Level 3, medium security (men) · Correctional Institution · Connecticut DOC

Osborn Correctional Institution

Somers, Tolland County, Connecticut

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: (860) 814-4600 Info last verified: June 2026

One of Connecticut's largest prisons, a medium-security facility for sentenced men in Somers, with an on-site hospital, a mental-health unit, and a large Correctional Industries program.

Statewide rules that apply at every Connecticut correctional facility

These rules are set by Connecticut DOC and apply at every unit. The full list — including all permitted and prohibited items and the approval process — is in Visiting in Connecticut.

Dress code

Dress with reasonable modesty — no revealing, seductive, or offensive clothing, and nothing staff consider a safety or security risk.
No watches of any kind, for any visitor (including attorneys).
Avoid metal in clothing and accessories — underwire, belts, jewelry, hair clips, body piercings, and metal-toed shoes can stop you from clearing the metal detector and lead to denied entry.
Connecticut does not publish a detailed list of banned colors or styles, so confirm any specifics with the facility before traveling.

ID: Every visitor 18 or older shows valid government-issued photo ID at each visit (driver's license, state ID, military ID, passport, or permanent resident card), and a child's accompanying adult brings the child's birth certificate plus one other document with the child's name. Every visitor must be approved on the inmate's visiting list first.
What to bring: Almost nothing comes into the visit room — no phones, electronics, food, purses, or coats (the one exception is a clear bottle, a small cloth, and a pacifier for an infant). Nothing may be passed to the inmate; lockers are available at some facilities at your own risk, and money goes to the Inmate Trust Fund, never through the visit.
Scheduling: Connecticut runs a unified system, so these rules cover both pretrial and sentenced people, and days and hours are set by each facility. Since 2024, general-population in-person visits at most facilities are first come, first served, while visits for restrictive-status inmates and all video visits are scheduled through the DOC online request form.

Full statewide rules: Visiting in Connecticut

Overview

Osborn Correctional Institution, in Somers, is a Level 3 (medium-security) prison for sentenced men and one of the largest in Connecticut — about 1,180 men as of mid-2026. It opened in 1963 (originally Connecticut Correctional Institution–Somers, the state’s maximum-security prison until it converted to medium security in 1994). Osborn carries a significant medical and treatment role: an on-site inpatient hospital, a higher-security mental-health unit, and an inpatient addiction-services unit. It also runs a large Correctional Industries operation, where incarcerated workers make clothing and mattresses and run a print shop.

What Makes Osborn Different

It is one of Connecticut’s largest prisons, so it holds a large sentenced population and has high visiting volume.
It is a medical and treatment hub, with an inpatient hospital, a mental-health unit, and an addiction-treatment unit.
It runs a large Correctional Industries program, employing hundreds of incarcerated workers.
Visiting rotates by housing unit, so knowing the person’s unit is essential.

Visiting

The statewide Connecticut DOC rules above — the approved list, the dress code, ID, and search rules — apply at Osborn.

The full approval process is in Visiting in Connecticut.

Getting There and Parking

Osborn is on Bilton Road in Somers, reached from Interstate 91.

Distances are approximate, based on map routing. Visitor parking is on site.

Nearby Services

Enfield and Somers have limited services, with more in Springfield, Massachusetts to the north. The nearest 24/7 emergency room is Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs, east of Somers.

Mail

Personal mail goes to the facility, addressed with the person’s name and inmate number; Connecticut delivers the physical letter rather than scanning it off-site. Legal mail marked as privileged is opened in the person’s presence and not read. Full rules are in Mail & Packages.

A Note on History

Osborn opened in 1963 and held Connecticut’s execution chamber until 2015, when the state’s death penalty was ended; no one has been executed in Connecticut since 2005. Separately, a lawsuit by incarcerated people over PCB contamination in older building materials at Osborn settled in 2024, with the state making payments without admitting wrongdoing. These are documented in the sources cited above.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone in a Connecticut correctional facility:

Visiting in Connecticut — the approved list, dress code, and contact vs. non-contact
Mail & Packages — the inmate number and what can be sent
Phone & Video Calls — free calls, video, and messaging
Sending Money — the Inmate Trust Fund
Medical & Mental Health — health care and the Correction Ombudsman
Transfers & Finding Someone — the unified system and the locator

Sources

This page is compiled from the following publicly available sources. Policies change without notice — confirm current details with the facility before relying on them.