RECOGNIZANCE
recognizance (ri-kog-n[schwa]-z[schwa]nts).1. A bond or obligation, made in court, by which a person promises to perform some act or observe some condition, such as to appear when called, to pay a debt, or to keep the peace; specif., an in-court acknowledgment of an obligation in a penal sum, conditioned on the performance or nonperformance of a particular act. ? Most commonly, a recognizance takes the form of a bail bond that guarantees an unjailed criminal defendant’s return for a court date (the defendant was released on his own recognizance). See RELEASE ON RECOGNIZANCE. [Cases: Bail 54, 63; Recognizances
1. C.J.S. Bail; Release and Detention Pending Proceedings¡ì¡ì 93, 106¨C107, 109; Recognizances¡ì¡ì 2¨C4, 8.]
¡°Recognizances are aptly described as ¡®contracts made with the Crown in its judicial capacity.¡¯ A recognizance is a writing acknowledged by the party to it before a judge or officer having authority for the purpose, and enrolled in a court of record. It usually takes the form of a promise, with penalties for the breach of it, to keep the peace, to be of good behavior, or to appear at the assizes.¡± William R. Anson, Principles of the Law of Contract 80¨C81 (Arthur L. Corbin ed., 3d Am. ed. 1919).
¡°A recognizance is an acknowledgment of an obligation in court by the recognizor binding him to make a certain payment subject to the condition that on the performance of a specified act the obligation shall be discharged.¡± 1 Samuel Williston, A Treatise on the Law of Contracts¡ì 6, at 18 (Walter H.E. Jaeger ed., 3d ed. 1957).
personal recognizance. The release of a defendant in a criminal case in which the court takes the defendant’s word that he or she will appear for a scheduled matter or when told to appear. ? This type of release dispenses with the necessity of the person’s posting money or having a surety sign a bond with the court. [Cases: Bail 40. C.J.S. Bail; Release and Detention Pending Proceedings¡ì 8.]
2. See bail bond under BOND(2).
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