Short answer. The court may issue another arrest order, order your bond forfeited and confiscated, or both. If proceeded against, the bond answers for the aggrieved party's loss or injury from the misconduct, plus costs. If there is no aggrieved party, the bond is treated and disposed of as in criminal cases.
What the law says
When a respondent released on bail fails to appear on the day fixed for the hearing, the court may issue another order of arrest or may order the bond for his appearance to be forfeited and confiscated, or both
Rule 71, Section 9 — Proceeding when party released on bail fails to answer. Read the full provision →
What the law says
if the bond be proceeded against, the measure of damages shall be the extent of the loss or injury sustained by the aggrieved party by reason of the misconduct for which the contempt charge was prosecuted, with the costs of the proceedings, and such recovery shall be for the benefit of the party injured.
Rule 71, Section 9 — Proceeding when party released on bail fails to answer. Read the full provision →
Two remedies the court can combine
Section 9 gives the court two tools when a bailed respondent skips the hearing, and it can use either or both. It may issue a fresh order of arrest to bring the respondent back before it, and separately, it may order the bond forfeited and confiscated as a consequence of the failure to appear. A respondent who posted bail specifically to avoid the consequences Section 6 describes should treat the hearing date as firm, not optional.
How much the bond actually pays
If the bond is proceeded against, the recovery is not an arbitrary penalty — it is measured by the extent of the loss or injury the aggrieved party suffered because of the misconduct that triggered the contempt charge in the first place, plus the costs of the proceedings. That recovery benefits the injured party directly. The bond does not, however, cover punitive damages beyond that actual loss, since Section 9 ties the recovery strictly to indemnifying the aggrieved party for what the misconduct actually cost them, not to punishing the respondent a second time on top of whatever penalty the contempt itself carries.
When there is no private complainant
Contempt charges do not always have an identifiable aggrieved party — sometimes the offended interest is the court's own authority. Section 9 covers that case too: if there is no aggrieved party, the forfeited bond is instead liable and disposed of the way bonds are handled in criminal cases generally. This ensures the bond still serves a meaningful consequence even where the contempt affected the court's own authority rather than a private litigant's interests. A respondent bound by this rule cannot avoid forfeiture simply by later appearing voluntarily after the missed date; the arrest order and the forfeiture proceeding are separate remedies, and appearing late does not automatically undo a forfeiture already ordered.