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40 verbatim requirements from administrative order 07-99-17-02 - Amended Administrative Order Governing Surety Bond Forfeiture and Remission Procedures for the Ninth Judicial Circuit.
9th Judicial Circuit. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
Verbatim from https://ninthcircuit.org/sites/default/files/07-99-17-2_0.pdf, harvested 2026-07-25; whitespace normalised only. • WHEREAS, it is the public policy of the State of Florida that a criminal surety bail bond shall be construed as a commitment by and an obligation upon the bail bond agent/surety to ensure that a defendant appears at all criminal proceedings and otherwise fulfills all conditions of the bond; and • WHEREAS, when non-appearing defendants are found and placed in the custody of another county, either in Florida, or in another state, by the efforts of law enforcement, the bail bond/surety or otherwise, additional procedures are required, under the strict terms of applicable • Administration 2.050 order that the following procedures shall be followed in regard to all criminal cases in Orange County and Osceola County involving the failure of a defendant to appear, any forfeiture of the surety bond, subsequent surrender and arrest of a non-appearing defendant, the discharge of a surety bond forfeiture, and the remission of a surety bond forfeiture: • That official shall take the defendant into custody and issue a certificate acknowledging surrender of the defendant. • The surety shall provide the State Attorney at least three days notice of application for an order of exoneration and shall furnish him or her a copy of the certificate acknowledging surrender of the defendant. • Upon receipt of the certificate acknowledging surrender of the defendant, the Clerk of Court shall automatically discharge the bond. • A surety shall be exonerated from liability on a bond if a determination is made prior to any breach of the bond that the defendant is in any jail or prison prior to the breach, and the surety provides a transport order and agrees in writing to pay the transportation costs of returning the defendant to the county in which the case is pending, to wit: either Orange County or Osceola • The phrase "any jail or prison" as stated in this subsection shall be interpreted in accordance with the Florida case law which excludes jails and prisons outside the State of Florida and shall not operate to exonerate or excuse the surety from returning the defendant to the Orange County jail facility or to the Osceola County jail facility if the surety has not attempted to obtain a court order for transporting the defendant to either of these facilities. • Pursuant to section 903.26(2)(b), Florida Statutes, failure of the defendant to appear at the time, date, and place of the required appearance shall result in automatic forfeiture of the bonda. • However, a bail bond shall not be forfeited for the failure of a defendant to appear at the time, date, and place of a required court appearance, unless: • Notice shall not be necessary if the time for appearance is within seventy-two (72) hours from the time of arrest or if the time is stated on the bond. • Any appearance by a defendant on a day later than that set in the notice constitutes a forfeiture of the bond, and the court shall not preclude entry of such forfeiture by the Clerk. • The Clerk of Court shall mail the certificate of forfeiture within five (5) days of the forfeiture. • Failure of the Clerk to mail the certificate of forfeiture shall not serve as a basis to set aside the forfeiture as set forth herein, unless the surety can demonstrate prejudice. d. • At the time the Court forfeits a bail bond for a defendant's failure to appear, it shall set new conditions of pretrial release. • In doing so, the Court shall not release a defendant on his or her own recognizance if that defendant failed to appear, but who then voluntarily appeared or -- 4 of 16 -- 5 surrendered. • A defendant who failed to appear and who was surrendered or arrested at any time following forfeiture shall not be eligible for release on his or her own recognizance or on any bond which does not require a monetary undertaking equal to or greater than two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) or twice the value of the monetary commitment or undertaking of the original bond, whichever is greater. • This section may not be construed as imposing additional duties or obligations on a governmental entity related to monetary bonds. • For the purposes of this Administrative Order, the terms "surrender or arrest" of a non-appearing defendant shall mean and include the following circumstances: a. • In the event the defendant surrenders or is arrested outside of Florida, the surety shall pay all costs of transporting the defendant from that location to the appropriate county jail in this • However, this subsection shall not operate to exonerate the bail bonds agent/surety of his/her obligations to bring the defendant back within the required sixty (60)-day period pursuant to section 903.26(5)(c), Florida Statutes. c. • Any order setting aside, discharging, vacating or remitting a forfeiture must include, at a minimum, a provision that the surety pay any transportation costs before the forfeiture is set aside, discharged or vacated or that any transportation costs be deducted from any funds remitted to a surety who has previously paid the forfeiture. • Furthermore, if the surety has not paid the forfeiture, the surety shall pay the forfeiture amount in addition to the transportation costs. • A surety who seeks a discharge or setting aside of a forfeiture shall file a Motion for • Any such Motion filed after the sixtieth (60th) day shall be void. b. • Upon filing a Motion to Set Aside/Discharge the Forfeiture, the surety shall immediately schedule a hearing on that Motion which must be held within the sixty (60)-day -- 6 of 16 -- 7 time period from the date the certificate of forfeiture was mailed. • Notice of the hearing must be sent to the State Attorney and the County Attorney. • State Attorney and the County Attorney agree to the discharge, but the order setting aside the forfeiture must be signed and filed within the above stated sixty (60) days, with the exception of compliance with the provisions as stated in section 6 of this Administrative Order. c. • The Court shall discharge a bond forfeiture within sixty (60) days from the date that the certificate of forfeiture was mailed if a determination is made that: • However, the potential adverse economic consequences of appearing as required shall not be considered as constituting a ground for such a determination. • 903.26(5)(c), Florida Statutes. "Surrender or arrest" of the defendant shall be determined in accordance with the definitions set forth in section 3 paragraph a of this Order. • The proper prosecution of the defendant shall be presumed not to have been thwarted absent an affirmative assertion by the State Attorney, which then must be established by evidence adduced at a hearing -- 7 of 16 -- 8 on the matter. d. • Any order discharging a forfeiture shall be conditioned on the payment of any actual costs such as transportation costs which might be necessary to bring the defendant back to the • Sureties requesting the Clerk to automatically discharge a bond shall deliver to the • Upon receipt of the re-commitment order, the Sheriff’s Office shall determine the sum for the transportation costs, if any, and shall indicate said amount of costs on a form to be provided to the surety. • The surety shall pay any transportation costs to the Sheriff’s Office and the • Sheriff’s Office shall provide the surety with a receipt showing payment of said costs. • The surety shall then take the re-commitment order and receipt to the Clerk’s Office. • Upon receipt of said documents, the Clerk shall automatically discharge the bond. • Accordingly, in those cases in which the Defendant is returned to the custody of a jail or correctional facility in Orange County or Osceola County within ten (10) days prior to the sixtieth (60th) day and the surety has filed by the sixtieth (60th) day the Motion for Discharge of -- 8 of 16 -- 9 the Bond Forfeiture with the appropriate documentation from the jail or correctional facility proving that the defendant was returned to custody within the sixty (60)-day period, the Clerk shall allow an additional ten (10) days from the sixtieth (60th) day for an order to be entered granting the Motion before requiring the surety to pay the forfeiture amount or subsequently entering a judgment.
WHEREAS, it is the public policy of the State of Florida that a criminal surety bail bond shall be construed as a commitment by and an obligation upon the bail bond agent/surety to ensure that a defendant appears at all criminal proceedings and otherwise fulfills all conditions of the bond; and
Reviewer note: Order PDF sha256: 27ccc5ea955fbc89c17bc134c41893286bd402ac8514499cced975aa802a69d3. Extracted from the order's own text layer.
Judge Bell caps motions and responses at 5 pages for UMC hearings and 12 pages for special-set hearings.
Judge Alijewicz requires every motion for attorney's fees and/or costs to attach a document detailing time records — no records, no fee award.
Judge Corlew bars informal contact: every communication with the Court must be in writing, filed with the Clerk, with copies furnished to all parties — and no calls to the JA to schedule or cancel UMC.