§ 9-12-13.Amount of judgment on bond

A bond usually names a penalty — a stated maximum sum meant to secure performance — but that number is rarely what a defaulting obligor owes. This section keeps the two figures separate: all judgments entered against the obligors on any bond, whether official or voluntary, must be for the amount of damages the jury's verdict found, not for the bond's penalty.

That distinction protects obligors from paying a fixed ceiling amount when the real harm caused was smaller. The penalty exists to cap liability and secure the obligation, not to set the amount owed outright, and this section makes sure a judgment reflects what was proven rather than what the bond happened to state as its outer limit.

The rule reaches both official bonds — the kind public officers post to secure faithful performance of their duties — and voluntary bonds entered into privately. In either case, the jury's damages finding, not the bond's face amount, becomes the judgment.