Under New York Law, bail may not be set on most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies unless they involve allegations of domestic violence or sexual misconduct. However if a person was released on one case and arrested on a second case, sometimes bail can be set on the second case even if it is a misdemeanor or non-violent felony. 

If a person is charged with a crime that is eligible for bail the judge is supposed to decide whether or not that person is likely to flee from prosecution. You might hear people in a courtroom call this “flight risk.” If a judge decides a person is a flight risk they must then decide whether requiring the person to report to a program or be on electronic monitoring is enough to make sure they do not run from the case. 

Bail is only supposed to be set in cases where the court decides that the only way to make sure the person comes to court is by requiring someone to pay money on their behalf or promise to pay money if the person does not come to court. The idea is that people will return to court if they or their loved ones could lose money. Many studies show that setting bail does not have much impact on court attendance but unfortunately courts often do not care about these studies.  

In deciding how much money to require people to pay, the court is supposed to take into account whether the bail will pose “an undue hardship” to them and their loved ones. Unfortunately courts often ignore this requirement. 

When people cannot afford to pay their bail, it means they must stay in jail until their case goes to trial or they decide to take a plea. Bail is wealth based detention—those with money can buy their freedom and those without money cannot.

In Family Court, there is no bail. Children charged with a juvenile delinquency case are either held in detention or allowed to go home with their parents without paying any money.

There are nine different forms of bail and the law requires that the judge give at least three ways of paying bail. The most frequently set forms of bail are cash, insurance company bonds, and partially secured bonds. 

Cash bail may be paid to the court clerk, at any correctional facility (jail) in the City, or online if the judge says this is allowed. If the accused person comes back to court the person who paid bail will get all of their money back at the end of the case. If the accused person does not come back to court then the person who paid will lose their money. Bail can also be paid using a credit card at the courthouse, online, or at a kiosk in a correctional facility, but only if a judge has set “credit card bail.”

Insurance company bonds are normally set in amounts higher than the cash bail amount, and require payment of a fee (always 10% or less of the total) to a private company called a Bail Bondsman. This fee will never be returned to the person who paid it. The amount of the fee is set by law. You can use this calculator to see what the maximum fee a bondsman can charge which depends on the amount of the bond. Sometimes the company requires loved ones to pay more than just the fee. This extra money is called “collateral.” If the accused person makes all their court dates, then at the end of the case the company will return the collateral to the person who paid it but keep the fee. If the accused person does not make the court the court dates then the bond company keeps the collateral and will then take the loved one who paid the bond to court to get the full bond amount. 

Partially secured bonds are bonds where loved ones pay the court a fee rather than a bail bond company. The advantage of a partially secured bond is that if the accused person makes their court dates, at the end of the case the court will return the fee to the person who paid it. Usually the fee is 10% of the total bond amount but the law permits it to be less than that and a lawyer can advocate to a judge to lower the amount if 10% is too high. If the accused person does not come back to court, then the loved one who paid the deposit will be required to pay back the full bond amount to the court.

You can find more information for loved ones about different types of bail in both English and Spanish.

Online

Cash bail may usually be paid online at the NYC Department of Corrections website “Inmate Lookup Service.” This service is only available when the court sets credit card bail AND it can only be used on days that the accused does not have a court date. After inputting the person’s name or NYSID you will be taken to a page which has a pay bail button at the bottom. Make sure you are paying bail for the correct person. 

In Court

Cash or Credit Card:
At the time that the judge sets bail (usually at the arraignments) if both the person posting bail and the accused are in the courthouse, cash or credit card bail can be posted in the courthouse. Paying bail at this point will prevent the accused person from being transferred to jail. If you want to pay on a future court appearance date, you may pay cash or by credit card to the court clerk, as long as the accused is in court on that date. No checks are accepted in court.

Partially Secured Bond:
The person paying the deposit will need to go to the courtroom, usually the same one where the case is pending, and fill out some paperwork. It is best to reach out to the accused person’s lawyer beforehand to let them know you are going to pay. They usually can provide paperwork to complete in advance and explain questions the judge might ask. Remember the accused person’s lawyer does not represent the people paying the bond. If a person paying the bond has legal questions they should ask a different lawyer. The person paying will be placed under oath. The judge may ask questions about their finances and make sure they understand that if the accused person does not come back to court then the person paying will owe the court the full bond amount. If after asking these questions the judge decides to approve the bond, they will sign it and the accused person will be released.

In a jail facility

Cash bail can also be paid 24/7 at most city jails, although people are usually released fastest if the bail is paid at the facility where they are being held. City jails will accept certain kinds of certified or government checks as well as cash, but there are restrictions on the amount and type. Personal checks are not accepted. Cashiers/teller’s checks, also known as bank checks, can be written for an unlimited amount; however, money orders cannot exceed one-thousand dollars ($1,000) per check. Checks should be made out to New York City Department of Correction. As an alternative the accused can post bail from their own jail commissary account. You can find the most up to date rules about posting bail and about sending money to the prisoner account on the NYC Department of Corrections website. Alternatively, you can obtain information about posting bail, as well as information on locating incarcerated people and jails, retrieving property, visiting hours and rules, and travel directions, by calling the Department of Correction, at 718-546-0700. The addresses of New York City jails and locations where bail can be posted are listed below:

• Brooklyn Courts, 120 Schermerhorn, Brooklyn, N.Y.1120, Room 101C 1st Floor, 7 days a week between 8:30 a.m. and 1 a.m.
• Manhattan Detention Complex, 125 White St, New York, NY 10013
• Queens Detention Complex, 126-02 82nd Avenue, Kew Gardens, NY 11415
• Vernon C. Bain Center, 1 Halleck St, Bronx, NY 10474
• Bronx Criminal Court, 215 East 161st Street, Lower Level – Room M-05C, 7 days a week between 8 a.m. and 1 a.m.
• Rikers Island

Through a bail bondsman

If you are posting an insurance company bond, you will first need to find a bail bondsman. They can be located through an online search, and often have offices near the courthouses. You will have to enter into a contract with the bondsmen which will require you to pay a non-refundable fee, and may require extra money or property as collateral. Bond companies are regulated by the State and there are maximum fees they may impose. Make sure that you understand the agreement and fees required before entering into a contract with a bail bond company. For more information about bail bonds please refer to the Center for Urban Pedagogy’s pamphlet “Bail’s Set…What’s Next?”

If the accused person does not come to court when required to do so, the judge may order that bail be forfeited, or kept by the city. There is a procedure, called remission of forfeiture, which allows a person who posted bail to apply for it to be returned if it has been forfeited. Some people hire a lawyer to do this, but you can do it on your own if you cannot afford a lawyer.

Keep in mind that there is a strict deadline for a remission of forfeiture application, and you must apply within one year of the date that the court ordered the bail forfeited. If the bail was forfeited in Supreme Court (a felony case), the application must be made to the court that issued the forfeiture order. If it happened in Criminal Court (a misdemeanor case), the application is made to a Supreme Court judge in that county.

An application for remission of bail must be made in writing, by the person who posted the bail, and it must give a good reason why the court should return the money. These reasons include reasons why the accused did not come to court, such as being hospitalized, being in jail somewhere else, and not being told when to come to court; and the hardship you would face without that money. You can find more information on bail remission at nycourts.gov.

For information about bail bondsmen, see the Bail Bond Consumers’ Bill of Rights, which may be found on the website of the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (formerly Department of Consumer Affairs).

If the accused person has made court appearances as required, cash bail should be returned at the end of the case. When the case is over, the judge should issue an order for the return of bail (“exonerating” the bail).

The New York City Department of Finance will issue a check to the person who deposited the bail approximately 8 weeks after the bail is exonerated. If your bail has not been returned after 8 weeks, you can contact the Department of Finance at 212-908-7619 or get more information on their website. You should have your bail receipt available when you call, so that you can provide the information they will need to find the case.

If you have tried all these steps and have not been able to get your money back, the lawyer in the criminal case may be able to assist.

The information in this document has been prepared by The Legal Aid Society for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. You should not act upon any information without retaining professional legal counsel.