Art. 337 Interruption of the period for obtaining a bond forfeiture judgment

When a defendant shows up in court, it pauses the clock on how long the state has to get a judgment against the bail bond. This gives the court more time to act, since the deadline stops running while the defendant is present in the case.

But this pause does not let the bail bond company (the surety) off the hook. Even if the defendant appears in court and the deadline gets interrupted, the surety still has to follow through on its promise to pay if the defendant later fails to show up as required. In short, the defendant showing up helps the state, but it does not help the surety avoid its responsibilities under the bond.