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I am a licensed Bail Bonding Agent in the state of Iowa. I recall on the test I took to get my license in Iowa, that a surety bond company has one year to retrieve a defendant after missing court and forfeiture of said surety bond. That one year period allows time for the surety agent to find defendant and to partition the court for a partial refund of the value of the surety bond. I can not find the section of the Iowa Code that shows this information. That is my question, where in the Iowa Code is this information? What section? I know section of Iowa Code 811 is about Bail Bonding, but it doesn't get into the length of time that a request to the court can be made for any return of the surety's money after a forfeiture has been paid. Iowa gives approximately 60 days to find a defendant after missing a court date to pay a forfeiture before a judgment is entered. Thank you in advance. Jim :))
Hello - Thank you for contacting JustAnswer. My name is Michael; I look forward to helping you with your criminal problem today.
It appears it is 60 days after the forfeiture has been entered, not a year. Here is the statute:
Remission.
Where a forfeiture and judgment have been entered as provided in this section, and the amount of the judgment has been paid to the clerk, the clerk shall hold the money for a period of sixty days from the date of judgment.
The court may, upon application, set aside such judgment if, within sixty days from the date thereof, the defendant shall voluntarily surrender to the sheriff of the county, or the defendant's sureties shall, at their own expense, deliver the defendant to the custody of the sheriff.
Such judgment shall not be set aside, however, unless as a condition precedent thereto, the defendant and the defendant's sureties shall have paid all costs and expenses incurred in connection therewith.
As you can see, 811.6 gives the clerk the ability to set a forfeiture judgment aside 60 days after it is entered, as long as the defendant is found and taken into custody.
Thank you Michael!! It has been a while since I have taken the test, and in this time of buget short falls the courts have been very sloppy in keeping up with the payment of fitfortures. I have always followed the letter of the law on any forfiture and paid them as prompt as I could always in the 60 days.
You're welcome!
I hope this was helpful!
I wish you the best of luck! Don't forget to press ACCEPT if my Answer was helpful. If you need me to clarify my Answer or ask a follow up question, just ask! My goal is to provide an outstanding Answer, so give me a chance.Regards,Michael
I recently had a situation with a court that is not inb the norm ofg my range of business. The defedent failed to appear for a "show cause," on fines. The court had ordered a warrent for the party and "said that the warrent only allowed for a $1000 bond to be posted as long as it was surrendeder to the court for fines, or as commly refered to asd a "purge bond," I was never ionformed that the bond was of this type and when the party appeared the court only contiouned the bond until March of 2011. I was informed by the clerk that I would need to requesrt a formal release of the bond with the court. I did and when I received an answer from the court the release was denied.
That was the first time that I was told about the judges order as being a purge bond.
I hired an attorney to schedule a hearing and that was denied too. Now the court stold my money and is not allowing me to have a hearing to explain their grounds as to why this was sio fishy in the first place!! The court knows that it would probally lose the money on appeal but they also know it will cost me more than a grand to fight it and get it back!! The court is bulling me and my only recourse ios to file a complaint to the supreme court about the county attorney..... I know it would be a pain in his rear but I am considering it just because they are littary Stealing my money with out a hearing!!!
Experience: Licensed Missisippi Attorney; Criminal Law, Family Law, Personal Injury, and Civil Defense