Releasing Property Pledged for a Georgia Bond After the Case Ends

Attorney Answer

Your wife's liability on that bond ended when the court accepted your plea or found you guilty — but "released from liability" is not the same thing as getting money back or clearing the lien on her property. The release has to be obtained from the court and recorded; it does not happen by itself just because your case ended today.

The governing law. O.C.G.A. § 17-6-31 is titled "Surrender of principal by surety; release from liability." Subsection (c) provides that the principal is also considered surrendered by a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or upon a finding of guilt, and that upon such plea or finding "the surety shall be released from liability."

Read what that gives her and what it does not. It ends her exposure — she is no longer on the hook to produce you in court or to pay if you fail to appear. That is real and it is the important part. What the section does not do is prescribe any mechanics for returning cash posted with the court or for clearing a lien recorded against real property. Those are administrative steps handled by the clerk of court and the sheriff on the individual bond, and in most counties somebody has to ask.

One further point, since your question was about receiving money. If your wife pledged real property rather than paying cash, there is no refund to receive — what she gets is a release of the encumbrance on her property. And if any part of this went through a commercial bonding company, the percentage fee paid to that company is its charge for writing the bond, not a deposit, and it is not returned when the case ends.

What you can do

1. Get a certified copy of today's disposition from the clerk of court. Everything else runs off that document. 2. Take it to the office that recorded the bond — usually the clerk of court or the sheriff's bonding office in the county of arrest — and ask, in person, for the written release or satisfaction of the property bond. Ask what form they use and who signs it. 3. Confirm the release is actually filed in the county real property records. Do not take anyone's word for it. Check the index yourself, in person or online, and get a stamped copy showing the recording date. 4. If cash was posted with the court instead of property, ask the clerk about the refund process and, specifically, whether fines, fees, surcharges or restitution from your sentence will be applied against it first. In many courts they are. 5. Ask the clerk in writing who is entitled to the refund — the person who posted it, or the defendant. Courts differ, and if your wife's money is at stake she should have her name on that paperwork. 6. If weeks pass with nothing recorded, have a lawyer send a letter or file a motion asking the court to order the release. That is usually all it takes.