The 10 O'Clock

Appeal bonds

If anyone else in this office ever expresses an interest in appeals, they should be aware of how appeal bonds work.

Appeals from county courts are addressed by CRCP 411. An plaintiff appellant is required to post a bond to cover the costs of the appeal. If a defendant appeals, he is required to post a bond to cover the amount of the appeal and also the judgment. If a plaintiff loses a case and appeal an award of costs/fees, the plaintiff would have to include that cost amount in its appeal bond. All of this, however, is apparently subject to the trial court's discretion. The court can waive the bond requirement and can set the amount at less than the judgment. Once the appeal bond has been posted and approved by the trial court, or once the court has waived the bond requirement the execution on the judgment is stayed.


Appeals from District court are governed by the appellate rules. CAR 7 and 8 govern appeal bonds and stays. The appellant has to post a cost bond of $250 to proceed with the appeal and a separate supersedeas bond (generallythe amount of the judgement) is required to stay execution. The court again has discretion in both of these matters. The stay of exectuion is not automatic, like it is in county court. The appellant must move the court for a stay under CAR8.