Bail Bond

A specialty by which the defendant and other persons, usually not less than two, though the sheriff may take only one, become bound to the sheriff in a penalty equal to that for which bail is demanded, conditioned for the due appearance of such defendant to the legal process therein described, and by which the sheriff has been commanded to arrest him. It is only where the defendant is arrested or in the custody of the sheriff, under other than final process, that the sheriff can take such bond. On this bond being tendered to him, which he is compelled to take if the sureties are good, he must discharge the defendant.

With some exceptions, as for example, where the defendant surrenders nothing can be a performance of the condition of the bail bond, but putting in bail to the action.

The plaintiff has a right to demand from the sheriff an assignment of such bond, so that he may sue it for his own benefit.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.