Research: Universal Name Indexes
Attica Correctional Facility Inmate Case Files
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Administrative History
Attica Correctional Facility is located in Attica, Wyoming County. It is classified as a maximum security correctional facility for the confinement of male felons twenty-one years and older who were committed from courts in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th judicial districts. It also receives individuals sixteen years of age and older from the Reception Center and other institutions. It functions as a general confinement facility, a detention center for males sixteen years of age or older, and as a diagnostic and treatment center. The institution received its present name in 1970, when the Department of Correctional Services was established and its name was changed from Attica Prison.
The Laws of 1927, Chapter 56, appropriated funds for the construction of the prison which opened officially on June 14, 1931. Due to its location in the western part of New York, Attica receives many parole violators who are apprehended in other states and returned to the Buffalo area. As a receiving prison, Attica utilizes a Classification Board to examine and classify inmates being received. The facility maintains a large industrial operation producing a variety of textile items and metal products. There is a large program of vocational and academic education. Attica maintains extensive programs in family services, mental health, and youth assistance. Many of Attica's progressive programs and expanded facilities were developed following the tragic September 1971 inmate riot which resulted in the deaths of thirty-two inmates and nine hostages.
Access Terms
Corporate Name: Attica Correctional Facility
Corporate Name: Attica Prison
Geographic Name: Wyoming County (N.Y.)
Geographic Name: Attica (N.Y.)
Geographic Name: New York (State)
Subject: Prisons--New York (State)
Subject: Correctional institutions--New York (State)
Subject: Crime and criminals--New York (State)
Subject: Corrections--New York (State)
Subject: Rehabilitation of criminals--New York (State)
Subject: Prisoners--New York (State)
Subject: Inmates of institutions--New York (State)
Genre/Physical Characteristic: Case files
Function: Monitoring prisoners
Function: Incarcerating criminals
Scope and Content Note
14610-88F: This accretion consists of approximately 800 case files relating to inmates confined at Attica Prison from 1947 to 1956. Some records in the case files date from about 1940 for inmates previously confined in other institutions. The case files relate to inmates with Attica inmate consecutive numbers between 9382 and 14314.
Beginning in 1949, the records in each case file are divided into three separate folders: a general records folders; a medical records folder; and a Service Unit folder containing records relating to inmate institutional progress and parole. These folders, kept separately during the inmate's confinement, were consolidated into the case files when the inmate was released.
Scope and Content Note
14610-01: This accretion consists of 157 case files relating to inmates released from Attica Prison (later Attica Correctional Facility) between 1950 and 1981 (bulk pertain to those released between 1976 and 1981). Included in the accretion are a two percent sample of all case files, all case files for inmates of certain minority ethnic groups, all inmates who died in custody, all inmates serving life sentences, and all inmates who escaped while in custody. No notorious inmates are identified. No female inmates are represented. Many inmates were previously confined in other facilities.
Scope and Content Note
14610-94B: This accretion consists of a 2% sample of case files for inmates released from Attica Correctional Facility during the period from 1954 through 1978. In addition to the 2% sample of the general body of case files, the accretion contains all relevant case files in several special categories: female inmates, inmates serving life sentences, inmates who died in custody, and those from certain racial groups.
NOTE: Files in this accretion suffered severe water damage from a flood in July 1995. Destruction of certain severely damaged files was approved by Records Disposition Authorization number 19727. Indexing of this accretion has been postponed pending rehousing and surveying of surviving files.
