Official bonds of the city shall be in form, joint and several, and shall be made payable to the city in such penalty as the governing body may set by resolution, which sums shall be on file at the office of the City Clerk; provided, the penalty amount on any bond shall not fall below the legal minimum, when one has been set by the state, for each particular official. All official bonds of the city officials shall be executed by the principal named in such bonds and by at least 2 sufficient sureties who shall be freeholders of the county, or by the official as principal and by a guaranty, surety, fidelity or bonding company; provided, no city official, while still in his or her official term of office, shall be accepted as surety on any other official’s bond, contractor’s bond, license bond or appeal bond under any circumstances. Only companies that are legally authorized to transact business in the state shall be eligible for suretyship on the bond of an official of the city. All such bonds shall obligate the principal and sureties for the faithful discharge of all duties required by law of the principal, and shall inure to the benefit of the city and any persons who may be injured by a breach of the conditions of the bonds. No bond shall be deemed to be given or complete until the approval of the governing body and all sureties are endorsed in writing on the instrument by the Mayor and City Clerk pursuant to the approval of the governing body. The premium on any official bond required to be given may be paid out of the General Fund, or other proper city fund, upon a resolution to that effect by the governing body at the beginning of any city year. All official bonds meeting the conditions in this section shall be filed with the City Clerk for his or her official records, and it shall be the duty of the City Clerk to furnish a certified copy of any bond so filed upon the payment of a fee, which shall be set by resolution of the governing body. If the sureties on the official bond of any officer of the city, in the opinion of the governing body, become insufficient, the governing body may, by resolution, fix a reasonable time within which the officer may give a new bond or additional sureties as directed. If the officer should fail, refuse or neglect to give a new bond or additional sureties to the satisfaction and approval of the governing body, then the office shall, by the failure, refusal or neglect, become vacant, and it shall be the duty of the governing body to appoint a competent and qualified person to fill the office. Any official who is reelected to office shall be required to file a new bond after each election.
(Prior Code, § 2-122)