Research: Topics: Genealogy: Department of Corrections: Description
Inmate Case Files
Division of Administration
14610. Inmate case files, 1894-1978. R 2,612 cu. ft.
These case files describe in great detail the background, arrest, classification, confinement, and parole of approximately 85,000 men and women confined in State prisons, reformatories, and institutions for defective delinquents. While the earliest case files date from 1894, the majority of the records relate to confinements from the 1920s through the mid-1950s. The contents of the case files document the basic Department of Correction functions of confining and habilitating offenders at appropriate security levels throughout the State.
Typical case files contain a number of records in five broad areas:
- arrest and sentencing (pre-sentence investigation report, copy of sentence, correspondence with local police and prosecutors, etc.);
- admission (receiving blotter, inmate record card, medical history, identification records, etc.);
- classification (staff reports, psychiatric reports, psychological reports, Service Unit records, Reception Center reports, social disease record, employment record, correspondence, etc.);
- confinement (chronological staff notes, staff reports, medical records, disciplinary reports, labor assignment records, education and general adjustment records, records of visits, correspondence, etc.);
- and release/parole (parole application, staff reports, pre-parole reports, transcript of Board of Parole hearings, summaries of institutional history, certificate of release, parole reports, correspondence, etc.).
The content of the files also reflects the role of each institution in carrying out these functions. For example, case files from prisons where inmates were sent directly from the courts include detailed reports used in inmate classification. Case files from transfer prisons contain records from institutions where an inmate was previously confined; those from reformatories contain additional records relating to educational and training programs; and those from institutions for defective delinquents include additional psychological and psychiatric reports.
This series contains inmate case files from the following correctional institutions. These records are described further under the listing for the appropriate institution.
- Albion Correctional Facility, 1894-1968. 167 cu. ft.
- Attica Correctional Facility, 1940-1956. 49 cu. ft.
- Auburn Correctional Facility, 1914-1956. 161 cu. ft.
- Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, 1915-1930, 1955-1978. 169 cu. ft.
- Clinton Correctional Facility, 1920-1956. 108 cu. ft.
- Coxsackie Correctional Facility, 1930-1965. 392 cu. ft.
- Eastern New York Correctional Facility, 1920-1956. 251 cu. ft.
- Elmira Correctional Facility, 1916-1956. 408 cu. ft.
- Fulton Correctional Facility, 1957-1978. 8 cu. ft.
- Great Meadow Correctional Facility, 1915-1956. 320 cu. ft.
- Green Haven Correctional Facility, 1930-1964. 10 cu. ft.
- Wallkill Correctional Facility, 1920-1965. 254 cu. ft.
- Woodbourne Correctional Facility, 1930-1970. 315 cu. ft.
