6-2.01 Definitions
6-2.02 Authorization to Serve as Surety amended 6-5-17
6-2.03 Petition and Hearing for Authorization or Renewal amended 12-31-17
6-2.04 Revocation of Authorization
6-2.05 Justification of Sureties
6-2.06 Solicitation Prohibited

6-2.01 Definitions

A. Civil Surety means any company currently licensed as a surety under the Illinois Insurance Code.

B. Personal Surety means any individual not licensed as a surety and not regularly engaged in the business of acting as surety or guarantor for the performance of an act of another.

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6-2.02 Authorization to Serve as Surety

A. Civil Sureties. Bond with a civil surety will be approved only if a current, certified copy of the surety’s license (issued under the Illinois Insurance Code or the Illinois Bail Bond Act) is on file with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, and a verified power of attorney or certificate of authority for each person authorized to execute bonds for the surety is attached to the bond.

B. Personal Sureties. The Court may require that any personal surety execute a schedule of property. If the person offered as a surety is accepted by the Court, the schedules of property shall be filed with the bond, and shall be served upon all opposing parties in the manner prescribed by Supreme Court Rule 11 within forty-eight hours after the Court accepts the surety.

C. Period of Authorization. Authorization to act as a surety shall not exceed one year, and in any event shall expire on the first day of the July next following the authorization.

D. Renewal of Authorization. A Petition for Renewal of Authorization shall be filed between the first and thirtieth days of April preceding the expiration of authorization.

E. Interim Authorization. Upon the filing of an initial Petition for Authorization, the Court may grant the Petitioner interim authority to act as a surety on bonds in the Court pending determination of the Petition.

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6-2.03 Petition and Hearing for Authorization or Renewal

A. Civil Surety. To obtain authorization or renewal to act as a civil surety in the Court, the applicant shall file a Verified Petition for Authorization stating that the Petitioner has complied with all applicable laws and regulations. There shall be attached to the Petition:

1. A certified copy of the license issued to the Petitioner, attested by the Director of Insurance;

2. A verified statement of its assets and liabilities at the close of business on the thirty-first day of December of the preceding year or at any subsequent date prior to the filing of the Petition;

3. Powers of attorney or certificates of authority for all persons authorized to execute bonds for the Petitioner in the Court.

4. A verified schedule of all actions pending in any court against the Petitioner at the time of the filing of the Petition upon bonds executed by it in the courts of record in Illinois; the schedule shall state the title and number of the action, the names of the attorneys of record, the amount claimed, the nature of the claim, and the reasons for contesting the claim; and

5. A verified schedule of all claims of liability, not the subject of any pending action, which have been made against the Petitioner and are undischarged at the time of the filing of the Petition, upon bonds executed by the Petitioner in the Court of record in Illinois; the schedule shall state the name of the Claimant, the amount claimed, the nature of the claim and the reasons for contesting the claim.

B. Foreign Acknowledgments. Acknowledgments and affidavits presented under LCR 6-2.03 which have been executed outside the State shall be accompanied by a certificate of the proper keeper of records, under the seal of the keeper of records’ office, stating that the person before whom the acknowledgment was made or by whom the oath was administered was duly authorized to take acknowledgments or to administer oaths, and that that person’s signature is believed to be genuine.

C. Notice. Upon the filing of the Petition, the Court, upon Motion, will set the Petition for hearing before the Presiding Judge of the Law Division. The Clerk of the Circuit Court shall then publish Notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of the pendency of the Petition showing the date set for hearing.

D. Objection. Any person may file written objections to the Petition not less than ten days before the date set for hearing, stating the reasons why the Petition should not be allowed. The Petitioner may file his Answer to the objections not later than five days before the date set for hearing. A copy of the objections shall be served upon the Petitioner, and a copy of the Answer shall be served upon the objector, not later than the time of the respective filings.

E. Hearing. The Petitioner and the objector may introduce evidence at the hearing. If the Court finds that the Petitioner has not complied with LCR 6-2.03 or that the Petition should be disallowed, the Petitioner shall be disqualified from acting as surety in the Court until further Order of the Court.

F. Change of Agents. A civil surety may file a supplemental Petition to change the persons authorized to execute bonds on its behalf.

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6-2.04 Revocation of Authorization

The Court, upon its own Motion or upon request of any party, may at any time enter a Rule against any civil surety to show cause why its authorization should not be revoked. The Order entering the Rule shall set a date, not less than thirty days after the entry of the Rule, for hearing upon the return of the Rule. The Clerk of the Circuit Court shall serve Notice of the entry of the Rule and of the date set for hearing of the return upon the surety. The return shall contain the information required by LCR 6-2.03 for an original Petition for Authorization to act as surety.

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6-2.05 Justification of Sureties

Any persons assured by a bond executed in this Court may by Motion request the sureties to justify by showing their capacity to become sureties and their ability to respond in the amount of the suretyship obligation. The Motion shall be accompanied by an affidavit showing grounds for believing the sureties to be insufficient, the manner of inquiry and the facts ascertained. If the Court finds that the affiant’s belief is well-founded, it may order that either the sureties shall justify within a time specified or a new bond be furnished with sufficient sureties.

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6-2.06 Solicitation Prohibited

A. No individual or corporation authorized to act as surety or guarantor, or any agent of such person or corporation, shall solicit, directly or indirectly, the aid of any clerk, deputy clerk, court officer, or any police officer, in inducing any person to employ such individual or corporation authorized to act as surety or guarantor in any case within the jurisdiction of the Court.

B. No individual or corporation authorized to act as surety or guarantor shall, by agent or otherwise, solicit business or advertise in any court building.

C. Any individual or agent of a corporation authorized by the Court to act as surety in cases within the jurisdiction of the Court that violates this Rule, directly or indirectly, shall be subject to having the order authorizing him to act as surety revoked.

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