Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center Inmate Bail & Bonds

Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center

Address:
15-15 Hazen Street
East Elmhurt, NY 11370

Phone:

718-546-4520

Who do I call to find out the Bond for an Inmate?

Please call the jail at 718-546-4520 for the type of bond and any information that is required for a particular individual at Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center.
A bond is set according to a court-approved schedule.
The purpose of the bond is to assure the offender's appearance in court.

How to Bail out Someone from a New York City Jail

Post Bail:
Bail must be paid in full for an individual to be released from custody, and those who wish to pay bail are known as “sureties.” Bail can be paid in person at Department of Correction facilities, or online, depending on eligibility criteria.

How to Pay Bail Online:
Individuals must meet the following criteria to be eligible for online bail payment:

     • A judge has set credit card bail as a form of bail payment for that individual
     • A judge has not set any surety conditions (e.g. Judges may require sureties be interviewed
        before posting bail)
     • The Department of Correction (DOC) has logged the individual’s bail conditions into their 
        Inmate Lookup Service.
        o There may be a short waiting period after arraignment before the individual's information is 
           logged into DOC’s system.
      

 For more information about this individual’s online bail eligibility, please contact his/her attorney.

After arraignment (when bail is set), eligible bail can be paid online from any computer, phone, or tablet. The online payment system can be used to pay bails of any amount.
Online bail payment is available for individuals shortly following arraignment, once the individual’s information is logged into DOC’s system. Online bail may be paid while the individual is still in the courthouse after arraignment, in transit, or housed at a DOC facility. After the date of the arraignment, bail may be paid online at any time except for subsequent court dates following arraignment. On court dates following arraignment, bail must be paid directly at the courthouse’s cashier window.


To pay bail online:

  • Go to the New York City Department of Correction’s Inmate Lookup Service: Look Up Inmate
  • Using the New York City Department of Correction’s Inmate Lookup Service, find the individual you wish to pay bail for. You will need the individual’s first and last name, OR the individual’s NYSID, or Book and Case Number.
  • You will be shown an "Inmate Details" page that contains personal information and docket / case information for that individual. If the individual is eligible for online bail payment, the "Pay Bail" button at the bottom of the "Inmate Details" page will be blue. Click on the "Pay Bail" button - this will allow you to access the online bail payment portal.
  • If the "Pay Bail" button is gray, then the individual is ineligible for online bail payment at this time OR has not yet been entered into the Inmate Lookup Service with an assigned housing facility. For more information about this individual's online bail eligibility, please contact his/her attorney.
  • In the online bail payment portal, you, as the surety, will need to enter your information (Name, Address, Phone, Email, Occupation, and Relationship to Person in Custody) as well as the billing address and payment information for the credit / debit card that you wish to use. You may use multiple credit / debit cards to pay the full bail amount. Multiple people can also pay portions of the same bail amount.
  • You may use multiple transactions to pay the full bail amount, but the full bail amount must be paid within 24 hours of the first transaction.

IMPORTANT – If the person you are paying bail for has a warrant, hold, or additional case, he/she may not be released until those additional issues are resolved.

BEFORE you authorize your payment, you will be asked to indicate whether you still want your payment to be processed even if the individual is found to have a condition that prevents his/her release.
AFTER you have authorized your payment, DOC will conduct a check for any additional warrants, holds, or open cases that would prevent an individual from being released after bail has been paid.
You will receive an email confirmation informing you of whether your bail payment was approved or denied, and whether the individual has been cleared for discharge from DOC custody.
You will receive a refund from the Department of Finance roughly eight weeks after the case for which you paid bail has been resolved. 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 sureties) within two weeks of receiving the refund order from the court.

REMEMBER: If the person you paid bail for does not attend all of his / her court appearances, the bail amount may be forfeited.


How to Pay Bail in Person

You can pay bail in person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at any of the following Department of Correction facilities, regardless of where the individual is housed:

      •  Brooklyn Courts
          o 120 Schermerhorn, Brooklyn, N.Y.11201
          o Room 101C 1st Floor
          o For Bails and Inmates Accounts: 7 days a week between 8:30 a.m. and 1 a.m.
      •  Manhattan Detention Complex 
          o 125 White St, New York, NY 10013
      •  Queens Detention Complex
          o 126-02 82nd Avenue, Kew Gardens, NY 11415
      •  Vernon C. Bain Center
          o 1 Halleck St, Bronx, NY 10474
      •  Rikers Island


Note: For individuals housed at Horizon Juvenile Center, bail may be paid at Horizon or at any of the above locations. Horizon cannot accept payments for individuals housed at other facilities.

Bail can be paid at the Bronx Criminal Court, Lower Level – Room M-05C, 7 days a week between 8 a.m. and 1 a.m.
 
To post bail, you must present personal identification and provide the New York State Identification (NYSID) or Book and Case number of the person to be bailed.

Bail will be accepted in any of the following forms:

U.S. cash for the full amount;
Cashier's/Tellers's check, in any amount not exceeding the bail figure;
Money order from Federal Express, U.S. Postal Service, Travelers Express Company, Western Union, or a private bank -- up to $1000
Credit or debit card
Note: Cashier's checks, teller's checks, and money orders should be made payable to the “New York City Department of Correction.” While the amount of each money order may not exceed $1,000, you can pay with multiple money orders or a combination of money orders, checks, and cash. The total amount you pay must exactly match the bail amount. No change will be provided.

How Not to Pay Bail in Person
Not acceptable for bail purposes:

Personal checks, whether certified or not;
Check/money order for amounts exceeding the $1,000 limit or for which a refund ("change") would be required;
Any other form of payment that is not listed as an acceptable form above.

Who can post Bail or Bond for a Defendant at Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center?

Anyone over the age of 18 who can produce a valid government-issued photo ID can post bail. Accepted forms of ID include a Photo Driver's License, Passport, or Motor Vehicle issued ID.

In many circumstances, if the defendant has the resources, they can post their own cash bail from jail.

Surety Bonds are arranged by a third party, typically a New York state licensed Bail Bond firm.

Juveniles may only be bailed or bonded out of custody by a parent or legal guardian.

New York County Justice System Flowchart

When will the Cash Bail or Collateral be returned to me?

Money or collateral will not be returned until the defendant's court case is finished, so realistically it could take several months to years, depending on the severity of the charges. If a defendant posts his or her own bail, New York County Court may retain whatever amount of fines or fees have accumulated throughout the trial.

What happens to my Bail or Collateral if the Defendant misses Court?

The New York County Judge may order a failure to appear warrant for the person's arrest or the Judge may order a Bail Commissioner's Letter be issued that will be sent to the person with a new court date.

If cash bail was paid, the entire amount may be forfeited.

How to Rent a Tablet for an Inmate in Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center

To rent a tablet for an inmate in New York County follow these instructions:

  • Register here.  It is recommended you use Chrome or Firefox.
  • Pay for the subscription using Paypal.
  • You get charged the 1st of each month. 
  • You get charged a full month even if it's only used for a partial month.
  • No activation or early termination fees.
  • Your New York County inmate will recieve their tablet in 3-5 business days, after you pay.


If you have any questions:

For all New York County information on Tablet Rentals for your inmate, check out our Tablet Rental Page.


 

How do you Visit an Inmate in NYC Rikers or other Correctional facilities?

To lean about inmate visitation in the NYC Correction Department, read the following:

TELEVISITING (Remote Visitation)

Televisiting will take place from 8:00am to 2:00pm on Saturday, and 8:00am to 2:00pm on Sunday. Televisiting follows the Department's existing in-person visit schedule, which organizes visit days based on the first letter of the person in custody's last name. Please refer to the Visit Schedule in order to determine which day of the week you may visit your loved one.

VISIT SCHEDULE (changes monthly)

In-person visits will take place Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.- and Friday mornings from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Visitors need to arrive 1 hour prior to their scheduled visit time. Visits will follow the existing visitor schedule according to the last name of the individual in custody.

To learn more about the Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center inmate visitation procedures, polices and schedules, which change monthly, check out our Inmate Visitation Page.


 

How Inmates in Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center, Rikers Island and the entire NYC DOC Jail System Make Phone Calls

To find out how Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center makes phone calls, read this information:

  • Inmates in the Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center can make 21 minutes worth of domestic calls every three hours, with no call going longer than 15 minutes.
  • Inmates in Segregation get less time, and only once a day maximum.
  • There is a fee if an inmate wants to buy more phone calling time when incarcerated in the NYC DOC.

For all the information on how to buy time, using tablets to make calls, how much it costs and more, check out out Inmate Phone Page.


 

How to Deposit Money in the Account of an NYC DOC Inmate in Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center

To deposit money in the commissary account of an NYC DOC inmate, follow these instructions:

  • You can deposit money online using Jpay, Western Union or Moneygram. The money can also be used for bail.
  • You can mail a money order of cashier's check into Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center.
  • You can deposit cash into a kiosk that is located in the Vernon C. Bain Center in the Bronx.

For all the information, including links to all of the online deposit methods and addresses fo mailing money orders, check out our Send Money Page.


 

What is the Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center?... Where is it Located?... Who is in Jail There? ... How Many Inmates are There?

  • Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center is one of twelve jails in the New York City Department of Correction.
  • There are 2978 beds in the facility.
  • There are over 59560 of Bookings every year.

For all the information about Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center, how to reach an inmate there, how to find out if the inmate is there, or where he went when he was released, check out our Family Info Page.


 

How to Mail, What Can you Mail and What Can't you Mail to an Inmate in Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center, or Rikers Island or NYC DOC Inmates

To understand the Mail Policies for Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center requires a lot of time and attention as NYC DOC Jails are some of the most permissive in America.

1. Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center allows unlimited mail.
2. They allow packages to be sent in to inmates.
3. They allow magazines, newspapers and books to be sent direct from friends and family.
4. They allow clothing, jewelry, art supplies and all kinds of stuff to be sent to inmates.

In short, to fully understand the Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center and see the full list of things you can mail to an inmate, check out our Inmate Mail Page.


 

How to Look Up an Inmate in Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center, Rikers Island or the NYC DOC Jail System.

To look up an inmate in Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center or any of the New York City Department of Correction follow these instructions:

1. Proceed to the NYC DOC Inmate Locator Page.
2. Type in the inmate's first name, last name or case and book number.
3. If you just type in the first name or last name, you will see a list of every inmate that uses that name.
4. Select your inmate from that list.

For full instructions on how to interpret the information on the Inmate Search Locator including criminal charges, bail, court dates and more, check out our Mugshots Page.


 

How to Order Commissary for Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center, Rikers Island or NYC Jails

Instructions for ordering commissary for Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center will soon be announced.
The New York City Department of Correction is rolling out a new commissary system in the Spring of 2022. Inmates will be able to order commissary directly and have it delivered from an outside vendor. Stay tuned for updates.

This jailhouse 'Uber Eats' system will be replacing the current commissary system.

Stay tuned by checking out our Commissary Page for Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center


 

How to Bail out an Inmate in Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center or any NYC or Rikers Island Jail

To Bail out an inmate in Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center or a New York City Jail follow these instructions:

1. You can post bail either online or in person.
2. To post bail online or in person you need the exact name your inmate used when arrested, and their book and case number. You can find this information here.
3. You can use one of multiple payment systems online.... Western Union, Moneygram or Jpay.
4. In person bail payments must be made in Brooklyn, Queens or the Bronx.
5. Personal checks or Money Orders exceeding $1,000 will NOT be accepted for bail.

For the complete information on how to bail out someone from Rikers Island - George Motchan Detention Center or any Rikers island or NYC Jail, check out our Inmate Bail Page.


 

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