6.2 Types of Bonds: Personal, Corporate, Criminal Defendant, Property, and Cash

Two Ways to Classify Bonds

The outline's section 3.3 mixes two kinds of classification:

1. Who or what secures the bond: personal surety, corporate surety, property bond, or nonsurety/cash.
2. Why the defendant needs it: criminal defendant bonds for bail, appeal, or habeas corpus.

Forms of Bail Under Ohio Law

ORC 2937.22(A) lists the basic forms of bail:

1. a cash deposit by the accused or someone else;
2. a deposit of bonds of the United States, Ohio, or an Ohio political subdivision (securities) in a face amount equal to the bail; and
3. a recognizance, the written undertaking to forfeit the set sum on default.

The 2023 pretrial-release statute, ORC 2937.011(C), lets a court release a defendant on one or more of these, in the amount set:

Own recognizance (ORC 2937.29) releases the accused on their own promise. Failing to appear on an own-recognizance release is a separate crime: a fourth-degree felony if the release was on a felony charge, and a first-degree misdemeanor if on a misdemeanor charge (ORC 2937.99).

Personal Surety Bonds

A personal surety is an individual who acts as surety using their own assets.

• Felonies (ORC 2937.281): The recognizance is signed by the accused and one or more adult residents of the county where the case is pending who, together, own real property worth double the bail, over and above all encumbrances and liable to execution in at least that amount.
• Misdemeanors (ORC 2937.281): Residents may qualify with real or personal property, and a judge may authorize the accused alone to sign.
• Justification (ORC 2937.011(L)): Every surety except a licensed corporate surety must justify by affidavit. The affidavit may be required to describe the property offered, its encumbrances, other undischarged bonds, and all other liabilities. The court may not approve the bond unless the surety appears financially responsible for at least the bond amount.
• Attorneys: "A licensed attorney at law may not be a surety" (ORC 2937.011(L)).

Corporate Surety Bonds

A corporate surety bond is posted by an insurance company authorized to write surety in Ohio, acting through a licensed, appointed agent with a power of attorney.

• ORC 2937.281 allows felony and misdemeanor recognizances to be signed by the accused and an authorized surety company.
• Licensed corporate sureties are exempt from the justification affidavit (ORC 2937.011(L)). Their financial strength is regulated by ODI instead.
• This is the commercial bail bond the Series 11-42 license authorizes you to write.

Property Bonds

A property bond pledges real estate (or securities) to the state.

• Affidavit of justification (ORC 2937.24): The surety pledges real property located in Ohio and swears to its title, value, encumbrances, other recognizances, unsatisfied judgments, and net worth. The affidavit names where notices may be served.
• Lien (ORC 2937.25): For a recognizance over $200 with a justification affidavit, a lien in favor of the state attaches to the described property for the penal sum. The clerk files a notice of lien with the county recorder of the county where the property sits.
• Release of lien (ORC 2937.26): When the recognizance is canceled or discharged, or the case ends, the clerk files a notice of discharge with the recorder.
• Securities: If deposited securities are forfeited, the clerk mails notice and may sell them. The depositor can redeem them within 10 days of mailing by producing the defendant or posting cash equal to the bail (ORC 2937.36(B)).

Do not confuse a court property bond with real property taken as collateral by a bail agent. Collateral is governed by ORC 3905.92 and OAC 3901-1-66(H) (Section 7.2).

Nonsurety and Cash Bonds

• OAC 3901-1-66(C)(1) defines a cash bond as the full amount of the bail paid in cash to release a defendant.
• Cash deposited by someone other than the accused, once discharged, may not be reduced by the court or applied to the defendant's fines or costs without the depositor's express approval. Cash deposited by the accused may be applied to fines and costs if the defendant is not indigent (ORC 2937.40(B)-(C), effective April 9, 2025).
• The agent's limits (ORC 3905.932(G)): An agent must post using a bail instrument representing an insurer for all types of set court bail, except (1) cash court fees or cash reparation fees, (2) 10% assignments, and (3) other nonsurety court bonds, if the agent gives full written disclosure and receipts and keeps copies for at least three years.

Criminal Defendant Bonds: Bail, Appeal, and Habeas Corpus

Two related rules:

• A recognizance generally carries forward. The accused need not give a new recognizance to appear in common pleas on an indictment or pending appeal, unless the court raises or lowers the amount for good cause, and the recognizance continues "until trial and appeal therefrom is finally determined" (ORC 2937.28). Read your bond form and the court's entries to know whether your surety undertaking extends that far.
• A prisoner charged with a capital felony brought before a judge on habeas corpus shall not be let to bail (ORC 2725.19).

Immigration Bonds

OAC 3901-1-66(C)(4) defines an immigration bond as a federally accepted bond from a surety approved by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, issued for alien detainees held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending a hearing, or to guarantee financial independence during a visit. Under OAC 3901-1-66(F), immigration bonds may be solicited, sold, or negotiated only by a person with an Ohio casualty line, or by a surety bail bond licensee whose bond power expressly allows immigration bonds.