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Section 54-65a – Forfeiture of bond for failure to appear. Issuance of rearrest warrant or capias. Termination or reinstatement of bond. Rebate to surety

May 11, 2021 | Connecticut, Criminal Procedure

(a)

(1) Whenever an arrested person is released upon the execution of a bond with surety in an amount of five hundred dollars or more and such bond is ordered forfeited because the principal failed to appear in court as conditioned in such bond, the court shall, at the time of ordering the bond forfeited:

(A) Issue a rearrest warrant or a capias directing a proper officer to take the defendant into custody,
(B) provide written notice to the surety on the bond that the principal has failed to appear in court as conditioned in such bond, except that if the surety on the bond is an insurer, as defined in section 38a-660, the court shall provide such notice to such insurer and not to the surety bail bond agent, as defined in section 38a-660, and
(C) order a stay of execution upon the forfeiture for six months. The court may, in its discretion and for good cause shown, extend such stay of execution. A stay of execution shall not prevent the issuance of a rearrest warrant or a capias.
(2) When the principal whose bond has been forfeited is returned to custody pursuant to the rearrest warrant or a capias within six months after the date such bond was ordered forfeited or, if a stay of execution was extended, within the time period inclusive of such extension of the date such bond was ordered forfeited, the bond shall be automatically terminated and the surety released and the court shall order new conditions of release for the defendant in accordance with section 54-64a.
(3) When the principal whose bond has been forfeited returns to court voluntarily within five business days after the date such bond was ordered forfeited, the court may, in its discretion, and after finding that the defendant’s failure to appear was not wilful, vacate the forfeiture order and reinstate the bond.
(b) Whenever an arrested person, whose bond has been forfeited, is returned to the jurisdiction of the court within one year after the date such bond was ordered forfeited, the surety on such bond shall be entitled to a rebate of that portion of the forfeited amount as may be fixed by the court or as may be established by a schedule adopted by rule of the judges of the court.

Conn. Gen. Stat. ยง 54-65a

(P.A. 77-455; P.A. 79-461; P.A. 84-123, S. 3; P.A. 87-343, S. 1; P.A. 96-96; 96-164, S. 2; P.A. 99-62; P.A. 03-202, S. 21; P.A. 14-184, S. 2.)

Amended by P.A. 14-0184, S. 2 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2014 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2014.

Statute can coexist with common law right of bail bondsman to apprehend and surrender his principal; nothing in wording of statute abrogates that right. 199 Conn. 537. The proper legal standard for determining whether a surety may be relieved of its obligation on a bail bond continues to be the common law rule set forth in Taylor v. Taintor, 83 U.S. 366, i.e. that a surety will be released only when the appearance of the principal at trial is made impossible by an act of God, an act of the state or pursuant to law. 301 C. 617. This section and Sec. 54-66 do not expressly provide for, or preclude, the granting of rebate to a depositor of cash bail when defendant has been returned to the jurisdiction more than 6 months after the bond is called, but it is within the power of Connecticut courts to ensure defendant’s appearance and thus trial court’s award of such a rebate was proper. 68 CA 849.