Cayuga County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

That job belongs to a judge, at the first court date, known in New York as the arraignment. CourtHelp, the state court help site, says arraignment usually follows arrest within 24 hours. City arrests land in Auburn City Court, Historic Old Post Office Building, 157 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY 13021, 315-237-6420. Town and village arrests start with the local justice for that town or village.

The court system also lists a "Cayuga CAP," short for centralized arraignment part. Local judges take turns in it so new arrests get heard off hours with a defense lawyer on hand (Judiciary Law § 212(1)(w)).

Each person gets a decision made just for them. The judge has to explain it on the record or on paper (CPL 510.10(1)). Felony holds also run on a timer: 120 hours, stretched to 144 when Saturday, Sunday or a holiday is in the mix. Past that, release follows unless the case has moved or an exception fits (CPL 180.80).

"Securing order" is the legal label for the release ruling (CPL 500.10). The judge picks one of these:

• ROR. Short for release on recognizance. A signed pledge to return is enough, with no cash.
• Non-money conditions. Home, under rules like reporting to a program or avoiding a named person. No fee may be charged for these (CPL 500.10(3-a)).
• Bail. Money or a bond parked with the court as a guarantee.
• Remand. Held without bail, which only certain felonies allow.

If bail is the choice, three or more forms must appear on the order (CPL 520.10). One must be a no-deposit (unsecured) or low-deposit (partially secured) bond, chosen by the court. With a partially secured bond, the cash put down tops out at one tenth of the total (CPL 500.10(18)). With an unsecured bond, nobody puts money down. The signers just owe the full sum if a court date is missed.

Ankle monitors come last, after every other option fails. Any monitoring order expires after 60 days unless renewed at a fresh hearing (CPL 510.40(4)).

No price list exists for bail in New York. It helps to know the ladder of charges first. Felonies are the serious crimes, graded A at the top through E, and they can mean state prison. Misdemeanors rank lower, in classes A and B, and carry 364 days or less in a local jail. Violations, the bottom rung, are not crimes.

Most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony cases end in release by law (CPL 510.10(3), 530.20(1)). Only a "qualifying offense" listed in CPL 510.10(4) allows money bail or remand. The big groups are:

• Violent felonies, robbery and second-degree assault among them
• Class A felonies
• Sex offenses and sex trafficking named in the statute
• Violating a protection order, or choking a relative or household member
• Charges tied to someone's death
• Threats aimed at a witness, or witness tampering
• Escape, or skipping out on bail
• New felonies while on probation or post-release supervision
• Repeat harm to people or property during release on a like charge
• Certain gun charges, third-degree weapon possession included

Money matters too. The judge must consider the person's financial situation and whether posting bail would bring undue hardship (CPL 510.10(1)). DCJS figures for 2024 show non-NYC town and village courts released 75% on recognizance and set bail in 13% of arraignments. For your person's exact amount, phone 315-253-2911.

The Sheriff's FAQ lists two ways to post bail: in person at the jail or online. The jail shares the Public Safety Building at 7445 County House Road, Auburn, NY 13021. For a lobby visit:

1. Ring 315-253-2911 and confirm the amount plus the court or judge on the order.
2. Ask what hours the lobby accepts bail.
3. Pack a photo ID.
4. Staff will want your name, address, employer or line of work, and a phone number.
5. Hand over cash, a card, or some of each.
6. Save the receipt. The money stays legally yours unless it is forfeited (CPL 520.15).

For paying from home, the Sheriff's jail and inmate FAQ sends people to GovPayNet, a card processing firm. Gather the criminal history number, birth date, bail figure, court or judge, plus pay location code 6079. Jail staff supply all but the code over the phone. Cards work only for their own holder.

State law names several places to deposit cash bail, including the court behind the order and the sheriff holding the person (CPL 520.15). With proof of deposit in hand, the jail must free the person at once. Phone ahead:

• Auburn City Court, Historic Old Post Office Building, 157 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY 13021, 315-237-6420, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• County Court (indicted felonies), 152 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY 13021, 315-237-6450, weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Town and village justices: reach the court that did the arraignment. Each one's phone sits on our court page.

Three questions cover any clerk's window. Which forms of bail does the order name? Which payments does the clerk handle? Will the clerk notify the jail, or should you carry the receipt over yourself? Bring photo ID and the docket number.

A person still at a station house hasn't reached court yet. Phone that agency, for instance the Auburn Police Department at 315-253-3231, and ask whether a ticket or an arraignment comes next.

Cash plus Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover all appear on the Sheriff's FAQ. Splitting one bail between bills and plastic is fine too. Under state law, a credit card payment is a valid kind of bail (CPL 500.10(9)).

• GovPayNet handles each card charge and tacks on a service fee. You lose that fee for good, even after the bail is returned.
• The name on the card has to match the payer. Borrowed cards get turned away.
• Planning to bring a money order, certified check or agent's bond? Clear it with 315-253-2911 first.
• Cash never goes in the mail.

Look over the judge's paperwork, too. It spells out the forms the court takes, and one of them has to be a low- or no-deposit bond.

Bail agents need a state license, issued by DFS (the Department of Financial Services). Check the agent on the DFS bail bond search before signing anything.

• Price ceiling. The premium maxes out at 10% of the first $3,000, then 8% of the slice from $3,000 to $10,000, then 6% above that (Insurance Law § 6804). A $5,000 bond costs $460 at most.
• When the premium returns. Normally it is kept. Within 14 days, though, it all comes back if the person stays locked up or gets released on recognizance or without money bail.
• Add-ons. On top of the premium, the only allowed charges are certain listed expenses, like returning a client to court after a warrant.
• Collateral. DFS suggests keeping it modest, for example 10% of the bond. Agents must return it 45 days after getting exoneration paperwork, unless the bail was forfeited.
• Paper trail. Signed, detailed receipts are required when you pay and when collateral returns.

Nonprofit charitable bail funds can also cover cash bail. File problems on the DFS complaint form.

Each bail belongs to one case only. Watch for these other holds:

• Another case or warrant. City, town and village court warrants reach their home county plus bordering counties (CPL 530.70).
• Parole violation. The jail keeps parole violators, and parole must clear them on its own.
• Bound for state prison. Some people sit here awaiting transfer to DOCCS.
• Federal custody. The Custody Division also houses prisoners for the U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
• ICE. A detainer could apply, covered further down.

Have jail staff at 315-253-2911 list every hold before money changes hands. Concerns about treatment go to the shift supervisor, 315-253-3002.

Only a qualifying felony opens the door to remand (CPL 510.10(4)). The 2023 state budget dropped the old "least restrictive" test and handed judges more say over bail on serious crimes.

Town, village and city judges have less power here. They cannot free or bail out anyone facing a class A felony (CPL 530.20(2)). The same goes for someone with two felony convictions already. Release then rests with County Court. Before freeing anyone on a felony, a local judge must let the prosecutor be heard and must review the criminal record report.

Prosecution comes from the District Attorney's Office, 95 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY 13021, 315-253-1391.

Requests come from the defense lawyer, but relatives supply much of the proof.

1. Gather pay stubs, a lease or mortgage bill, proof of family ties and a frank budget.
2. Mention nominal bail to the lawyer. A defendant may request this token sum at any point, and the judge must grant it when the request is voluntary (CPL 510.10(5)).
3. For a case in a city, town or village court, one appeal of bail to a County Court judge is possible (CPL 530.30). A second try is not.
4. Count the days. Someone jailed on a felony walks out if the prosecution isn't trial-ready within 90 days of commitment (CPL 30.30(2)).

Can't reach the assigned lawyer? The Assigned Counsel Program answers at 315-253-1402.

Free defense here runs through the Assigned Counsel Program, 152 Genesee Street, Floor 2, Auburn, NY 13021, 315-253-1402. State law obliges each county to fund such a plan (County Law § 722).

• Counsel is a right whenever a securing order is weighed or revisited (CPL 510.10(2)).
• Counties must have lawyers available at arraignment without holding up the hearing (Executive Law § 832(4)).
• Eligibility is presumed for people behind bars, and for incomes under 250% of federal poverty guidelines.
• Pay earned by a husband or wife stays out of the math.
• Judges rule on eligibility, and a provisional assignment can cover the gap.

This is New York's 7th Judicial District, and appeals head to the Fourth Department. Court buildings and phones:

• County Court and Supreme Court (felonies), 152 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY 13021, 315-237-6450, weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A drug treatment court meets here.
• City Court (city misdemeanors and early felony steps), Historic Old Post Office Building, 157 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY 13021, 315-237-6420, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with its own drug treatment court.
• Family Court (young people), 157 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY 13021, 315-237-6400, weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone first to confirm the entrance.
• Town and village justice courts take arrests outside city limits. The Unified Court System's town and village court directory lists them.
• Federal court, James Hanley Federal Building, 100 South Clinton Street, Syracuse, NY 13261, 315-234-8500.

Bail money goes back to the payer once the case closes, provided no court date was missed. A conviction costs 3% of the sum in county fees. A dismissal or acquittal returns all of it (General Municipal Law § 99-m). Judges sign the refund order, yet CourtHelp notes the court itself never mails the check.

Skipping court with no good excuse triggers forfeiture (CPL 540.10).

• Showing up before the final adjournment with a solid reason may lead the judge to undo it.
• On cash bail, the county treasurer owes written notice to the person who paid.
• Asking to recover forfeited money has a one-year deadline, plus five days' notice to the District Attorney (CPL 540.30).

Felony refund questions go to County Court, 315-237-6450. Local cases go to the court that took the bail.

Settle cash and belongings questions before release if possible. Phone 315-253-2911 at 7445 County House Road, Auburn, NY 13021, and ask two things: how unused commissary funds get refunded, and when stored property may be picked up.

Carry photo ID. Collecting on someone's behalf? Check if the jail needs their written okay. Our guide to inmate accounts and commissary guide fill in the details.

The Syracuse Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York takes federal criminal cases from here. Its home is the James Hanley Federal Building, 100 South Clinton Street, Syracuse, NY 13261, 315-234-8500, open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• At the first appearance a federal magistrate or judge weighs detention versus release until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Before trial, federal prisoners are kept by the Marshals, whose district headquarters is at 100 South Clinton Street, Floor 10, Syracuse, NY 13261, 315-473-7601.
• The Custody Division lists the Marshals among agencies it houses prisoners for, so a federal defendant may stay on County House Road. Ask the Marshals.
• Federal defenders work from 4 Clinton Square, Floor 3, Syracuse, NY 13202, 315-701-0080.
• Following sentencing, check the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

No. Bail answers the state charge. A detainer is a separate federal ask. Step by step:

1. ICE starts by handing the jail a detainer, known as Form I-247A.
2. That request reaches up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Agents may arrive for a pickup. A common destination upstate is ICE's Buffalo (Batavia) Service Processing Center, 4250 Federal Drive, Batavia, NY 14020, 585-344-6500.
4. Track them through the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

State law narrows the jail's role. A 2018 appeals ruling, People ex rel. Wells v DeMarco, found no state law lets local police or jail staff carry out civil immigration arrests. Executive Law § 170-k, enacted in 2026, voids local 287(g) agreements and bans deals to detain people solely on civil immigration grounds, while still allowing compliance with judicial warrants and court orders. Under Civil Rights Law § 28, a party or witness on the way to court, in the courtroom or headed home can't face a civil arrest unless a judge authorized it in writing.

Terms of a year or under are done at the county jail. Longer felony terms belong to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). A "state ready" label from county officials starts a ten-business-day clock for DOCCS to pick the person up. Reception staff run tests and set a security level, and a transfer to a fitting prison follows.

• Type a name or a DIN (Department Identification Number) into the DOCCS Incarcerated Lookup.
• See our guide to New York state prisons for each facility.
• The DOCCS central office, 1220 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12226, helps callers locate someone on weekdays at 518-457-5000.

Raise the Age changed things for older teens. A felony case against a 16- or 17-year-old opens in a Youth Part, not regular adult court. A teen kept in custody goes to youth detention instead of the County House Road jail. Nonviolent felony cases shift to Family Court. The District Attorney can block that only by proving "extraordinary circumstances" within 30 days (CPL 722.23(1)).

• Misdemeanor arrests of teens head to probation intake.
• Officers owe a parent immediate notice once a child is in custody (Family Court Act § 305.2).
• A child kept in custody must reach Family Court fast: the next court day, or 72 hours, whichever arrives first (Family Court Act § 307.3).

To learn where a teen is held, reach the Probation Department's juvenile officer, 152-154 Genesee Street, Floor 3, Auburn, NY 13021, 315-253-1689, or Family Court at 315-237-6400.