Courts, correctional facilities, and jails collect cash bail. A person who pays cash bail is a “surety.” When the court case is over, sureties are refunded the cash bail that they paid.
When you pay cash bail, you will receive a receipt as proof of payment. The Department of Finance holds the cash bail funds until the court closes the case and issues a court order to refund the cash bail.
If you do not receive your cash bail refund in the mail eight weeks after the case ends, contact the Department of Finance. Please have a copy of your cash bail receipt ready when providing information.
Generally, you do not need to take any action. When a case is over, the court sends a refund order to the Department of Finance within six weeks. The Department of Finance sends a check to the surety (or an assignee), at the address on the cash bail receipt, within two weeks of receiving the refund order from the court. In total it should take about eight weeks after the case has ended for you to receive your cash bail refund.
If you are the surety (the person who paid the cash bail) or the assignee (the person to whom the surety transferred the cash bail), and you did not receive a refund check within eight weeks after the case ended, contact the Department of Finance’s Cash Bail Unit. If we mailed you a cash bail refund check, we may need to stop payment on the check. You will need to complete a Stop Payment Affidavit and mail or deliver the notarized affidavit to the address provided. Please note that it takes 30 days to reissue a check after a stop payment has been processed.
A surety's next-of-kin (or the person paying for the funeral) can submit a claim for the cash bail refund by completing a Surety Survivor's Affidavit. Mail or deliver the notarized affidavit with a copy of the death certificate and a paid funeral bill to the address listed on the affidavit.
The Department of Finance will provide information about a cash bail refund only to the surety or another person to whom the surety has given a signed, notarized statement, permitting that person to inquire about the cash bail refund.
Attorneys: An attorney may inquire about cash bail refunds only if the surety has assigned or transferred the cash bail to the attorney.
Other people may request information about a cash bail refund by writing to:
NYC Department of Finance
Treasury Division, Court Assets Unit
66 John Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10038
You can also call us at (212) 908-7619 from Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., or send us a message online.
You will need the following information from your cash bail receipt to inquire about a refund:
NYC Department of Finance
Treasury Division, Court Assets Unit
66 John Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10038
Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
You must bring one of the following government-issued photo IDs:
If you do not have any of the above, you will need to bring two IDs from the following list:
It is very important that you notify us when your address changes. This will help avoid delays in receiving your refund.
Complete the Cash Bail Refund Change of Address Notice and notarize it. Return the completed notarized form and a copy of a government-issued ID to the address provided on the form:
You may also visit the Department of Finance’s Cash Bail Unit to complete an Address Change Notice. The In-Person Inquiries section contains information on our office location and a list of acceptable identification documents.
Do Not Miss Out on Your Cash Bail Refund
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