Alaska Court System Trial Courts

A defendant or a defendant’s friend or family member can post bail online with the Alaska Court System with a credit card. An active email address is required to post bail online.

The court only processes requests to post bail online as follows:

Online bail payments can be made with a VISA or MasterCard credit card or debit card. You cannot pay with an American Express or Discover card.

Each credit card transaction will be assessed a 3% convenience fee. If/when bail is later returned (exonerated) to the payer, the fee will not be returned.

If bail is more than $97,000, the person posting bail must make more than one payment until the total amount paid equals the total of bail. For example, if bail is $250,000, make three payments: Payment 1 = $95,000 + 3% fee, Payment 2 = $95,000 + 3% fee, and Payment 3= $60,000 + 3% fee. A single payment cannot exceed $99,999 including the 3% convenience fee.

1. If the defendant is in-custody, call the Department of Corrections (DOC) Facility or jail where the defendant is located.
   
   Phone Number List for DOC Facilities and Local Community Jails.
   
   If you are the defendant and you are out-of-custody but you must post bail because a judge has increased your bail or issued a warrant and set bail, call the clerk’s office at the court location where the bail was set.
2. For in-custody defendants, DOC or the jail will confirm whether the defendant is eligible to be released on bail. Here are reasons a defendant may be ineligible for bail:
   • The defendant has not yet appeared before a judge to have bail set;
   • The defendant has a bail condition requiring a third-party custodian;
   • The defendant was convicted of a crime before arrest and now must serve the sentence before they can be released.
   • The defendant is not charged with a criminal offense or the defendant’s case is not in the jurisdiction of the Alaska Court System.
3. If DOC or the jail confirms that the defendant can be bailed out online, a person from the facility where the defendant is located will collect your email address and contact information.
4. You will receive an email from the Alaska Court System. The email from the court will tell you the amount of the defendant’s bail and the terms you must agree to before posting bail online. There will also be questions you must answer and important information about paying bail for another person. You must reply to the email from the court as soon as possible.
5. After the court receives your emailed responses, the court will send you a second email that includes a bail payment link with instructions. When you have paid the full amount of the defendant’s bail, the court will notify the facility that bail has been posted and the facility will begin the process of releasing the defendant. NOTE: This may take several hours.

Important! Steps 4-5 are only available during the hours listed above.

If you are wondering about the status of your request to post bail online for an individual, you can send an email inquiry to onlinebailposting@akcourts.gov. Please keep in mind that the court can only reply to the emails during the processing hours listed above. The court replies to all emails as quickly as possible and appreciates your patience.

In some situations, yes. Instead of contacting the jail, contact the trial court to find out if this is an option. If the court determines that it is an option, the court will collect your email address and contact information. This process for out-of-custody defendants is only available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The funds you pay toward a defendant's bail will be returned to you (exonerated) when the defendant’s criminal case ends unless you told the court to use the funds to pay the defendant’s fine, judgment, or costs. This is true regardless of whether the defendant is convicted or acquitted. However, bail can be forfeited, which means you will not get it back, if the defendant violates his or her conditions of bail.

When bail is returned, it will be returned to the person who posted the bail and provided their name and contact information to the court in the email described in step #4 above. If one person posts bail, but uses another person’s credit card, the refund will go to the bail poster, not the holder of the credit card. The 3% convenience fee will not be returned.