To find someone at Rikers Island, start with the NYC Department of Correction’s Person in Custody Lookup, which accepts a first and last name or a Book and Case Number and returns the person’s location and case information.1NYC Department of Correction. NYC Department of Correction Inmate Lookup That Book and Case Number (sometimes called a BNC) is the single piece of information you will reuse for everything that follows: scheduling a Rikers Island inmate lookup follow-up, arranging visits, sending mail, depositing commissary funds, and posting bail.
Rikers is New York City’s main jail complex, run by the Department of Correction on an island in the East River. Most people held there are awaiting trial; a smaller share are serving city sentences of one year or less, and others are held on parole violations or awaiting transfer to state prison.2Department of Correction. Facilities Overview Once you know where your person is housed, the rest of the process becomes concrete.
Visiting in Person
In-person visits run Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Registration is 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 7:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays. Arrive outside those windows and you will not be admitted.3NYC Department of Correction. Visit a Person in Custody
Bring a valid, current government-issued photo ID. A driver’s license, passport, or IDNYC card works; an expired ID does not. The dress code is strict. Clothing that looks like staff uniforms or medical scrubs is prohibited, as are tank tops, halter tops, and crop tops. Hats and head coverings are not allowed unless worn for religious reasons. Metal accents on clothing, including decorative buckles, studs, and underwire bras, may set off the metal detector and delay you.4NYC Department of Correction. Visitors’ Dress Code
All visits begin at the Samuel L. Perry Building on Hazen Street in East Elmhurst, Queens. You check in and present ID there, then take a DOC shuttle across the Francis R. Buono Memorial Bridge onto the island. On the island, you go through metal detectors and a passive canine screening, and put phones and wallets into secured lockers. A second shuttle takes you to the specific jail where your person is housed, and staff walk you through to the visiting room.
Video Visits
If you can’t get to Rikers, the DOC offers televisits by video, currently on Fridays only. Slots are limited, so a request doesn’t guarantee a visit.5NYC Department of Correction. Televisit Request Form
Submit the televisit request form online and watch for a confirmation email. If nothing arrives within 24 hours of the last date and time you picked, submit a new form with different options. Visitors 18 and older must upload a copy of a valid photo ID with the request. The same dress code applies. Sessions are recorded on the DOC side, and recording or screenshotting the call from your device will get the visit ended on the spot.
Phone Calls
Phone calls from NYC jails have been free since 2019. Your person in custody can call you at no cost from facility phones or tablets, with no prepaid account or collect-call setup on your end. Calls only go outbound from the facility, so make sure they have your number written down.
Sending Mail, Photos, and Packages
Address letters with the person’s full legal name, Book and Case Number, and the full name and address of the facility where they are housed. Leave any of that off and the mail is likely to bounce back or stall.6Department of Correction. Write to a Person in Custody
All incoming mail is inspected. Polaroid photographs are prohibited, and so are photos of the incarcerated person themselves.7NYC311. Incarcerated Person Item Delivery Packages can be dropped off during visiting hours at the Bail and Package Reception area on Rikers, but they must weigh 15 pounds or less and fit within 24 by 12 by 24 inches. Check the DOC’s current permitted-items list before you pack anything; items outside it get confiscated.
Clothing rules are narrower than most families expect. Sentenced individuals can receive only specific items such as coats, suits, shirts, and ties, and only for court appearances or significant family events. Personal footwear is not for daily wear and is re-issued for the same occasions. Red, yellow, and light blue clothing and accessories are banned. Certain footwear brands and styles, including Nike, Adidas, New Balance, and Converse high tops, are prohibited.7NYC311. Incarcerated Person Item Delivery
Putting Money on a Commissary Account
People in DOC custody use a commissary account to buy hygiene items, snacks, and other goods from the facility store. You can deposit money online, by phone, by mail, or in person at kiosks inside DOC cashier offices, including one at the Rikers Island Central Visit House that runs 24 hours.8NYC311. Incarcerated Person Account
The DOC processes deposits through money transfer agents including JPay and Western Union. Online and phone deposits accept credit or debit cards. Every transaction carries a fee that the transfer agent keeps; the DOC gets none of it. JPay online fees, for example, run from $3.95 on deposits of $20 or less up to $10.95 on deposits between $200 and $300, and phone deposits cost a little more.9Department of Correction. Send Money
Posting Bail
If a judge has set bail, you pay it in person at one of five city locations. Accepted payment includes U.S. cash, cashier’s checks, money orders from USPS, Western Union, FedEx, Travelers Express, or a private bank, and credit or debit cards. Personal checks are not accepted. No single money order can exceed $1,000, and your payment must equal the bail amount exactly, because no change is given. Bring photo ID and the person’s NYSID or Book and Case Number.10NYC311. Bail
- Rikers Island Central Cashier, 1 East 1st Street, East Elmhurst, NY 11370, open 24/7
- Manhattan Detention Complex, 125 White Street, New York, NY 10013, open 24/7
- Bronx Criminal Court, 265 East 161st Street, Lower Level, Room M-05C, open 7 days, 8 AM to 1 AM
- Brooklyn Criminal Court, 120 Schermerhorn Street, 1st Floor, Room 101C, open 7 days, 8:30 AM to 1 AM
- Queens Criminal Court, 126-01 Queens Boulevard, Ground Floor, Kew Gardens, Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM
Bail cannot be paid online as of this writing.10NYC311. Bail
Attorney Access
If you are helping arrange counsel, attorney visits run seven days a week from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM across all DOC facilities, with the last visit starting no later than 7:00 PM. Attorneys enter through the Perry Building and can book visits up to 48 hours ahead through an online scheduler, in one-hour blocks up to two hours. Scheduled visits take priority over walk-ins.11Department of Correction. Attorney Visits
Visits should start within 45 minutes of registration. If they don’t, the attorney can notify the visit officer, escalate to an area supervisor, or call the Office of Constituent and Grievance Services at 718-546-1500 about a persistent problem. Credentialed attorneys may bring laptops in to share electronic discovery with a client; staff can search the laptop but not view the files on it.11Department of Correction. Attorney Visits
The 2026 Closure
Rikers is scheduled to close after December 31, 2026, under a 2019 NYC Council vote that also restricts the use of detention centers on the island past that date. Four smaller borough-based jails in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx are planned as replacements, with a combined 4,160 beds.12NYC Council. Rikers to Close13Borough-Based Jails. Home – Borough-Based Jails Construction is underway on all four sites but has faced delays and cost increases, and whether the deadline will hold is an open question. The procedures above are the ones in effect for Rikers now; the borough-based model will change how visits, mail, and bail payments work when it takes over.