When any person being arrested or in custody and having given bond, as aforesaid, shall fail to appear at the time and place mentioned in said bond when and where the suit is set for trial, the Magistrate or Justice of the Peace may proceed with the hearing of the case and hear the testimony on behalf of the city and render judgment, by default, for such amount as the Court shall deem just and proper under the evidence in the case, and a suit may be forthwith brought against the surety or sureties on the defendant’s bond for the amount of the penalty thereof, judgment rendered by the court for the same, and all costs or so much of such penalty as may seem just and equitable, upon consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case.
(Prior Code, Chapter 22, § 7)