Kansas public official bonds.
0.35% of the bond amount, from $100.
Kansas conditions a great many public offices on a faithful-performance bond filed before the officer takes up the duties of the office, from county officers under K.S.A. 19-4201 to municipal court clerks and commission-form mayors and commissioners. Premiums cost 0.35% of the bond amount, $100 minimum.
Trusted by industry leaders
How much does a Kansas public official bond cost?
0.35% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
Most of these are needed inside the ten days between selection and the oath, so nothing here waits on an underwriter’s desk. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
The office, the penal sum your board or council set, and the effective and expiration dates of the term you are being bonded for. That is the application.
Priced and issued
The premium is calculated from the amount you entered and the bond issues at checkout. The credit consent on the form authorizes a soft inquiry only, which never touches your score.
File and take the oath
The executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email for approval and filing — with the county clerk, the city clerk, or wherever your governing statute or ordinance directs. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What a public official bond actually guarantees
A public official bond is a faithful-performance bond, not a license bond and not insurance for the officer. The officer is the principal; the surety stands behind them; the obligee is the State of Kansas together with the county, city, township or district the officer serves. It answers for public money and public duty: money that comes into the officer’s hands and is not paid over according to law, books and papers not delivered to a successor, and losses the subdivision suffers from neglect of duty or misfeasance in office.
The amount is almost never in the statute. K.S.A. 19-4201 has each elective county officer give corporate surety to the State of Kansas and the county “in an amount and upon terms and conditions as may be specified” by that county’s commissioners, or be covered by a blanket bond the county buys under the same act; K.S.A. 19-4206 pulls every county officer and employee bond under that one purchasing authority. On the city side K.S.A. 12-4108 has the clerk of the municipal court — or the judge, where no clerk is appointed — execute a bond to the city within 10 days of selection “as the governing body may require,” approved by the governing body and filed with the city clerk. So the number you enter comes from a resolution, an ordinance, or your appointment letter, not from us.
You are usually not the one paying. Under K.S.A. 78-111 the premium on a licensed company’s bond for a public officer, deputy or employee is allowed and paid by the county, township, municipality, school district or other political subdivision the person serves; K.S.A. 12-4108 and 15-1404 say the same thing for their offices. Match the bond term to the term of office — the application asks for the term’s effective and expiration dates precisely so the bond does not run out mid-term — and take a 2 or 3-year term where the office runs that long.
You need this bond if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File and take the oath. The executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email for approval and filing — with the county clerk, the city clerk, or wherever your governing statute or ordinance directs. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is 0.35% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, priced on the spot.
These are the actual issuing fields, including the term dates for the office. The credit consent authorizes a soft inquiry only — it never affects your score.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Kansas bonds.
The same bond in nearby states.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Bonded before the oath.
Enter the penal sum your board set, take the executed bond to the clerk, and hand the premium receipt to the treasurer. Free until issued.