Court Rule 1:13-3. Approval and Filing of Surety Bond; Judgment Against Principal and Surety

Court Rule 1:13-3. Approval and Filing of Surety Bond; Judgment Against Principal and Surety

• (a) Approval by the Court. Neither the clerk of the court, the sheriff, nor any other person shall accept a surety bond in any action or proceeding pending in the court, other than a bond for costs given by a non-resident claimant, unless the same has been approved as to form and sufficiency by a judge of any court of this State except that a surrogate may approve and accept a bond, and in the absence of a judge the clerk may approve and accept a bail bond. Bonds need not be filed in duplicate.

• (b) Contents. All surety and bail bonds given in any court shall provide that the principal and surety thereby submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the court (or to the jurisdiction of the trial court, if the bond is given in an appellate court); that they irrevocably appoint the clerk of the court having jurisdiction as their agent upon whom papers affecting their liability on the bond may be served; that they waive any right to a jury trial; that the liability of the principal and surety may be enforced by motion in the action, if one is pending, without the necessity of an independent action; and that the motion may be served on the principal and surety by mailing it, by ordinary mail, to the clerk of the court, or to the surrogate in the case of a bond approved by the Chancery Division, Probate Part or the surrogate, who shall forthwith mail copies thereof by ordinary mail to the principal and surety at the addresses stated in the bond.

• (c) Cash Deposit. Whenever a bond with sureties is required, the court, including the Surrogate, may by order allow a cash deposit in lieu thereof.

• (d) Registry of Insurers. No surety bond for purposes of bail shall be accepted by any court unless the insurer has first filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court a Bail Program Registration Form in the form prescribed by Appendix XXI to these rules. Said form shall include the insurer's certification that it is authorized or admitted to transact surety business by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance and shall include the name and address of each of its bail agents and agencies, any other person or entity who has provided it with a guarantee to satisfy forfeited bail or a bail forfeiture judgment, and any other person or entity authorized by the insurer to administer or manage its bail bond business. The bail agents and agencies so registered by the insurer shall be licensed as insurance producers or limited lines insurance producers. The insurer shall have a continuing obligation to update its Bail Program Registration Form as changes occur in order to assure that the information is complete and accurate.

• (e) Removal from Bail Registry.

• (1) Licensure. A registered insurer shall be removed from the Bail Registry on 30 days notice if it fails to provide complete and accurate information as required by the Bail Program Registration Form. A registered insurer who fails to maintain its authorization or admission to transact surety business in this State or a registered bail agent or agency, guarantor, or other person administering or managing an insurer's bail bond business if it fails to maintain any license required by the Department of Banking and Insurance shall be forthwith removed from the Bail Registry.

• (2) Failure to Satisfy Judgment. If a registered insurer fails to satisfy a judgment entered pursuant to R. 3:26-6(c) or R. 7:4-5(c), the Clerk of the Superior Court shall forthwith send the insurer a notice informing it that if it fails to satisfy the judgment within fifteen days of the notice, it shall be removed from the Bail Registry until satisfaction is made. Further, the insurer's bail agents and agencies, guarantors, and other persons or entities authorized to administer or manage its bail bond business in this State will have no further authority to act for it. Their names, as acting for the insurer, will be removed from the Bail Registry. In addition, the bail agent or agency, guarantor, or other person or entity authorized by the insurer to administer or manage its bail bond business in this State who acted in such capacity with respect to the forfeited bond will be precluded, by removal from the Bail Registry, from so acting for any other insurer until the judgment has been satisfied.

• (3) Habitual Noncompliance. Unless the court orders otherwise, nothing herein shall preclude the Clerk of the Superior Court, on 30 days' notice, from removing from the Bail Registry any person or entity habitually failing to perform the obligations imposed by the bail bonds.

• (4) Notice. All notices required by this rule shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address listed on the Bail Program Registration Form.