The main way to get rid of a bounty in Red Dead Redemption 2 is to pay it off at a post office: walk up to the clerk, choose the option to pay your bounty, and the money comes out of your cash. You must first lose any lawmen chasing you, and you need enough money to cover the amount.
Below, we cover the full post office method, the alternatives (surrendering and being caught), the part of the map where Arthur’s bounty can never be cleared, how to avoid new bounties, and how Red Dead Online handles it.
Which Version This Covers
This guide covers Story Mode in Red Dead Redemption 2 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC (Steam and the Rockstar Games Launcher). The PS4 and Xbox One versions also run on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S through backward compatibility, per Rockstar’s announcement. As of September 2026, Rockstar has not announced a native current-generation version. The bounty system is the same on every platform. Red Dead Online also uses bounties, with differences we cover near the end.
How Bounties Work
When you commit a crime and a witness reports it, or a lawman sees it, you become wanted and a bounty is placed on your head. Bounties are tracked per state, so a bounty in New Hanover is separate from one in Lemoyne or West Elizabeth. Keep committing crimes in the same state and that state’s bounty grows. Even a fistfight can count: our guide to punching notes that an unarmed assault in Saint Denis brings a bounty.
A bounty is not the same as being wanted. Wanted status is the active manhunt, and you can escape it by leaving the search area. The bounty stays behind after you escape. Story Mode bounties are permanent until paid: they do not fade over time. While a bounty is active, lawmen in that state are more likely to recognize you, and bounty hunters may come after you in the wild, even while you rest at a camp you set up.
Method 1: Pay It Off at a Post Office
This is the reliable fix, and it works everywhere except the special case covered below.
- Lose the law first. You cannot pay while you are actively wanted. Ride out of the search zone until the wanted status clears. Being wanted blocks some secrets too: the Saint Denis vampire will not appear while the law is after you. Our guide to taking cover also covers hiding from lawmen.
- Get enough cash. You pay in cash only. If your bounty is larger than what you carry, stash money or finish a job first.
- Go to any post office. Most towns have one, often inside the train station.
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Talk to the clerk. Approach the counter and use the prompt to browse the clerk’s services.
- Choose to pay your bounty. The clerk lists each state’s bounty separately. You can pay off any state’s bounty from any post office, not just the one in that state, and you can pay only some of them if cash is short.
Our video at the end of this guide shows us getting rid of a bounty on PS4. The screenshot in this guide comes from another of our Red Dead Redemption 2 recordings.
Once paid, that state’s bounty is gone and its lawmen stop treating you as a known criminal.
Method 2: Surrender or Get Caught
If you have not fired on lawmen yet, you may be able to surrender instead of fighting. When lawmen tell you to put your hands up, follow the on-screen prompt rather than drawing a weapon. Surrendering leads to a short jail cutscene, after which Arthur is released with money taken from him, or a gang member comes to bail him out.
Either way you pay, it just happens on the game’s terms rather than yours, and resisting is likely to make things worse.
The Bounty Arthur Cannot Clear
Arthur cannot clear the bounty in the Blackwater area. Because of events before the game begins, Blackwater, southern West Elizabeth and the whole of New Austin are effectively closed to him. Entering those areas as Arthur makes you wanted “dead or alive”, with lawmen appearing endlessly, and no amount of money at a post office changes that. New Austin in particular is close to instant death for Arthur.
This lockdown lifts in the epilogue, when you play as John Marston: the dead-or-alive bounty no longer applies, and the whole map opens up, down to the bath at the Blackwater Saloon listed in our bathing guide. For more on how the story is split, see our breakdown of how many chapters there are.
How to Stop New Bounties Piling Up
- Wear a bandana or mask during crimes. Masked crimes are harder to pin on you, and you get recorded as an unknown suspect instead of by name.
- Deal with witnesses. A witness running to the law is often what turns a crime into a bounty. Stopping them before they report it (intimidating or chasing them down) can prevent one. Be aware that violence against witnesses lowers your honor.
- Pick your targets. Crimes in quiet areas away from towns are less likely to be witnessed.
- Save before a risky crime. A manual save lets you undo a disaster. Our guide on how to save your game covers the slots.
Paying a bounty clears the law, but it does not restore any honor you lost committing the crime.
Red Dead Online Differs
Red Dead Online also puts bounties on your head for crimes, and you can pay them off at a post office in the same way. The key difference is other players: in Online, a high bounty can make you a target for players working as bounty hunters, so leaving one unpaid carries more risk. If you play GTA Online as well, the logic will feel familiar; our GTA guides hub covers that side of Rockstar’s catalog.
For everything else we cover in Red Dead, see the Red Dead guides hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do you pay off a bounty in Red Dead Redemption 2? At any post office. Talk to the clerk and choose to pay your bounty. Bounties for every state are listed and can be paid from one counter.
Do bounties go away on their own? No. Story Mode bounties stay until you pay them, surrender, or get caught.
Why can I not pay off the Blackwater bounty? Arthur is locked out of Blackwater, southern West Elizabeth and New Austin by the story. That lockdown only lifts in the epilogue.
Can you pay a bounty while wanted? No. Lose the lawmen chasing you first, then head to a post office.
Does paying a bounty restore honor? No. It clears your bounty, but honor lost from the crime has to be earned back through good deeds.