Some New York judges insist on cash-only bail
Aspiring ATM machine owners try to place devices in high-traffic areas where some stores may require cash as a method of payment. These locations, such as casinos and flea markets, along with small businesses that may only accept cash in order to avoid credit card fees, must provide customers with access to cash. But, some other locations, including courthouses, could benefit just as much from having Hantle ATM machines.
Several attorneys in New York are upset with judges who insist that defendants post bail in cash form, instead of affording them alternative types of payment. They told the Wall Street Journal that the goal of bail is to get defendants to return to court, not to hold them in prison.
New York state law allows courts to mandate two types of payments, but that decision is up to the discretion of the judge. For that reason, many legal experts are pining to change the law so that judges are required to provide defendants with multiple payment options, including cash, credit card or bonds. Some judges are siding with the attorneys opposed to current practices.
"If [defendants] can't make [cash payments], you're effectively denying them bail," Judge Eugene Pigott, Jr. told the newspaper. "That's what you don't want to do."
If New York courthouses were to purchase ATM machines for their lobbies, they would not be the first to consider doing so. In January, this blog reported that a Jackson County, Florida, tax collector appealed for ATM machines to be placed in the county courthouse and drivers license office in order to provide consumers with a means to pay for services provided by these facilities.
Government buildings with ATMs may be able to produce much-needed revenue streams for towns that could benefit from a financial boost. Merchants who buy an ATM machine have achieved similar goals in the private sector.
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