6.1 Bond Forfeiture Procedure, 72-Hour Surety Notice & 60-Day Payment Timeline

6.1 Bond Forfeiture — F.S. 903.26

F.S. 903.26 controls when a bond may be forfeited, how the clerk gives notice, the 60-day payment clock, and the exclusive discharge grounds.

Conditions before forfeiture

A bail bond may not be forfeited unless:

1. the information, indictment, or affidavit was filed within 6 months after arrest; and
2. the clerk gave the surety at least 72 hours' notice before the required appearance, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.

The 72-hour notice is unnecessary when the appearance falls within 72 hours after arrest or when the appearance time is stated on the bond. Notice may be mailed or electronically transmitted.

This notice goes to the surety. It is not a five-day pre-hearing notice to the defendant.

Failure to appear and five-day notice

When the defendant fails to appear as required, the court declares the bond and bail money forfeited, and the clerk automatically enters forfeiture. Within 5 days after forfeiture, the clerk mails or electronically transmits notice to both:

• the surety agent; and
• the surety company.

A clerk's signed certificate identifying the transmission date, accompanied by a copy of the notice, proves proper delivery. If delivery was properly accomplished, failure of an agent, company, or defendant to receive it is not a defense.

A same-day late appearance is different from a later-day appearance. In the interest of justice, the court may decide that a defendant's appearance on the required day does not warrant forfeiture and may direct the clerk to set it aside. Appearance after the required day constitutes forfeiture.

Sixty-day payment clock

The forfeiture must be paid within 60 days after the date the notice was mailed or electronically transmitted. The clock does not begin when the agent happens to open the notice.

At 60 days, officials deposit forfeited money into the applicable fund and process bonds deposited under F.S. 903.16 as subsection (3) directs. If a noncash surety forfeiture remains unpaid and undischarged, F.S. 903.27 requires judgment and execution.

Four exclusive discharge categories

Within 60 days, the court must discharge forfeiture upon one of four grounds:

1. Appearance was impossible, at the required time or within 60 days, because of circumstances beyond the defendant's control; adverse economic consequences do not qualify.
2. At the appearance time or within 60 days, the defendant was confined in a listed institution, hospital, or detention facility; was deported; or died.
3. At the appearance time or within 60 days, the defendant was surrendered or arrested in a county, state, or federal jail or prison and a hold was placed for return to the court's jurisdiction, subject to return costs and expenses.
4. The state is unwilling to seek extradition within 30 days after the surety agent requests it, and the agent consents to pay return costs and expenses up to the bond's penal amount.

Subsection (6) forbids discharge for any other reason. Do not add a fifth “equitable,” “military,” or generic “good cause” category.

Clerk discharge before judgment — subsection (8)

Before judgment, if the defendant is arrested and returned to the court's county of jurisdiction or posts a new bond for the case, the clerk must discharge the forfeiture without another hearing or order when the sheriff or chief correctional officer gives the required affirmation.

The agent must pay return costs and expenses. If the agent and sheriff disagree about the amount, the court decides after notice to the sheriff and state attorney.

Timeline

A motion or operational recovery plan does not by itself create an extension missing from the statute. Match requested relief to an actual discharge, judgment-stay, or remission provision.