Rule 85.09.Owner of Property may Post Bond--Condition of Bond.

Losing possession of property before a lawsuit is even decided can be disruptive, whether the property is a business’s inventory, a vehicle, or something else the owner needs. Rule 85.09 gives the owner a way out of that disruption: post a bond, and either keep the property in the first place or get it back after it has been seized. The bond runs to the claimant, not to the State, and its amount is capped at the lesser of two figures — what the property is worth, or the claim plus costs.

That cap protects the owner from overkill. If the property is worth far more than the claim, the owner should not have to post security equal to the full value; the bond tracks whichever number is smaller. The condition of the bond mirrors that same logic on the back end: the owner’s principal obligation is to pay the claimant whatever amount is eventually adjudged in the claimant’s favor, or the amount of the bond itself, whichever is less.

This rule works alongside Rule 85.10, which gives a similar bond option to a nonowner in possession of the property, and Rule 85.07, which requires that both the owner and any nonowner be told about this bond option when the writ and notice are served. If the court later finds the owner’s bond under this rule has been filed and approved after the owner has entered an appearance, Rule 85.14 treats that as one basis for dissolving the attachment outright.