Sheriff’s Indemnity Bond - Statewide in Virginia

Brief Summary

Almost everyone reaches this page with the parties backwards. A Virginia sheriff's indemnity bond is not posted by the sheriff. It is posted by the creditor who wants a levy carried out, and it runs to the officer personally, protecting him from what happens if the property turns out not to be leviable. It is written per levy against the value of that property, so it is quoted case by case rather than off a rate table, and it is often the only thing standing between a writ and an officer who will not seize.

Under Virginia Code 8.01-367, when an officer levies or is required to levy a fieri facias, an attachment, or a warrant of distress and doubts whether the property is liable to the levy, the officer may notify the plaintiff or the plaintiff's agent or attorney that an indemnifying bond is required. The bond is given by the plaintiff or anyone else with good security, payable to the officer, in a penalty equal to the value of the property on a fieri facias or warrant of distress and double the value on an attachment. It indemnifies the officer against damage from the seizure or sale, pays a claimant for damage from that seizure or sale, and warrants the purchaser's estate or interest in the property.

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How to Apply for a Sheriff’s Indemnity Bond:

• Confirm which process you are under. A fieri facias or warrant of distress takes a penalty equal to the value of the property. An attachment takes double the value.
• Establish the value of the property the officer is being asked to levy on, since that figure sets the penalty.
• Confirm you are not the Commonwealth, which is exempt from giving this bond.
• Ask the officer whether one bond can cover multiple levies for you, and if so calculate the aggregate penalty.
• Have the case caption, the court, the writ and the officer's name.
• Have the plaintiff or principal name, address and financial information for underwriting.
• Complete the bond application and review the quoted premium.
• Deliver the executed bond, payable to the officer, so the officer can proceed with the levy and return it to the circuit court clerk within twenty-one days.

Detailed Information About the Virginia Sheriff’s Indemnity Bond:

The sheriff is the obligee, not the principal

Read the first line of 8.01-367. The officer gives the plaintiff notice that an indemnifying bond is required, and the bond is then given by any person with good security, payable to the officer. The sheriff or other levying officer is the party being protected. The creditor pushing the levy is the one buying the bond. Any page describing this as a bond covering the acts of deputies has the transaction inside out. A sheriff's own official bond given on qualifying for office is a separate instrument and has nothing to do with this section.

The amount is a formula tied to one specific levy

There is no published penal sum, and there is no tier table by county or by office. The penalty equals the value of the property for a fieri facias or a warrant of distress on property, and double the value of the property in the case of an attachment. Value the property first, identify which of the three processes you are under, and the number follows.

If the officer has performed more than one levy for a single plaintiff, the officer may permit that plaintiff to give one bond covering all of them, provided the penalty is not less than the aggregate of what the individual bonds would have been. That is a paperwork convenience, not a discount.

What it actually guarantees

Three conditions, all in the same sentence. Indemnify the officer against all damage he may sustain in consequence of the seizure or sale. Pay any claimant of the property all damage he may sustain in consequence of that seizure or sale. And warrant and defend to any purchaser of the property whatever estate or interest is sold.

The Commonwealth does not post one

Subsection B is one line. The Commonwealth shall not be required to give an indemnifying bond under this section. A state agency pursuing a levy is outside the requirement. A private creditor is not.

What happens if you do not give it

If the bond is not given within a reasonable time after the officer's notice, the officer may refuse to levy on the property, or may restore it to the person from whose possession it was taken. If the bond is given, the officer proceeds to levy, or restores a levy previously released. In practice the bond is the price of getting the writ executed against contested property.

The twenty-one day return, and why it matters to the claimant

Section 8.01-368 requires the officer to return the indemnifying bond within twenty-one days to the clerk's office of the circuit court where the property levied on is situated. Section 8.01-369 then bars the claimant or purchaser of the property from any action against the officer levying on it once the bond has been returned, provided the security was good at the time it was taken. That is the whole point of the exercise. The bond moves the exposure off the officer and onto the surety and the creditor.

The other bond in this fight

A third party claiming the property has a different instrument. Under 8.01-370 the claimant, or someone for the claimant, gives a suspending bond in a penalty equal to double the value of the property, payable to the officer, conditioned to pay all persons injured by suspending the sale until the claim is adjudicated or otherwise adjusted. Section 8.01-367 requires the officer to execute the process notwithstanding a third party claim unless that suspending bond is given.

The deadline on the suspending bond is the sharpest date on this page. The claimant has thirty days after the bond is given to proceed to have the title to the property settled under the chapter. Miss it and the claimant is barred from asserting ownership and the sale goes forward.

No license, no fee, no renewal

This is not a licensing bond. There is no application to an agency, no filing fee, no term and no renewal date. It exists for one levy, or for a defined group of levies for one plaintiff, and it is filed with the circuit court clerk by the officer rather than by you. Underwriting turns on the value of the property and the creditor's standing, so expect the surety to want the writ, the levy details and a valuation before quoting.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Virginia Sheriff’s Indemnity Bond:

• A bond payable to the officer executing the process, not to a state agency.
• Good security, since section 8.01-369 protects the officer only if the security was good at the time it was taken.
• Penalty equal to the value of the property on a fieri facias or warrant of distress, or double the value on an attachment.
• Conditions covering indemnity to the officer, damages to any claimant of the property, and warranty of title to any purchaser.
• An aggregate penalty if one bond is used for multiple levies by the same plaintiff.
• Underwriting on the property value and the creditor's financial standing rather than a fixed rate.

Virginia Sheriff’s Indemnity Bond FAQs:

Official and Additional Resources for the Virginia Sheriff’s Indemnity Bond: