Picking Up Your Loved One from Winnebago County Jail: Bond Out entrance, ReleasePay cards, and released property

Pickups for people being bonded out or released happen through the Bond Out office, not the main entrance. The Bond Out entrance is separate, located off West State Street. Specifically, the Bond Out Window is in the Criminal Justice Center at 650 West State Street.

All funds and commissary releases are only processed on Tuesdays and Fridays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Bond Out Window (Criminal Justice Center, 650 West State Street). Plan around those specific days and hours if you need to handle anything account-related.

If your loved one has money left on their jail account when they're released, those remaining funds get loaded onto a debit card and handed to them at release. The card and any remaining balance go directly to your loved one, not to family or friends picking them up.

• ✓ For questions after the debit card is issued, the cardholder must contact ReleasePay.
• ✓ ReleasePay Customer Service (toll-free): 877-592-1118.
• ✓ You can also use the ReleasePay website (no link provided here).

At release, your loved one's property is returned to them unless it was seized for evidence. They should check everything before leaving, including any medication. Verifying that all items were returned is the inmate's responsibility, so encourage them to look through their belongings carefully before walking out.

If your loved one is transferred to an IDOC location, their commissary money will follow them to that IDOC facility. Transfers to another county or state work differently: funds stay in their Winnebago County account until they either return in person (at which point a debit card gets issued) or submit a written request to the Trust Fund Officer. That written request needs to include the receiving facility's name and address, plus the inmate ID number assigned by that facility.