§ 13-3974 — Exoneration of appearance bond; remission

A. A surety shall be relieved from liability on the appearance bond on which the defendant is released if one of the following applies:

1. The surety surrenders the defendant on that appearance bond into the custody of the sheriff of the county in which the prosecution is pending on or before the day and time the defendant is ordered to appear in court and the sheriff reports the surrender to the court.

2. The defendant is in the custody of the sheriff of the county in which the prosecution is pending on or before the day and time the defendant is ordered to appear in court, the surety provides an affidavit of surrender of the appearance bond to the sheriff and the sheriff reports the affidavit of surrender of the appearance bond and the defendant's custody to the court.

3. Before the defendant is released to the custody of the surety, the defendant is released or transferred to the custody of another government agency, preventing the defendant from appearing in court on the date and time the defendant is ordered to appear, and the surety establishes both of the following:

(a) The surety did not know and could not have reasonably known of the release or transfer or that a release or transfer was likely to occur.

(b) The defendant's failure to appear was a direct result of the release or transfer.

B. If a surety is relieved of liability pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 3 of this section, the surety shall return the premium and any and all collateral to the guarantors of the bond and the clerk shall return any money deposited.

C. Subsection A, paragraph 3 of this section does not apply if either:

1. A detainer was placed on the defendant before the bond was posted.

2. The release or transfer to another government agency is for a period of twenty-four hours or less.