RECEPTION AND CLASSIFICATION PROCESS
1. What takes place when an inmate first arrives to the prison?
A Department Identification Number (DIN) is assigned to each offender admitted to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). It is an internal number used as an identifier for the offender while he/she is in the custody of the Department. This number can be used to locate your loved one, and you need to know this number. If you do not know this number, you may find it by using our online Offender Lookup service. You will need to know the offender's complete name and birth date for a successful search. The website will show you the name of the facility where the offender currently is assigned. It is recommended that just prior to visiting the offender; you should try to find their location by utilizing this website or by contacting the facility directly. Unscheduled transfers, although infrequent, could result in you traveling a long distance only to find that he/she is no longer at that facility. PLEASE NOTE: Offenders with Youthful Offender status are not listed on the Department’s website.
Offenders, including youthful offenders, can also be located by calling the DOCCS Central Office at (518) 457-5000 during normal business hours. If an offender is in the process of being transferred, his or her location will not be available until he or she arrives at the next destination. That may take a few days. It is the offenders’ responsibility to notify you of their new location.
Telephone calls upon transfer or return to a facility: Within 24 hours of arrival at a new facility an offender will be permitted one collect telephone call to his/her family. If security precautions prevent the offender from placing this call, a staff person designated by the Superintendent, usually from the Guidance and Counseling Unit, shall make the call to a person of the offenders’ choice.
This procedure does not apply to an offender in "transit status", or temporarily housed at a transit facility overnight or for a weekend during transfer. It does apply to offenders in holding units in Auburn and Sing Sing.
An offender who is "out to court" or in a hospital for a period of 5 days or more will be allowed to make a collect telephone call within 24 hours of returning to the correctional facility. Collect calls from an outside hospital, other than a secure ward, may be made only with the approval of the Superintendent or designee.
An offender who violated parole, and is returned to prison will be allowed to make one collect telephone call to a person of his/her choice within 24 hours after their arrival.