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

(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.

(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.)

History: P.A. 79-461 amended Subsec. (a) to specify applicability where bond is $500 or more and to add provisions re stay of execution on forfeiture; P.A. 84-123 amended Subsec. (a) to authorize a court to issue a capias for a defendant who fails to appear in court and to delete reference to issuance of a mittimus; P.A. 87-343 amended Subsec. (a) to provide automatic reinstatement of the bond and release of the surety when the arrested person is returned to custody within six months of the bond forfeiture; P.A. 96-96 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that when the “principal”, rather than the “arrested person”, is returned to custody “pursuant to the rearrest warrant or a capias” within six months of the forfeiture the bond shall be automatically “terminated”, rather than “reinstated”, and “the court shall order new conditions of release for the defendant in accordance with section 54-64a” and to add provision that when the principal returns to court voluntarily within two business days of the forfeiture, the court may vacate the forfeiture order and reinstate the bond if it finds the failure to appear was not wilful; P.A. 96-164 amended Subsec. (a) to extend from two to five business days the period after the date of forfeiture within which if the principal returns to court voluntarily the court may vacate the forfeiture order and reinstate the bond; P.A. 99-62 added new Subsec. (a)(2) requiring the court to provide written notice to the surety on the bond that the principal has failed to appear in court as conditioned in such bond, renumbering former Subdiv. (2) as Subdiv. (3); P.A. 03-202 amended Subsec. (a)(2) by adding provision re notice to insurer that is the surety on the bond, effective April 1, 2004; P.A. 14-184 amended Subsec. (a) to insert new Subdiv. (1), (2) and (3) designators, add provision allowing court to extend stay of execution for good cause shown and make conforming changes in Subdiv. (1), and add provision re time period inclusive of extension of date bond was ordered forfeited in Subdiv. (2), and made technical changes.

Notation

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 C. 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.