Ark. Code Ann. § 16-110-107 (2020)
Bond
- The order of attachment shall not be issued by the clerk until there has been executed in his or her office, by one (1) or more sufficient sureties of the plaintiff, a bond to the effect that the plaintiff shall pay to the defendant all damages which he or she may sustain by reason of the attachment if the order is wrongfully obtained.
- The defendant may, at any time before judgment, after reasonable notice to the plaintiff, move the court for additional security on the part of the plaintiff. If on the motion, the court is satisfied that the surety in the plaintiff's bond has removed from this state or is not sufficient for the amount thereof, it may vacate the order of attachment. The court may direct restitution of any property taken under it unless in a reasonable time, to be fixed by the court, sufficient security is given by the plaintiff.
History. Civil Code, §§ 219, 258; C. & M. Dig., §§ 498, 548; Pope's Dig., §§ 535, 585; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 31-108, 31-109.
Case Notes
Defects in Bonds.
When objections to an attachment bond are sustained by the court, the filing of an amended bond, under the leave and approval of the court, will cure the defects of the original bond and support the attachment and lien. Bergman v. Sells & Co., 39 Ark. 97 (1882).
Where ground of attachment is undisputed, defect in bond does not defeat jurisdiction. Hurley v. Bryan, 160 Ark. 277, 254 S.W. 694 (1923).
Failure to File.
The defendant could not object in the Arkansas Supreme Court, for the first time, that no bond was filed by the plaintiff before the order of attachment was issued; such objection had to be made in the circuit court. Fletcher v. Menken, 37 Ark. 206 (1881).
Failure to file bond is irregularity which may be waived. Austin v. Goodbar Shoe Co., 60 Ark. 444, 30 S.W. 888 (1895).
Where the defendant in an attachment suit before a justice of the peace went to trial without objecting that the plaintiff failed to file an attachment bond, he cannot object in the circuit court on appeal if the plaintiff is permitted to file such bond. Gamble v. Harvey-Greenhaw Mercantile Co., 89 Ark. 37, 115 S.W. 946 (1908).
Liability for Damages.
The measure of damages on the bond when property of a third person is attached is the actual value of the property at the time and place of attachment with interest thereon. Straub v. Wooten, 45 Ark. 112 (1885).
The bond is an absolute obligation to pay the court's judgment and it cannot be avoided by proof that the property was not subject to the attachment lien. Lott v. Porter, 97 Ark. 97, 133 S.W. 180 (1910).
A surety on an attachment bond who undertakes to pay all damages which may be sustained by the defendant is not liable for a trespass committed to the property of a third person. Maloney v. Jones-Wise Comm'n Co., 117 Ark. 180, 174 S.W. 239 (1915).
In a suit on a promissory note and account and an affidavit for attachment, the defendant furnished a bond to pay all sums, including costs and damages, that might be charged against the defendant; when judgment was for the plaintiff and the property could not be produced, the defendant and his sureties were liable for a sum not exceeding the value of the property. Wright v. Stevens, 212 Ark. 373, 205 S.W.2d 853 (1947).
Cited: McCrory v. Johnson, 296 Ark. 231, 755 S.W.2d 566 (1988); Stephens v. Walker, 743 F. Supp. 670 (W.D. Ark. 1990); Ward v. Dapper Dan Cleaners & Laundry, Inc., 309 Ark. 192, 828 S.W.2d 833 (1992).