New York State Law
Criminal Procedure Law
Consolidated Laws of New York's CPL code
Article 540 - NY Criminal Procedure Law
FORFEITURE OF BAIL AND REMISSION THEREOF
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| 540.10 | Forfeiture of bail; generally. |
| 540.20 | Forfeiture of bail; certain local criminal courts. |
| 540.30 | Remission of forfeiture. |
S 540.10 Forfeiture of bail; generally. 1. If, without sufficient excuse, a principal does not appear when required or does not render himself amenable to the orders and processes of the criminal court wherein bail has been posted, the court must enter such facts upon its minutes and the bail bond or the cash bail, as the case may be, is thereupon forfeited. 2. If the principal appears at any time before the final adjournment of the court, and satisfactorily excuses his neglect, the court may direct the forfeiture to be discharged upon such terms as are just. If the forfeiture is not so discharged and the forfeited bail consisted of a bail bond, the district attorney, within one hundred twenty days after the adjournment of the court at which such bond was directed to be forfeited, must proceed against the obligor or obligors who executed such bond, in the manner prescribed in subdivision three. If the forfeited bail consisted of cash bail, the county treasurer with whom it is deposited shall give written notice of the forfeiture to the person who posted cash bail for the defendant may at any time after the final adjournment of the court or forty-five days after notice of forfeiture required herein has been given, whichever comes later, apply the money deposited to the use of the county. 3. A bail bond or cash bail, upon being forfeited, together with a certified copy of the order of the court forfeiting the same, must be filed by the district attorney in the office of the clerk of the county wherein such order was issued. Such clerk must docket the same in the book kept by him for docketing of judgments and enter therein a judgment against the obligor or obligors who executed such bail bond for the amount of the penalty of said bond or against the person who posted the cash bail for the amount of the cash bail, and the bond and the certified copy of the order of the court forfeiting the bond or the cash bail constitutes the judgment roll. Such judgment constitutes a lien on the real estate of the obligor or obligors who executed such bail bond from the time of the entry of the judgment. An execution may be issued to collect the amount of said bail bond in the same form and with the same effect as upon a judgment recovered in an action in said county upon a debt in favor of the people of the state of New York against such obligor or obligors. S 540.20 Forfeiture of bail; certain local criminal courts. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 540.10, when bail has been posted in a city court, town court or village court in connection with a local criminal court accusatory instrument, other than a felony complaint, and thereafter such bail is forfeited, the following rules are applicable: 1. If such bail consists of a bail bond, the financial officer of such city, town or village must promptly commence an action for the recovery of the sum of money specified in such bond, and upon collection thereof shall pay the same over to the treasurer or financial officer of the city, the supervisor of the town or the treasurer of the village. Any amount recovered in such action, unless otherwise provided by law, shall be the property of the city, town or village in which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed. 2. If such bail consists of cash bail, the local criminal court must: (a) If it is a city court, pay the forfeited bail to the treasurer or other financial officer of the city. Such forfeited bail, unless otherwise provided by law, is the property of such city. (b) If it is a town court or a village court, pay the forfeited bail to the state comptroller on or before the tenth day of the month next succeeding such forfeiture. Such forfeited bail, unless otherwise provided by law, is the property of the town or village in which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed; provided, however, that when (i) a single amount of bail is posted for more than a single offense charged, and (ii) the town or village justice court does not attribute a specific amount of bail to each offense, and (iii) forfeited bail for at least two of the offenses would be the property of different governmental entities, the entire amount of forfeited bail shall be the property of the town or village in which the offenses charged are alleged to have been committed, except that, when forfeited bail for at least one of the offenses would be the property of the state, the entire amount of forfeited bail shall be the property of the state. S 540.30 Remission of forfeiture. 1. After the forfeiture of a bail bond or cash bail, as provided in section 540.10, an application for remission of such forfeiture may be made to a court as follows: (a) If the forfeiture has been ordered by a superior court, the application must be made in such court; (b) If the forfeiture has been ordered by a local criminal court, the application must be made to a superior court in the county, except that if the local criminal court which ordered the forfeiture was a district court, the application may alternatively be made to that district court. 2. The application must be made within one year after the forfeiture of the bail is declared upon at least five days notice to the district attorney and service of copies of the affidavits and papers upon which the application is founded. The court may grant the application and remit the forfeiture or any part thereof, upon such terms as are just. The application may be granted only upon payment of the costs and expenses incurred in the proceedings for the enforcement of the forfeiture. Top of Page
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