Arizona

Criminal Procedure

Criminal Procedure

Rule 7.6 – Transfer and Disposition of Bond

(a)Transfer upon Supervening Indictment. An appearance bond or release order issued following the filing of a felony complaint in justice court will automatically be transferred to a criminal case in superior court after an indictment is filed that alleges the same charges.
(b)Filing and Custody of Appearance Bonds and Security. A defendant must file an appearance bond and security, if ordered, with the clerk of the court in which a case is pending or the court in which the initial appearance is held. If the case is transferred to another court, the transferring court must transfer any appearance bond and security.
(c)Forfeiture Procedure.

(1)Arrest Warrant and Notice to Surety. If the court is informed that the defendant has violated a condition of an appearance bond, it may issue a warrant for the defendant’s arrest. No later than 10 days after the warrant’s issuance, the court must notify the surety, in writing or electronically, that the warrant was issued.
(2)Hearing and Notice. After issuing the arrest warrant, the court must set a hearing within a reasonable time, no later than 120 days after it issued the warrant, requiring the parties and any surety to show cause why the bond should not be forfeited. The court must notify the parties and any surety of the hearing in writing or electronically. The forfeiture hearing may be combined with a Rule 7.5(d) hearing.
(3)Forfeiture. If the court finds that the violation is not excused, it may enter an order forfeiting all or part of the bond amount, and the State may enforce that order as a civil judgment. The order must comply with Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 58(a).
(d)Exoneration.

(1)Generally. If the court finds before a violation that there is no further need for an appearance bond, it must exonerate the bond and order the return of any security.
(2)Amount Returned. When a deposit bond or cash bond is exonerated, the court must order the return of the entire amount deposited unless forfeited under Rule 7.6(c)(3) or the bond depositor authorizes it be applied to a financial obligation.
(3)If the Defendant Is Surrendered, In-Custody, or Transferred. The court must exonerate the bond if:

(A) the surety surrenders the defendant to the sheriff of the county in which the prosecution is pending, and:

(i) the surrender is on or before the day and time the defendant is ordered to appear in court; and
(ii) the sheriff informs the court of the defendant’s surrender;
(B) the defendant is in the custody of the sheriff of the county in which the prosecution is pending on or before the day and time the defendant is ordered to appear in court under the following conditions:

(i) the surety provides the sheriff with an affidavit of surrender of the appearance bond; and
(ii) the sheriff reports the defendant is in custody and that the surety has provided an affidavit of surrender of the appearance bond; or
(C) before the defendant was released to the custody of the surety, the defendant was released or transferred to the custody of another government agency, preventing the defendant from appearing in court on the scheduled court date and the surety establishes:

(i) the surety did not know and could not have reasonably known of the release or transfer or that a release or transfer was likely to occur; and
(ii) the defendant’s failure to appear was a direct result of the release or transfer.
(4)Conditions When Not Required to Exonerate Bond. The court is not required to exonerate the bond under (d)(2)(C) if a detainer was placed on the defendant before the bond was posted or the release or transfer to another government agency was for 24 hours or less.
(5)Other Circumstances. In all other instances, the decision whether or not to exonerate a bond is within the discretion of the court.
(6)Post-Forfeiture Notice. After filing an order of forfeiture, the court must provide:

(A) a copy of the order to the State, the defendant, the defendant’s attorney, and the surety; and
(B) a copy of a signed order to the county attorney for collection.

Ariz. R. Crim. P. 7.6

Added August 31, 2017, effective January 1, 2018.

HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES

Former Rule 7.6, relating to transfer and disposition of bond, was abrogated effective January 1, 2018.