COURT RULE 7:4-3. Form and Place of Deposit; Location of Real Estate; Record of Recognizances, Discharge and Forfeiture

COURT RULE 7:4-3. Form and Place of Deposit; Location of Real Estate; Record of Recognizances, Discharge and Forfeiture

• (a) Deposit of Bail. A defendant admitted to bail shall, together with the sureties, if any, sign and execute a recognizance before the person authorized to take bail or, if the defendant is in custody, the person in charge of the place of confinement. The recognizance shall contain the terms set forth in R. 1:13-3(b) and shall be conditioned upon the defendant's appearance at all stages of the proceedings until the final determination of the matter, unless otherwise ordered by the court. The total recognizance may be satisfied by more than one surety, if necessary. Cash may be accepted, and in proper cases, within the court's discretion, the posting of security may be waived. A corporate surety shall be one approved by the Commissioner of Insurance. A corporate surety shall execute the recognizance under its duly acknowledged corporate seal, and shall attach to its bond written proof of the corporate authority and qualifications of the officers or agents executing the recognizance. Real estate offered as security for bail for non-indictable offenses shall be approved by and deposited with the clerk of the county in which the offense occurred and not with the municipal court administrator.
• (b) Limitation on Individual Surety. Unless the court for good cause otherwise permits, no surety, other than an approved corporate surety, shall enter into a recognizance if there remains any previous undischarged recognizance or bail that was undertaken by that surety.
• (c) Real Estate in Other Counties. Real estate owned by a surety located in a county other than the one in which the bail is taken may be accepted, in which case the municipal court administrator of the court in which the bail is taken shall certify and transmit a copy of the recognizance to the clerk of the county in which the real estate is situated, and it shall be there recorded in the same manner as if taken in that county.
• (d) Record of Recognizance. In municipal court proceedings, the record of the recognizance shall be entered by the municipal court administrator or designee in the manner required by the Administrative Director of the Courts to be maintained for that purpose.
• (e) Record of Discharge; Forfeiture. When any recognizance shall be discharged by court order on proof of compliance with the conditions thereof or by reason of the judgment in any matter, the municipal court administrator or deputy court administrator shall enter the word "discharged" and the date of discharge at the end of the record of such recognizance. When any recognizance is forfeited, the municipal court administrator or deputy court administrator shall enter the word "forfeited" and the date of forfeiture at the end of the record of such recognizance and shall give notice of such forfeiture by ordinary mail to the municipal attorney, the defendant and any surety or insurer, bail agent or agency whose names appear in the bail recognizance. Notice to any insurer, bail agent or agency shall be sent to the address recorded in the Bail Registry maintained by the Clerk of the Superior Court pursuant to R. 1:13-3. When real estate of the surety located in a county other than the one in which the bail was taken is affected, the municipal court administrator or deputy court administrator in which such recognizance is given shall immediately send notice of the discharge or forfeiture and the date thereof to the clerk of the county where such real estate is situated, who shall make the appropriate entry at the end of the record of such recognizance.
• (f) Cash Deposit. When a person other than the defendant deposits cash in lieu of bond, the person making the deposit shall file an affidavit or certification explaining the lawful ownership thereof, and on discharge, such cash shall be returned to the owner named in the affidavit or certification, unless otherwise ordered by the court.
• (g) Ten Percent Cash Bail. Unless otherwise specified in the order setting the bail, bail may be satisfied by the deposit in court of cash in the amount of ten percent of the amount of bail fixed together with defendant's executed recognizance for the remaining ninety percent. No surety shall be required, unless specifically ordered by the court. If a ten percent bail is made by cash owned by one other than the defendant, the owner shall charge no fee for the cash deposited, other than lawful interest, and shall submit an affidavit or certification with the deposit detailing the rate of interest, confirming that no other fee is being charged, and listing the names of any other persons for whom the owner has deposited bail. A person making the ten percent deposit who is not the owner, shall file an affidavit or certification identifying the lawful owner of the cash, and, on discharge, the cash deposit shall be returned to the owner named in the affidavit or certification, unless otherwise ordered by the court.

Note: Source - R. (1969) 7:5-1, 3:26-4. Adopted October 6, 1997 to be effective February 1, 1998; subsection (e) amended December 8, 1998 to be effective January 15, 1999; caption amended, and paragraphs (e), (f), and (g) amended July 28, 2004 to be effective September 1, 2004.