Public Official Bonds guarantee taxpayers that the official will do what the law requires.
A public officials expected to “faithfully perform” the duties of the office. For this reason, bonding public officials is highly important. It isn’t enough to simply buy honesty insurance. “Faithful performance “is not synonymous with “honesty.” It may include honesty along with many other important factors.
For instance, a county treasurer may have lost funds through a failure of a bank he thought was sound. If the treasurer did not obtain proper depository security, he could be held liable for restitution. The county treasurer could easily prove that he did not act “dishonestly.” However, he would have difficulty proving that he “faithfully performed” his duty.
Public Employee Bonds are also available for bonding the subordinates of the public official (those people who are not required by statute to be bonded). Those subordinates need to be bonded for dishonesty only.
Public Official Bonds maybe written for individuals or, where the law allows, on a blanket bond form.
