NYSDOC – Downstate Correctional Facility

NYSDOC – Downstate Correctional Facility basic information to help guide you through what you can do for your inmate while they are incarcerated. The facility's direct contact number: 845-831-6600

This facility is for adult inmates.

The inmates housed at Downstate Correctional Facility located at 121 Red Schoolhouse Rd in Fishkill, NY are placed according to their custody level (determined by a number of factors including the past criminal history and the length of their sentence). There are ample educational and vocational training programs for all inmates, especially ones that show a willingness to learn new things that will prepare them for a better life when they are released. The mission is to promote and prepare the offender to leave in better shape than when they arrived, giving them the best chance to never come back and thus lower the state's recidivism rate.

Downstate Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison in the Town of Fishkill in the Hudson Valley region of Dutchess County New York and has a capacity of about 1,250 inmates.

Downstate CF serves primarily as a classification center, as it is, along with Elmira Correctional Facility and Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (women), a reception facility for new inmates entering the New York State prison system. New inmates typically wait at Downstate for a few weeks before they are assigned to a permanent facility. The "permanent" inmates – those who work in the kitchens, laundry, etc., which those in transit cannot do – are referred to as the "cadre" and are all maximum-security prisoners (sentenced to seven years or more). As the vast majority of inmates in New York State come from New York City, the Town of Fishkill(in southern Dutchess County) was chosen due to its proximity to the greater New York metropolitan area. It opened in 1979.

Downstate Correctional Facility offers treatment programs as they are limited because the main purpose of this prison is to receive, diagnose, and classify new inmates. Most inmates have only housed here an average of 21 days, then moved to a permanent housing facility. A small number of inmates are housed here permanently and perform support services for the institution.

Downstate Correctional Facility offers some limited vocational programs including culinary arts, and a dog training program. During the intake process, offenders are fingerprinted and given a battery of examinations from medical and dental to mental assessments. The staff decides which facility will best suit the offender's treatment and supervision needs.

NYSDOC – Downstate Correctional Facility – Handbook for Families of Inmates

ALL GENERAL CONFINEMENT FACILITIES

visitation Info

NYSDOC – Downstate Correctional Facility – Visitation

VISITING DAYS & HOURS
8:30 AM to 3:15 PM Monday to Friday, Weekends and Holidays 
No Visitor processing between 11:15 AM- 12:45 PM or after 2:15 PM Visiting Room
All visitors will be photographed

SPECIAL HOUSING UNIT VISITING DAYS & HOURS (Inmates in SHU – 1 visit within 7 day period)
8:30 AM to 3:15 PM Monday to Friday 
8:30 AM to 3:15 PM Weekends and Holidays 
No visitor processing between 11:15 AM and 12:45 PM or after 2:15 PM. 
Each week starts on a Monday and ends on a Sunday. 
One visit allowed each week

NUMBER OF ALLOWABLE VISITS
Unlimited number of visits during visiting hours. 

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF VISITORS PER VISIT/DAY (How many people at a visiting table at one time)
Three/Unlimited 
Unlimited children under 12.