Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, § 71 (2026)

Default on recognizance

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 71. If a person under recognizance to appear and answer or to prosecute an appeal in a criminal case fails to appear according to his recognizance, and if a person under recognizance to testify in a criminal prosecution fails to perform the condition of his recognizance, his default shall be recorded, his obligation and that of his sureties forfeited, and process issued against them or such of them as the prosecuting officer directs; but in such suit no costs shall be taxed for travel. No such process shall issue in cases where bank books, bonds or money have been deposited at the time of such recognizance.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 1975–2011 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Gomez, 940 N.E.2d 488 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Commonwealth v. Gomez, 940 N.E.2d 488 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011). · cites it 4× “276, § 70, to mean that “bail” should also relate to “recognizance” is not precluded by G. L. c. 276, § 71. 2 Section 71 outlines what happens when a person under recognizance 3 fails to appear as required: “his default shall be recorded, his obligation and that of his sureties…”

Commonwealth v. The Stuyvesant Ins. Co., 321 N.E.2d 811 (Mass. 1975). · cites it 2× “G. L. c. 276, § 71. 4 After the default has *615 been entered, the Commonwealth must initiate proceedings to obtain a judgment on the forfeiture of the bonds.”

Commonwealth v. Bautista, 945 N.E.2d 341 (Mass. 2011). · cites it 3× “G. L. c. 276, § 71. Solomon claims, however, that this general rule does not apply in the factual circumstances of this case, because under G.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.