licensed agent to supervise them, who would then have to submit a sworn affidavit agreeing to supervise and bear responsibility for the temporary licensee.

A supervisor could only supervise two temporary licensees at once.

While operating as a bail agent, the temporary licensee would have to be in direct physical presence of their supervisor when arresting someone or entering a private residence. When doing other bail agent work like issuing bonds, they'd have to work under the direct control and guidance of the supervisor and be able to immediately contact them.

It also makes some minor alterations to other areas of Montana insurance law to clarify rules around bail bond agent education. For instance, licensing classes will have to be approved by the commissioner and will fall under rules about continuing education courses.

A hearing on the proposed rule changes will take place on June 16 at 2 p.m. in the CSI basement conference room at 840 Helena Ave. in Helena. A virtual attendance link will be available.