Before You Pay Bail for Someone at Schenectady County Correctional Facility

Schenectady County Correctional Facility allows bail to be paid in person or electronically. Its accepted methods include cash, certified bank checks and credit cards. Before paying, confirm the current payment methods and fee with the Corrections Division.

Before paying bail online, gather the case-specific information required for the transaction. The Corrections Division can provide this information by phone.

1. Obtain the defendant’s name and date of birth.
2. Obtain the court with jurisdiction and the judge’s name.
3. Obtain the cash-bail amount.
4. Call the Corrections Division at (518) 388-4300 to obtain the case-specific information needed for payment.

The facility uses GovPayNet for remote bail payments and adds a service fee equal to 7% of the bail amount. The bail receipt is issued to the defendant, and the credit-card funds, minus the service fee, become the defendant’s property. When the court releases funds after the case is disposed of, only the defendant may collect them, so the cardholder is responsible for recovering any money from the defendant.

• ✓ The correct cash-bail amount
• ✓ Funds for the additional 7% service fee
• ✓ Acceptance that the receipt will be in the defendant’s name
• ✓ Acceptance that only the defendant can collect funds later released by the court

After the Sheriff’s Office confirms that the correct amount was transferred to its account, Corrections staff process the defendant’s bail release. The defendant then signs the bail receipt.

Call the Corrections Division at (518) 388-4300 for the defendant, court, judge and bail-amount information needed for online payment. For technical support with GovPayNet, call 1-877-EZBAIL5 to speak with a GovPayNet specialist.