Levels 2-5, all security levels (women) · Correctional Institution · Connecticut DOC

York Correctional Institution

Niantic, New London County, Connecticut

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: (860) 451-3001 Info last verified: June 2026

Connecticut's only women's prison, in Niantic — holding every woman in the state system, pretrial and sentenced, at all security levels, and serving as the women's reception center.

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

York Correctional Institution, in Niantic, is Connecticut’s only prison for women and the women’s reception center — every woman in the state system, whether held before trial or serving a sentence and at any security level, is held here. It holds about 850 women. The current facility opened in 1994 on a site that has housed Connecticut’s women’s prison since 1918, and it is named for a longtime superintendent. York runs an enhanced parent-child visitation program (the Caregiver and Me program, operated with the nonprofit A Sacred Place).

What Makes York Different

It is the only women’s facility in Connecticut. Families from across the state travel to this one location to visit an incarcerated woman.
It is also the women’s reception center, so a newly admitted woman — pretrial or sentenced — enters the system here.
It runs a parent-child visitation program. The Caregiver and Me program provides extended, child-friendly visits between incarcerated mothers, their children, and caregivers.
The weekend visiting day depends on the inmate number — Saturdays for even numbers, Sundays for odd — a facility-specific rule to check before traveling.

Visiting

The statewide Connecticut DOC rules above — the approved list, the dress code, ID, and search rules — apply at York. The facility’s own schedule:

The full approval process is in Visiting in Connecticut.

Getting There and Parking

The prison is on West Main Street in Niantic, in southeastern Connecticut.

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

Nearby Services

Niantic and New London have gas, food, and lodging, with more in New London about 10 minutes away. The nearest 24/7 emergency room is Lawrence + Memorial Hospital at 365 Montauk Avenue in New London.

Mail

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

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 scheduling
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.