Onondaga publishes what its kiosk charges, a flat 4 dollars a deposit, which is more than most New York counties will tell you. Send photos and letters too.
Send photos and letters too
There are four ways to get money to someone at the Justice Center, and they differ in speed and in cost. Before you use any of them, get the person’s Inmate Control Number, because three of the four ask for it and the fourth works better with it.
Every route except cash at the window works better with the Inmate Control Number, and the online one will not proceed without it.
It sits in the second column of any result in the county lookup. Write it down once and you will use it for money, for phone access and on every envelope.
The fastest option if you are in Syracuse.
The kiosk is in the Justice Center lobby. Because the fee is per deposit rather than a percentage, one larger deposit costs the same as one small one, which is worth knowing if you were planning to send a little each week.
The facility code is the part people get wrong. SYR is Syracuse, and it is not the same entry as the county’s other jail in Jamesville.
Since 3 April 2026 this window takes money only. Walk-in packages ended on that date, and books and magazines are no longer accepted at the front desk either. Any exact amount of cash can be dropped off.
Its hours are narrower than the kiosk’s:
| Days | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM |
| Saturday, Sunday and holidays | 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, and 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM |
Those windows are narrow, and they are not the same as the kiosk hours. The kiosk is open far longer.
A money order of 100 dollars or less can be mailed to the facility. Personal cheques are refused. The envelope rules on the mail guide apply, including the cell number, and a money order in an envelope without one comes back with it.
Commissary orders are delivered to the pods on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Money that lands after an order window waits for the next delivery day.
For commissary specifically the county also names Access Corrections at accesscorrections.com, and a phone line on 1-866-345-1884.
Stamps and envelopes are commissary items here, because they cannot be posted in. If you want your person to be able to write back, money on the account is how that happens.
The county has a published threshold for this. Someone is treated as indigent when their balance has been 1 dollar or less for seven consecutive days in a row, at which point basic supplies are provided.
There is also a rule worth knowing if your person loses commissary privileges as a disciplinary measure: legal supplies are still available, including pens, legal pads and stamps. Losing commissary does not cut off their ability to write to a court or a lawyer.
Anyone held in segregation does not have access to their commissary account at all while they are there.
Bail does not go through the kiosk or SmartDeposit. It runs through the county’s payment portal, and the code depends on which court set it:
| Court | Payment location |
|---|---|
| County Court | govpaynow.com/gps/user/plc/1799 |
| Family Court | govpaynow.com/gps/user/plc/1800 |
| City, Town and Village courts | govpaynow.com/gps/user/plc/1790 |
Those three codes are one digit apart and they are entirely different destinations. Check which court is named on the person’s record in the lookup, in the Court Name column, before paying anything.
If a deposit has not appeared and you need to know why, Custody Administration is on 315-435-1709.
6 of 8 questions
A money order of 100 dollars or less by post carries no fee, but it is also the slowest. The kiosk in the lobby charges a flat 4 dollars a deposit and lands the money the same day. Because the kiosk fee is flat rather than a percentage, one larger deposit costs the same as one small one.
Send MoneySYR, for Syracuse. You also need the person's full name and their Inmate Control Number. The code is the part people get wrong, because Onondaga County's other jail in Jamesville is a separate entry and money sent to the wrong one does not follow the person.
Send MoneyDaily, 7:30 AM to 10:30 PM, in the Justice Center lobby. It takes cash in exact amounts and credit cards, and you need the person's full name and date of birth. Those hours are much wider than the bail cashier window, which only opens for a couple of short blocks a day.
Send MoneyNo. Personal cheques are refused on every route. A money order of 100 dollars or less can be posted, and it has to follow the same envelope rules as a letter, which means the person's full name, control number and current cell location. Without those it is returned to sender.
Send MoneyNot since 3 April 2026. The county now accepts money only at the drop-off window, walk-in packages ended on that date, and books and magazines are no longer taken at the front desk. Any exact amount of cash can still be left, and anything else has to come direct from a vendor by carrier.
Send MoneyTo the pods on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Money that arrives after an order has been placed waits for the next delivery day, so a deposit on a Friday evening realistically shows up in what they receive on the Monday.
Send MoneyThe county treats someone as indigent once their balance has been 1 dollar or less for seven consecutive days, and basic supplies are then provided. Separately, if commissary is lost as a disciplinary measure, legal supplies including pens, legal pads and stamps are still available, so their ability to write to a court or lawyer is not cut off.
Send MoneyNot through the kiosk or SmartDeposit. Bail runs through the county payment portal, and the code depends on the court: 1799 for County Court, 1800 for Family Court, and 1790 for city, town and village courts. Check the Court Name column in the lookup before paying, because those three codes are one digit apart.
Send MoneyWhere the control number and the court name come from.
View ArticleThe account that pays for calls is a separate one.
View ArticleWhy stamps have to be bought rather than posted in.
View ArticleSearch for your loved one and start sending photos, letters, and messages today.
Search for Your Loved OneFree Inmate Search
All information on this page comes directly from official government and facility sources. How we verify information › Last verified September 18, 2026. Official source: sheriff.onondaga.gov/custody/money-property-drop-off ›