Courtesy of City Department of Correction
To use the new online bail payment system, visit nyc.gov/doc/lookup.
By Forum Staff
The City’s online bail payment system will, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio, make it easier for New Yorkers to pay bail – including when a friend or relative cannot get to court or a Department of Correction facility to pay in person, Hizzoner noted on Friday as he announced the launch of the new method.
Among the conveniences of the online bail payment system:
• Sureties, or people who are posting bail to secure the release of another person, will no longer need to pay bail in person at a courthouse or DOC facility or wait at a facility.
• There is no geographic limitation. A family member living out of state can now contribute to the bail amount or pay the full bail amount.
• Credit card bail payment is no longer limited to a single card-holder. Multiple people can now pay portions of the total bail amount, as long as the full amount is paid within a few hours of the first transaction.
• The person paying bail will be able to use multiple credit cards unlike the current in-person process where one person must pay the entire amount in a single transaction. This will ease the financial burden on a surety by allowing payments to be spread across multiple credit cards without worrying about maxing out one credit card, de Blasio said.
“Until we see the necessary bail reform that will make the system more just and speed up the closure of Rikers Island, New York City will do everything in its power to make the system as efficient and fair as possible,” the mayor added. “People should not be in jail based on the size of their bank account and no one should stay in jail because a family member was unable to get a day off from work to go to court or a correctional facility.”
The administration pointed out that while most of the online system will be funded through fees, the City agreed to subsidize the service. The 2.49-percent fee to sureties will be among the lowest in the nation for a service of its kind and scope, officials claimed.
In the initial rollout, online payment will be available for bail that a judge orders is eligible for credit card payment, pursuant to an existing Office of Court Administration cap of $2,500 on the credit card bail amount. The City and OCA are working to lift the cap before the end of the year in order to expand the service to higher bail amounts, according to the administration.
The City has indicated that it will also install kiosks in all five boroughs, which will allow people who don’t have access to the internet at home, to go to a kiosk to post bail. Kiosks will be available in courthouses before the end of the year, de Blasio promised.
To use the new system customers go to the DOC Inmate Lookup Service at nyc.gov/doc/lookup and find the person whose bail is to be paid. Customers will need the person’s first and last name, or NYSID, or Book and Case Number.
