Bail forfeiture is what happens when a defendant fails to appear in court on their appointed date or otherwise breaks the terms of their bail. When this happens, the court will declare the bail bond as forfeited. State laws will often require a notice to be sent to the defendant and to their surety, which is the person who has directly offered up the bail amount.
When a notification of forfeiture has been sent, the surety will have the opportunity to bring the defendant into court. If they do not produce the defendant, the surety will need to either produce an excuse for the defendant not appearing in court, pay the forfeited bond, or be prepared to face any consequences of not paying the bond amount.
Each state will have their own laws and statutes for how bail forfeiture is handled. Every state will allow the surety the chance to defend the non-appearance in court, but beyond that many states have unique codes for dealing with further proceedings. It is important to look into the specific bail rules for your state.
Other than involuntary bail forfeiture as the result of failure to appear in court, many defendants are able to voluntarily forfeit their bail amount in order to cover the legal costs surrounding their case. When this occurs, the forfeited funds can only be used to cover court costs and legal fees, you cannot use the forfeited amount for anything else, including payments to the victim of the crime.
If the bail amount was paid by outside sources and the bail is then forfeited for any reason, it will be up to the defendant to pay back the amount to whoever has lent them money. When in this situation and attempting to use voluntary bail forfeiture, the court will require the authorization of those who posted bail.
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