Public Official Bonds
For most elected and appointed officeholders, the bond is one of the two things you have to do to actually take your seat — file the bond, take the oath, or the office stays vacant. It guarantees you will faithfully perform the duties of the office and account for every public dollar and record in your custody. And unlike almost every other surety bond, it protects the public from you: any claim the surety pays, it collects back from you personally.
Why the bond has to be filed before you take the oath
Filing is a qualification deadline
Most state codes make filing the bond and taking the oath joint conditions of qualifying for the office. Miss the statutory window after your election is certified or your appointment is made and the seat can be declared vacant. That is why officials order the bond the day the results are final — not the week they are sworn in.
Faithful performance > fidelity
A fidelity bond covers dishonesty. A faithful-performance bond covers the whole job: safeguarding funds, keeping the books, executing process, following the law. A claim does not require criminal intent — an honest official whose negligence causes a shortage has still breached the bond.
The bond does not shield you — it exposes you. It makes the public entity whole; then the surety recovers the full amount from the officeholder under the indemnity agreement. Officials who want protection for their own errors need public officials liability insurance (a form of errors-and-omissions coverage) — a separate product this bond never replaces.
Individual, schedule, or blanket — how a government bonds its officers
If you run a county or municipality, the structure you choose decides cost, paperwork, and what happens when personnel change. Statutes for the top elected offices usually force the first option; the rest is a budgeting decision:
Individual bond
One bond per officeholder, named personally. Required where the statute demands it (most elected offices) and the cleanest answer at audit time.
Name or position schedule
A single bond listing multiple officials by name or by position with an amount for each — common for deputies and department staff whose statutes allow schedule bonding.
Blanket employee coverage
Covers all employees for dishonesty without naming them. Useful below the statutory-officer level, but it cannot replace a bond a statute requires for a specific office.
Setting the penal sum: scaled to the money, or fixed by statute
There are two amount-setting regimes, and which one governs your office decides how much bond you buy. The common one is scaled to the funds in custody — a county board or council sets a treasurer’s or tax collector’s bond against the public money the office handles, so the figure moves with the budget. The other is a fixed statutory amount, where the code names the dollar figure outright regardless of the funds involved. Michigan is the clearest example: two different offices, two different fixed figures, neither one scaled to funds in custody:
Michigan's fixed statutory amounts — two office examples
Each office's penal sum is fixed by its own statute or court rule, not by funds handled
Deputy sheriff bond
$2,500
The minimum individual bond for an appointed deputy sheriff under MCL 51.70.
District court clerk / magistrate bond
$50,000
The minimum bond set by the State Court Administrator for a district court clerk, deputy clerk, or magistrate under MCL 600.8507 and MCR 8.204.
MCL 51.70 (deputy sheriffs) and MCL 600.8507 / MCR 8.204 (district court clerks and magistrates), per the Michigan State Court Administrative Office's Trial Court Performance Bond Requirements. Court officers appointed under MCR 3.106 serve terms of up to two years.
Because the amount is an obligee requirement — not a price — your first move is always to confirm the exact figure with the county clerk or appointing authority, then buy a bond written for that number. The premium you pay is a small percentage of that penal sum and is driven by underwriting, not by the office. For how surety pricing works across bond sizes, see our guide to what surety bonds cost, or estimate a comparable faithful-performance bond with the fiduciary bond calculator.
The offices a faithful-performance bond attaches to
The rule of thumb: if the office touches public money, public records, or legal process, a statute somewhere requires it to be bonded. Four broad groups cover most filings:
Money-handling offices
County and city treasurers, tax collectors and tax assessor-collectors, finance directors, and utility clerks. Their bonds are typically the largest because the amount is scaled to the funds in custody.
Law-enforcement offices
Sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, and constables. Their bonds answer for the faithful execution of writs, seizures, and civil process — and in states like Michigan, each deputy files an individual bond.
Records offices
County clerks, recorders, and registers of deeds. The bond backs the integrity of the public record — filings, land records, vital records — and the fees those offices collect.
Judicial & fiduciary offices
County judges, statutory probate judges, court officers, and public administrators who manage decedents' estates. Where these officers hold estate or registry funds, the bond parallels a probate bond.
The conduct that puts a public official bond in play
Because “faithful performance” is broad by design, a claim does not require criminal intent — a negligent failure to do what the office requires is enough when it causes a loss:
Misappropriation or loss of public funds
The core exposure. A treasurer, tax collector, or clerk who converts public money — or loses it through unauthorized investments or failure to safeguard deposits — creates the textbook faithful-performance claim, and the entity recovers on the bond.
Failure to account, record, or turn over
Statutes require officials to keep accurate books, settle accounts on schedule, and deliver all money, records, and property to their successor. Shortages found at audit or a botched transition are claims even without provable theft — negligence is enough.
Failure to execute legal process and court duties
Sheriffs, constables, and court officers are bonded for the faithful execution of writs, levies, evictions, and seizures. Executing process wrongfully — or failing to execute it at all — exposes the bond to the injured party’s loss.
Acts beyond lawful authority
Faithful-performance language reaches misconduct in office broadly: unlawful fees, favoritism in awarding public business, or exceeding statutory powers in a way that causes measurable loss to the entity or a citizen the statute protects.
The surety’s claims process, and the habits that keep an office off a surety’s radar, are the same across faithful-performance bonds — our guides on how to avoid bond claims and how surety bond claims work walk through both.
Know your office and amount already? We can execute the statutory form and get it back to your clerk, usually within one business day.
Start my quoteState-by-state: which offices we bond and who holds the form
Every state bonds public officials; these are the states where we most actively write office-specific forms. Amounts are set by the statute creating the office or by the governing body, usually scaled to the public funds the office handles:
| State | Bonded offices we write | Typical obligee | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Public officials (any county); probate judges | County commissions; State Comptroller | Probate judge bond filed with the state; county-office bonds filed locally |
| California | County treasurers, district attorneys | County board of supervisors | Amounts set by the board based on funds in custody |
| Michigan | Court officers, deputy sheriffs, district court clerks, any state office | Courts; counties; State of Michigan | Court officers appointed for terms up to 2 years (MCR 3.106); deputy sheriff bonds fixed at $2,500 (MCL 51.70), district court clerk/magistrate bonds fixed at $50,000 (MCL 600.8507) |
| Nevada | County clerks, recorders, sheriffs, public administrators | County commissions | Each county office bonded under its own statute |
| Texas | Sheriffs, constables, county clerks, treasurers, tax assessor-collectors, county judges & commissioners, district attorneys, statutory probate judges | Commissioners courts; State of Texas | The broadest statutory catalog — nearly every county office carries its own bond form |
Not listed? We can still write your bond — public official bonds exist in all 50 states, and the form simply has to match your statute and appointing authority. Bond amounts are obligee requirements set by statute or the governing body; confirm yours with the county clerk or appointing authority.
Getting bonded before your term begins
Start as soon as your election is certified or the appointment is made — the filing deadline is a qualification deadline. The surety will ask for:
The office and jurisdiction
The exact office title, county or city, and the statute or ordinance requiring the bond.
Required bond amount
Set by statute or the governing body — the county clerk or appointing authority has the figure.
Term of office
Bonds are written for the term (1, 2, or 4 years in most states) and renewed on re-election.
The official’s consent to a soft credit check
Larger money-handling offices get more underwriting attention.
Deputy bonding rules
Whether deputies ride on the principal’s bond or file individually, as in Michigan.
The prescribed bond form
Many offices have a statutory form the surety must execute verbatim — send it with your application.
Related bonds, calculators, and claim guides
Public official bonds share their faithful-performance DNA with the court and fiduciary bond families:
What newly elected and appointed officials ask us
What does "faithful performance" actually mean on a public official bond?
It is the operative promise of the bond: that the officeholder will perform every duty the office carries — collecting, safeguarding, and disbursing public money; keeping accurate records; executing court orders; enforcing the law — honestly and as the statutes prescribe. The bond pays the public entity (or in some statutes, injured citizens) when the official fails that standard, whether through theft, negligence, or simple failure to account. It is broader than a fidelity bond, which typically covers only dishonesty.
Who sets the bond amount for my office?
The statute creating the office, or the governing body it serves. Some amounts are fixed in code; many are set by the county commission or city council based on the funds the office handles — a county treasurer’s bond is commonly scaled to the public money in their custody. Michigan illustrates the fixed-tier approach well: a deputy sheriff’s bond is fixed at $2,500 by statute (MCL 51.70), while a district court clerk’s or magistrate’s bond is fixed at $50,000 by court rule (MCL 600.8507, MCR 8.204) — neither figure moves with the office’s caseload or the sheriff’s budget. Your appointing authority or the county clerk can tell you the exact figure before you apply; the bond must be written for that amount.
When must the bond be filed — before or after I take office?
Almost always before, or within a short statutory window after election or appointment. Most codes make filing the bond and taking the oath of office joint conditions of qualifying for the office; miss the deadline and the office can be declared vacant. Order the bond as soon as your election is certified or your appointment is made, because the surety needs a few days for underwriting on larger amounts.
Does a public official bond protect me personally if I am sued?
No — it runs the other way. The bond protects the public entity and the public from your errors or misconduct in office. If the surety pays a loss caused by your conduct, it recovers from you personally under the indemnity agreement. Officials who want protection for themselves need public officials liability insurance (a form of errors-and-omissions coverage), which is a separate product the bond does not replace.
I supervise deputies and staff — does my bond cover their mistakes?
Frequently, yes, and that is precisely why sheriffs and treasurers take bonding seriously. Many statutes hold the principal officer responsible on their bond for the acts of deputies and employees performing the office’s duties, unless each deputy files a separate bond. Michigan bonds deputy sheriffs individually; Texas bonds constables, sheriffs, and their offices under separate statutory forms. Ask your appointing authority whether deputies must be individually bonded or ride on the principal’s bond.
Are notaries public "public officials" who need this bond?
Notaries are commissioned public officers, but their bond is a distinct, standardized product — usually a small fixed-amount bond filed with the secretary of state. If you need a notary bond, use our dedicated notary bond guides rather than this page; the underwriting and filing process is faster and the forms are different. This page covers officeholders like treasurers, clerks, sheriffs, judges, and tax collectors whose bonds are set by office-specific statutes.
All content is researched from official state and federal sources (.gov) and verified before publication. BuySuretyBonds.com works with Treasury-certified, A-minimum rated surety carriers serving all 50 states.
General information, not legal advice. Bonding requirements, amounts, terms, and filing deadlines for public offices are set by state statutes and local governing bodies and change over time. Confirm the current requirement with your county clerk or appointing authority, and request a quote for your specific office and bond amount.
Your oath has a deadline. Don’t let the bond be what holds it up.
Send us the office, county, and required amount — we'll execute the statutory form your clerk expects, usually within one business day, so you can qualify on time.
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