Article V. Bail Bonds.

The clerk of the circuit court for Montgomery County shall appoint a clerk to serve as central bail bond clerk for the circuit court and district court for Montgomery County. The central bail bond clerk shall serve at the pleasure of the clerk of the circuit court of Montgomery County and shall be paid such compensation as provided for in said clerk’s budget. The duties of the central bail bond clerk shall include those set forth in this article, and such additional duties as assigned by the clerk of the circuit court or by the administrative judges of the said courts. The bail bond clerk shall give bond for the faithful performance of his duties in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00).

The central bail bond clerk shall maintain all bond agreements and shall be responsible for the funds deposited with the court attendant to such bond agreements. Bail bond agreements and depository funds attendant thereto shall be transmitted to the central bail bond clerk by the judges and clerks of the Montgomery County circuit courts and judges, clerks and commissioners of the Montgomery County district courts. The central bail bond clerk shall keep separate indexes and record books; one (1) for the bonds posted at the district court level and one (1) for the bonds posted at the circuit court level. The central bail bond clerk shall refund all monies upon the satisfaction of the conditions of a bond. The central bail bond clerk shall report periodically to the circuit court and to the district court the status of all outstanding bonds and the bond liabilities of all persons engaged in the business of being surety upon bonds for compensation as set forth in this article.

A judge of the circuit court, a judge of the district court or a commissioner of the district court, may, unless otherwise prohibited by law or rule of court in any criminal or motor vehicle violation, release the defendant on his person recognizance.

In all criminal or motor vehicle violations for which bond has been set, it may be complied with by a defendant or by a private surety acting in his behalf, by the execution of a bond in the face amount thereof and depositing with the clerk of the court or the committing magistrate a sum of money equal to ten (10) percent of the penalty of the bond. A judge or commissioner may increase the percentage of cash surety required in a particular case up to one hundred (100) percent, but in no event shall a cash deposit be less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00). This provision permitting the posting of a percentage of the cash surety required does not apply if the defendant has been arrested for failure to appear in court or for contempt of court. Upon depositing the sum and executing the bond, the person shall be released from custody, subject to the conditions of the said bond. When all conditions of the bond have been performed without default and the defendant has been released from custody in the cause for which the bond was posted, the central bail bond clerk shall return the amount deposited to the person entitled thereto. If the defendant fails to perform any or all of the conditions of the bail bond, it shall be forfeited; and in the event of forfeiture, the liability of the bond shall extend to the full amount of the penalty of the bond set and the amount previously posted as a deposit shall be applied to reduce the liability incurred by the forfeiture.

Any person who owns real estate in Montgomery County may post a property bond. Before the clerk of the circuit court or his deputy or the administrative clerk of the district court or his deputy shall approve or accept such bond, a search of the records of the circuit court, including liens and judgments pertaining to the realty to be offered as security, shall be made by the central bail bond clerk or his designee. Reasonable court costs may be assessed for such search to be paid by the person offering the security. In the absence of negligence or willful dereliction, no clerk or deputy shall be personally liable for any loss sustained upon forfeiture of a property bond. Once the property bond has been posted, the central bail bond clerk shall record the amount of the bond as a lien against the real estate of the person offering the security in Montgomery County.

Nothing in this article shall affect the right of any person to be his own recognizance upon the posting of proper security.

Any judge of the circuit court or judge of the district court, or commissioner of the district court or sheriff, deputy sheriff or clerk of any court of Montgomery County receiving or accepting bonds shall forward, within twenty-four (24) hours, copies of all bonds of those persons arrested in Montgomery County to the central bail bond clerk.

Those persons who are arrested in Montgomery County for a criminal offense for which the setting of bond is required by law shall be taken as soon as possible before a judge of the circuit court or a judge of the district court or a commissioner of the district court in order that bond may be set.

The central bail bond clerk shall keep a properly indexed record of each defendant for whom a bail bond is received and accepted as aforesaid, the number of the case, indictment, information or warrant, the crime or crimes charged, the amount and type bond and any forfeiture thereof; and it shall be the duty of said central bail bond clerk to enter on writs and process directed to him, affecting a defendant for whom a bail bond has been received and accepted as aforesaid, whether or not the bond of the defendant is in full force and effect or has been forfeited.