If a surety fails to bring the defendant before the court within the time period described in Section 77-20-502, the prosecuting attorney may request the forfeiture of the bail bond by:
Terms Used In Utah Code 77-20-505
Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
Forfeiture: means :
(a)
to divest an individual or surety from a right to the repayment of monetary bail; or
(b)
to enforce a pledge of assets or real or personal property from an individual or surety used to secure an individual's pretrial release. See Utah Code 77-20-102
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
Surety: means a surety insurer or a bail bond agency. See Utah Code 77-20-102
(a)
filing a motion for bail bond forfeiture with the court, supported by proof of notice to the surety of the defendant’s failure to appear; and
(b)
emailing a copy of the motion to the surety.
(2)
A court shall enter judgment of bail bond forfeiture without further notice if the court finds, by a preponderance of the evidence:
(a)
the defendant failed to appear as required;
(b)
the surety was given notice of the defendant’s failure to appear in accordance with Section 77-20-501;
(c)
the surety failed to bring the defendant to the court within the 180-day time period under Section 77-20-502; and
(d)
the prosecuting attorney has complied with the notice requirements under Subsection (1).
(3)
If the surety shows, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the surety has failed to bring the defendant before the court because the defendant is deceased through no act of the surety, the court may not enter judgment of bail bond forfeiture and the bail bond is exonerated.
(4)
(a)
The amount of bail forfeited is the face amount of the bail bond, but if the defendant is in the custody of another jurisdiction and the state extradites or intends to extradite the defendant, the court may reduce the amount forfeited to the actual or estimated costs of returning the defendant to the court’s jurisdiction.
(b)
A judgment under Subsection (5) shall:
(i)
identify the surety against whom judgment is granted;
(ii)
specify the amount of monetary bail forfeited;
(iii)
grant the forfeiture of the bail bond; and
(iv)
be docketed by the clerk of the court in the civil judgment docket.
(5)
A prosecuting attorney may immediately commence collection proceedings to execute a judgment of bail bond forfeiture against the assets of the surety.
Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 4, 2021 Special Session 2
