In bond forfeiture proceedings, the judgment nisi publication is not required.

• A. Judgment nisi must be published when service is by publication
• B. Judgment nisi publication is not required
• C. Judgment nisi must be published only if the defendant requests it
• D. Judgment nisi is never published

Answer: (B)

In bond forfeiture proceedings, a judgment nisi publication isn’t required. A judgment nisi is a provisional order that becomes final if the defendant doesn’t take timely action to challenge it. In the bond-forfeiture context, once the forfeiture has occurred and the time to appear has passed, the court can move straight to a final judgment on the bond without issuing a separate nisi notice. This eliminates an extra step and fits the purpose of promptly recovering the bond when the defendant fails to appear.

The other ideas imply extra requirements that aren’t part of this process: requiring publication of a judgment nisi only when service was by publication would add an unnecessary step, requiring it only at the defendant’s request introduces an ad hoc condition, and saying it’s never published is too absolute and not accurate for all contexts outside this specific rule.