Buzz
Today, Mytour will guide you on how to reset your bounty (Bounty) in Skyrim. There are three main ways to clear your bounty: paying the bounty, serving jail time, or using your Thane status to dismiss the charges. You can also eliminate witnesses or bribe your way out if you're a member of the Thieves Guild.
Steps
Prepare to Handle the Bounty
Understand what creates a bounty. When you commit even the smallest crime in front of at least one person or a domestic animal, a bounty for your capture will be added. If the guards of the Hold where the crime occurred spot you, they will attempt to detain you. At this point, you can surrender, try to talk your way out, or resist arrest.
- Resisting is unwise as numerous guards will attack you, leading to increased casualties and a higher bounty.
Eliminate all witnesses if possible. If you've just received a bounty, kill all witnesses to the crime (including animals, bandits, and townsfolk).
- If you've already left the Hold where the bounty was issued, you cannot eliminate witnesses to clear the bounty.
- Be cautious to avoid creating a battlefield. Killing a witness in front of others can trigger a snowball effect, increasing your bounty as bodies pile up.
Prevent guards from reacting to your crime. If you commit a crime in front of guards, they will attack. You can stop their aggression by sheathing your weapon.
- This method isn't always effective. Sometimes, you may need to leave the city and return later if sheathing your weapon doesn't stop the guards' attack.
Check the Hold where your bounty is active. You can view the list of Holds and corresponding bounties by:
- On consoles — Press the Start button (Xbox) or Options (PlayStation), scroll to the GENERAL STATS tab, navigate to the CRIME section, and check the bounty list for each Hold.
- On PC — Open the menu, go to the GENERAL STATS tab, scroll to the CRIME section, and review the bounty list for each Hold.
Check the bounty amount. To the right of each Hold's name is the gold reward for your capture.
- A value of 0 means you have no bounty in that Hold.
Pay the Bounty
Ensure you have enough gold to pay the bounty. If you choose to pay off your bounty, make sure you have at least the exact amount of gold required.
- If you plan to use the Thieves Guild's bribe ability, you'll need even more gold.
Store stolen goods safely. When paying off your bounty, all stolen items will be confiscated. To avoid the hassle of stealing them again, store all stolen goods in a chest at your home.
- Stolen items are marked in red with the label "Stolen," making them easy to identify.
Travel to the Hold. Head to the city where your bounty is active.
Find and speak to a guard. Once inside the city, approach a guard (or wait for them to approach you).
- In some cases, simply entering the city will prompt a guard to approach you immediately.
Inform them you want to pay your bounty. Select You caught me. I'll pay off my bounty in the dialogue window.
- If you're a member of the Thieves Guild and have completed at least one guild task in the Hold where the bounty is active, you'll have the additional Bribe option. While this requires more gold than paying the bounty, it allows you to keep your stolen items.
Allow the guards to search you. If your bounty exceeds 10 gold, you'll be escorted to the local prison, and any unsecured items will be confiscated. The amount of gold equivalent to your bounty will also be deducted.
- If you bribe the guards, your stolen items will not be taken.
Serve Jail Time
Understand when to serve jail time. Prison is an alternative if you don't wish to pay off your bounty. Unfortunately, serving time will reduce the progress you've made toward leveling up your skills.
Store stolen goods securely. When paying your bounty, all stolen items will be confiscated. To avoid the hassle of stealing them again, remove them from your inventory and store them in a chest at your home.
- Stolen items are easily identifiable by the "Stolen" label preceding their names.
Travel to the Hold. Head to the city where your bounty is active.
Find and speak to a guard. After entering the city, approach a guard (or wait for them to approach you).
- In some cases, simply entering the city will prompt a guard to approach you immediately.
Indicate your willingness to serve time. Choose the option I submit. Take me to prison. when prompted.
- If you choose jail time, you won't lose gold, but your progress in certain skills will be reduced.
Serve your sentence or escape. To serve your time, sleep on the cot by approaching it and pressing the prompt. When your character wakes up, your sentence will be complete.
- If you wish to escape, pick the lock to break out. Stolen items will be in the "evidence chest" somewhere in the prison; unlock it to retrieve your goods.
- After waking up, you'll be brought outside the prison, regain all your items (except stolen goods), be freed, and have your bounty cleared.
- Successfully escaping means you won't lose any skill progress.
Invoke Thane Status
Ensure you are the Thane in the Hold where your bounty is active. If you haven't completed the Thaneship questline in this Hold, you are not the Thane, and this method won't work.
- People in the Hold will casually refer to you as "Thane" if you hold the title.
Verify that you can use your Thane privilege. As a Thane, you can clear your bounty once if the following conditions are met:
- The bounty is less than 3000 gold.
- You haven't used your Thane privilege before.
Travel to the Hold. Head to the main city where your bounty is active.
Wait for a guard to approach you. This usually happens immediately, but you can speed up the process by approaching a patrolling guard yourself.
Choose the "Thane" option. When the guard accuses you of the bounty, select I’m the Jarl’s Thane. I demand you let me go at once. in the dialogue box.
Understand that this is a one-time privilege. If you are caught by guards for a bounty in the same Hold in the future, the Thane exemption option will no longer be available.
Tips
- If you go to jail, your weapons and armor will be confiscated and stored in a chest in the guard area; however, you can still use any spells you've learned.
- Bound weapons (such as Bound Sword, Bound Axe, and Bound Bow) are particularly useful if you serve jail time and have nothing else at your disposal.
- As a member of the Thieves Guild, if you choose to go to jail, you'll retain the Skeleton Key during the guard's search. This item makes escaping much easier.
Warnings
- If you escape from jail, your bounty will increase.
- Serving jail time will cause your character to lose skill progression. The longer you stay in jail, the more skills will be affected. Any jail time exceeding one week may result in a loss of progress across all skills.
