Civil Division The civil division is primarily responsible for bond forfeiture litigation (judgments nisi) and asset seizure and forfeiture. The department consists of one attorney, Claudia Laird, and one Paralegal, Peggy Freeman. Bond Forfeiture or NISI cases: If a person commits a crime and is arrested, that person is given the opportunity to post a bond to get out of jail while the criminal case is pending. A cash bond may be posted or others may use a bail bondsman whereby a fee is paid to the bondsman (normally a percentage of the bond amount) and the bondsman uses collateral posted with the county to meet the bond requirement on the defendant's behalf. If that defendant does not appear for a court date then the defendant and bondsman become liable for the full amount of the bond. A lawsuit ensues whereby the civil division of the District Attorney’s office represents the State of Texas to recover for the County of Montgomery those funds which were posted as bail. Any forfeited bond moneys are deposited in the Montgomery County treasury for use as to be determined by our Commissioners' Court. The civil division handles approximately 400 nisi cases per year resulted in an estimated $300,000.00 in bond forfeitures. The District Attorney also serves as a permanent board member of the Montgomery County Bail Bond Board. The Bail Bond Board serves as the regulatory authority for the bail bond business in Montgomery County.     CIVIL FORFEITURE:  Asset seizure and forfeiture cases also stem from criminal cases. When a police officer makes an arrest for specific types of crimes, he may, based on the circumstances, choose to seize a defendant's assets including but not limited to homes, cars, computers or cash. The defendant's criminal case will proceed separately from the case involving the seized asset(s). The civil division stands by to assist officers in the seizure process and will travel to the scene when requested. The civil division files the civil cases whereby a judge or jury determines if the State of Texas will be allowed to maintain possession of seized assets. Upon successful completion of these cases the assets seized will become the joint property of the District Attorney's Office and the law enforcement agency making the arrest. The civil division handles approximately 80 asset seizure and forfeiture cases per year resulting in over $1,000.000.00 cash/property forfeited to the State of Texas.