§ 1215.Discharge of Person Arrested Upon Executing and Delivering Undertaking

Custody under a contempt warrant isn't necessarily the end of the story before the hearing. Section 1215 lets the arrested person get out by giving the officer an undertaking -- a written promise, at any point before the warrant's return day, to appear when the warrant returns and to comply with whatever order the court or judge issues at that point.

This only works if the warrant was endorsed to allow an undertaking under § 1213, since that endorsement sets the dollar amount required. Once the undertaking is executed and delivered, the officer must return both the warrant and the undertaking to the court, as § 1216 requires.