(a) Surety companies. Each surety company shall, in the month of January in each year, file with the Prothonotary of the Superior Court, in each county in which such surety company is engaged in business, a power of attorney authorizing the execution of bonds by the attorney in fact designated in said power of attorney, before the Courts shall accept or approve such company as surety. Nothing herein contained shall prohibit the execution by a surety company of any bond within this State by its proper officers as required by law.
Rule 108.Sureties
Part XIII: Miscellaneous Provisions · Last amended October 15, 1980 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceRule 108 requires surety companies to file an annual power of attorney with the Prothonotary before Superior Court will accept them as surety, and bars attorneys and court officers, plus their close family and controlled corporations, from acting as bail or surety in a pending case.
Full Text of Rule 108
(b) Attorneys and other officers. No attorney, or other officer of this Court, shall be taken, directly or indirectly, as special bail or surety in any case pending in, or appealed to, this Court. This prohibition shall also apply to any agent, employee, member of the immediate family of any such attorney or court officer, or any corporation in which such attorney or court officer owns a controlling interest. This prohibition shall not apply to any bond in which the attorney, court officer, agent, employee or family member, as above defined, may be the principal. The phrase “member of the immediate family” shall include the spouse, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son, daughter, brother, sister, brother-in- law or sister-in-law or any such attorney or court officer.
Amendment History
Amended, effective Oct. 15, 1980.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 108(a) requires a surety company to file a power of attorney with the Prothonotary each January, in every county where it does business, before the Court will accept or approve it as surety. That filing authorizes the attorney in fact named in it to execute bonds on the company's behalf. The rule doesn't stop the surety company's own proper officers from executing a bond directly within the state as otherwise required by law.
Rule 108(b) draws a conflict-of-interest line around the Court's own officers. No attorney or other officer of the Court may act, directly or indirectly, as special bail or surety in any case pending in or appealed to the Court. That prohibition reaches further than the attorney or officer alone, extending to any agent, employee, immediate family member, or corporation the attorney or officer controls. The rule defines "member of the immediate family" broadly: spouse, parents (including in-laws), children, siblings (including in-laws).
The prohibition has one clear exception. It doesn't apply where the attorney, court officer, family member, or related entity is the bond's principal and not its surety. An attorney can still be the principal on a bond in a case, just not the surety or bail standing behind someone else's obligation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a surety company need to file with the court before it can act as surety?
Rule 108(a) requires the company to file a power of attorney with the Prothonotary in January of each year, in each county where it does business, before the Court will accept or approve it as surety.
Can my attorney act as my surety in my own case?
No. Rule 108(b) bars an attorney or other court officer from acting, directly or indirectly, as special bail or surety in any case pending in or appealed to the Court.
Does the prohibition on attorneys acting as surety reach their family members?
Yes. Rule 108(b) extends the prohibition to a court officer's agent, employee, and immediate family, defined to include spouse, parents and parents-in-law, children, and siblings and siblings-in-law, as well as any corporation the attorney or officer controls.
Can an attorney still be the principal on a bond in a case they're involved in?
Yes. Rule 108(b) states the prohibition doesn't apply to a bond in which the attorney, court officer, agent, employee, or family member is the principal.
Can a surety company's own officers execute a bond directly?
Yes. Rule 108(a) doesn't prohibit a surety company's proper officers from executing bonds within the state as otherwise required by law.
Source & verification. Rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
Delaware Rules of Civil Procedure for the Superior Court, adopted by the
Superior Court of the State of Delaware. Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
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