Otisville Correctional Facility

Otisville Correctional Facility is a medium-security facility for male inmates that is located in Otisville, New York. This facility can house approximately 700 inmates and is operated by the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Otisville Correctional Facility is a state prison that is adjacent to Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville. However, the two prisons are operated separately and are not related in any way.

From 1906 to 1955, the site of Otisville Correctional Facility was used as a tuberculosis sanitarium. Then, it transitioned into a training facility for juvenile offenders up until 1972 before briefly becoming a drug treatment center. 

In 1976, the facility became a state prison. Inmates at Otisville can work at the prison sawmill, and there is also a factory that makes maple syrup. Because of the prison’s location and the rough terrain in the area, guards on the prison exterior are on horseback.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

Visiting hours at Otisville Correctional Facility are from 8:45AM to 3:15PM on weekends and holidays. You must arrive by 2:40PM to visit with your inmate. A maximum of four visitors are allowed at each inmate visit.

For more detailed visiting information, click here.

Visitor Checklist

To make sure you are prepared for your visit, please look over the following checklist:

• Confirm that the offender has not been transferred and has visitation privileges.
• Bring valid photo identification.
• If you have made special arrangements with the facility, call before leaving to ensure that plans for your visit have been made and are in place.
• Check clothing and jewelry for compliance with visiting regulations.
• If you are bringing a child and you are not the legal guardian or parent, be sure you have a notarized statement from the child’s parent or legal guardian.
• Before leaving home, check your vehicle for contraband and/or hazardous items and be sure to remove these items before entering correctional facility grounds. 
• Arrive on the designated day during proper visiting hours.
• Leave purses, wallets, and electronic devices in the glove compartment or in the trunk of your car. Be sure to lock your car!
• Do not leave minor children waiting in the car or your visit will be ended.
• Do not have any contraband on you when you enter the facility.

Dress Code

Visitors should wear clothing that enhances a family atmosphere, including complete attire with appropriate undergarments, comfortable footwear (bare feet are not allowed), and weather appropriate attire when necessary.

Inappropriate clothing will result in being denied entry into the facility. Please be sure to understand the dress code for visitors. It will help to have a change of clothing with you if you have any reservations about the clothes you are wearing.

Inmate mail may include personal letters (a maximum of five pages per envelope) and photographs. However, you are not allowed to send: nude photographs, Polaroid photos, postage stamps, and letters from other people, except children

How to Call an Inmate

Inmates at the Otisville Correctional Facility can’t receive incoming calls, but they do have access to phones during daytime hours to make outgoing calls. For complete details on how to call an inmate in New York, please click here.

How to Send Money

Programs For Inmates

The inmate programs at Otisville Correctional Facility include:

Adult Basic Education

The Adult Basic Education Program is provided to meet the needs of incarcerated individuals who have reading and math scores below the sixth grade level on the Department's selected standardized test in reading, mathematics, and language arts in the context of real life adult problems and situations.

Aggression Replacement Training (ART)

A cognitive behavioral intervention program designed to assist individuals in improving social skills, moral reasoning, coping with and reducing aggressive behavior through the use of self-regulating exercises and mindfulness.

Barbering

The Barbering course covers the basic services provided by the barber trade. The student studies hair cutting, shaving, massaging, facials, scalp treatments, and styling. The goal of the Barbering course is to train students in the barbering trade and prepare them to take the Barber license exam. 

Building Maintenance

The Building Maintenance program provides students with fundamental skills required to make minor repairs in carpentry, masonry, electricity, plumbing, and weatherization. This course prepares the student with entry-level skills as a building superintendent.

College Program

The John Jay Prison-to-College Pipeline Program offers college courses and transitions individuals to the CUNY system to complete after release.

Compadre Helper Program

The Compadre Helper Program is a peer counseling course designed to provide incarcerated individuals with the opportunity to acquire skills necessary to help their peers and themselves cope with the psychological aspect of personal development based on Maslow’s self-actualizing philosophy. This program is offered in English and Spanish.

Custodial Maintenance

The Custodial Maintenance Course emphasizes custodial services, including floor care, carpet and fabric care, upholstery care, window care, restroom care, and the safe use and operation of power cleaning equipment and sanitation chemicals.

Incarcerated Veterans Program

The Incarcerated Veterans Program is designed to address the readjustment and reentry needs of veterans returning to society following a period of incarceration. 

Network Program

The Network Program is designed to promote the positive involvement of participants in an environment that focuses on their successful community reentry. The goal of this program is to assist individuals in learning cooperative work and leadership skills, while demonstrating responsible behaviors before returning home.

Puppies Behind Bars

Puppies Behind Bars trains incarcerated individuals to raise puppies as service dogs for wounded war veterans, as well as explosive detection canines for law enforcement and first responders. The puppies live with the puppy raisers for the duration of the basic training of commands and routines.  The puppy raisers learn to groom, feed, water, exercise, and train the puppies. Staff from a community organization, Puppies Behind Bars, teaches the coursework. 

Small Engine Repair

The Small Engine Repair course provides training in the repair and maintenance of lawn and garden equipment, recreational vehicles, and motorcycles. Students learn troubleshooting, including testing, diagnosis, and repair. 

Waste Management

The Waste Management Program provides recycling and organic waste diversion and avoided cost services for the Department and selected municipalities. The program employs up to 1100 incarcerated individuals at various levels in facilities and regional recycling processing centers. 

Youth Assistance Program

The Youth Assistance Program is specifically designed to provide positive guidance and direction to at-risk youth in the surrounding community from becoming involved in illegal activities or committing crimes which may lead to the criminal justice system.

The program includes presentations by selected facilitators who are incarcerated. They discuss the circumstances and behaviors that led to their incarceration and the consequences of life in prison.

Pictures of Otisville Correctional Facility

Careers at Otisville Correctional Facility