Judge Robert J. Bonds was born in Aiken, South Carolina in 1963.  He is the son of Jack and Helen Bonds of Raleigh, North Carolina.  Judge Bonds is married to Harriet Ashby Bonds and they have three children.  

Judge Bonds attended College of Charleston and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1986.  Judge Bonds received his Juris Doctor from Campbell University School of Law in 1990.    

In 1990, Judge Bonds moved to Walterboro, South Carolina where he worked as an associate attorney at Bogoslow and Jones Law Firm.  While at Bogoslow and Jones his practice focused on insurance defense litigation.  In 1995 Judge Bonds started his own firm and in 1998 joined with John Hetrick and L. Scott Harvin to form Hetrick, Harvin and Bonds, LLC where he practiced until 2021.  His practice centered on criminal defense and personal injury litigation.

Judge Bonds is a member of the South Carolina Bar and is a former member of the South Carolina Bar House of Delegates.  Judge Bonds served on Walterboro City Council from 2011 to 2019.  Judge Bonds is past president of the Walterboro Rotary Club and past chairman of the Lowcountry Council of Governments.   

Judge Bonds was elected by the South Carolina General Assembly on February 3, 2021 as resident judge for the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit.