Bond Information

When a person is arrested for an outstanding Class C misdemeanor warrant, he or she may be able to post a cash bond, surety bond or appearance bond to secure a release from jail while awaiting a hearing on the case. If the defendant has an outstanding capias pro fine warrant, only full payment of the amount owed is acceptable.

Appearance Bonds

To obtain an appearance/surety bond, you should contact a bail bondsman or other surety who has the proper authority to post a bond with the Court. The bondsman or surety will collect a fee for this service. The fee is generally a percentage of the total bail required to pay the fines. The bondsman's fee is generally non-refundable and is not paid to the Court for the citation(s).

Therefore, the defendant remains responsible for all fines, fees, costs, etc. for the outstanding warrant(s). After being released from jail, a notice of the posted appearance bond is forwarded to the Mansfield Municipal Court. Upon receiving this notice, the Court will notify the defendant of the date, time, and place of his or her hearing to resolve the outstanding citations. Failure to appear at this bond hearing will result in additional charges and a warrant will be reissued immediately.

Cash Bonds

Upon being arrested for outstanding Class C misdemeanor warrants, a defendant always has the ability to pay the total fines owed in cash to secure his or her release from jail. This is called posting a cash bond. The cash bond is generally collected at the jail where the defendant is incarcerated. The amount owed for outstanding Mansfield warrants is forwarded from that jail to the Mansfield Municipal Court of Record.

After the Court receives the cash bond payment, the defendant will be notified of the date, time, and place of his or her bond hearing. Failure to appear for this hearing will result in the forfeiture of the cash bond(s) toward the payment of the fines owed. If the Defendant appears at the bond hearing, he or she may still have the ability to request deferred disposition to keep the offenses from appearing on his or her driving/criminal record.

Bond Hearing Dates

The court hearing date will be assigned once the Surety appearance bonds are filed with the Mansfield Municipal Court or Police Department. It is the bondsman or attorney's responsibility to make sure their Principal is aware of the assigned court date. If a court date is reset or a new hearing date is scheduled the Surety and Principal, at their last known address, will be notified by mail of the new court date. The Surety will be responsible for the Principal's appearance at all court appearances until a plea of guilty or no contest has been entered or the case is dismissed.

For attorneys acting as sureties, the attorney representation letters will be reviewed once they are received at the Mansfield Municipal Court. Upon receipt of the attorney representation letter, the case will be placed on the next attorney plea docket and a notice will be mailed to the attorney and Principal, at their last known address, of the plea docket date. This will not count against the case as a reset. It is the attorney's responsibility to make sure the Principal is aware of their assigned court date and makes an appearance at all court proceedings. 

Continuance & Failure to Appear

Each defendant is allowed one continuance. If you have posted an appearance/surety bond and are not present at the bond hearing, the Court will issue a new citation for Failure to Appear. Failure to Appear is a separate offense which has an additional fine.

Failure to appear charges will be added to each of the original citations set for Court. Warrants for your arrest will then be issued on the original citation(s) as well as the additional Failure to Appear citation(s). A $50 fee is incurred on each citation, including the Failure to appear offenses, when the warrant is issued.

If a defendant who posts a cash bond does not appear at the bond hearing, the cash bond will be forfeited to pay the fines owed and the offenses will be listed as convictions on the Defendant's driving/criminal record.

Bond Forfeiture/Default

A bond is considered to be in default and bond forfeiture proceedings may begin if any of the following occurs: 

  • A Principal and/or Surety fails to show for any scheduled court appearance(s).
  • A Principal fails to enter a plea of guilty or no contest.
  • The Judge does not grant a dismissal.
  • The Judge has denied all motions for further resets.

Once a case is determined to be in default,  a notice will be mailed to the Surety and Principal, at their last known address. A warrant of arrest will be issued for the Principal and the Surety will be placed on the Non-Approved Bond List.