New York

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) runs the state’s prison system — about 41 correctional facilities, all state-operated. New York banned private prisons in 2007, so there are none in the system, and the number of prisons has fallen over the past decade as the incarcerated population declined to roughly 34,000. DOCCS’s materials refer to incarcerated individuals; this site uses neutral terms.

Where a person is held turns first on the sentence. A person sentenced to state prison is held in a DOCCS facility; people awaiting trial or serving a sentence of a year or less are held in a county jail — or, in New York City, in a city jail such as those on Rikers Island — which is run locally, sets its own rules, and is not in the DOCCS system.

Newly committed people are processed at a reception and classification center first. For men, Elmira is the primary reception center (with classification handled at several maximum-security prisons); for women, Bedford Hills is the reception center. New York has no death penalty — the state’s death-penalty statute was struck down in 2004 and there is no death row and no execution chamber.

To find where someone is held, use the DOCCS Incarcerated Lookup by name or DIN (Department Identification Number). Incoming personal mail is photocopied at the facility (New York does not use an off-site mail vendor) and the copies are delivered to the person; phone calls are free statewide (since August 2025). The prison system has been closing facilities — Great Meadow and Sullivan closed in 2024 and Bare Hill in 2026 — so confirm the person’s current facility on the lookup before traveling. Use the guides below for the statewide rules at New York prisons, or go straight to a specific facility.