Wende Correctional Facility

Wende Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison for male inmates that is located in Alden, New York. This facility can house approximately 1,000 inmates and is operated by the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. 

This facility features a Special Needs Unit for inmates with developmental or physical disabilities, and it also has numerous mental health programs for inmates who suffer from mental illness.

Former Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein is serving his 23-year sentence for sexual assault at Wende Correctional Facility. Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon, is also housed at Wende after being transferred from Attica in 2012.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

Visiting hours at Wende Correctional Facility are Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 3:15 PM, and on weekends and holidays from 8:30 AM to 3:15 PM. You must arrive by 2:15 PM to visit with your inmate.

Special Housing Unit Visiting Days & Hours (Inmates in SHU custody are allowed one non-legal visit within a seven day period) are from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM seven days per week. RMU visiting hours are on weekends and holidays from 9:00 AM to 2:15 PM. You must arrive by 1:30 PM to visit with an RMU inmate.

A maximum number of seven visitors are allowed to visit with an inmate at one time during visiting hours Monday through Thursday. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the maximum number of visitors allowed is three. 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.
• 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. 
• Leave purses, wallets, and electronic devices in the glove compartment or in the trunk of your car. 

Dress Code

Visitors should wear clothing that enhances a family atmosphere. The dress code requires visitors to wear complete modest attire with appropriate undergarments and comfortable footwear (bare feet are not allowed).

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.

Inmates are allowed two food packages per month. Food items must be commercially or hermetically sealed and contain no alcohol. You can also send packages containing non-food items like clothing and tobacco. Please review the list of allowable items before sending your package.

How to Call an Inmate

How to Send Money

Programs For Inmates

The inmate programs at Wende 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.

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.

Computer Operator

This course introduces students to the hardware and software components of computers. The main focus of the program is the operation of software, which includes word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and presentations.

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.

Family Reunion Program

The Family Reunion Program (FRP) provides approved incarcerated individuals and their families the opportunity to meet for a designated period of time in a private home-like setting.

The goals of the program include:

• Preserving and strengthening family ties that have been disrupted as a result of incarceration.
• Fostering positive and responsible conduct.
• Facilitating post-release reintegration into the family and community, thereby reducing the likelihood of recidivism.

General Business

The General Business course provides students with instruction on using computers, calculators, and printers. Students become familiar with software applications, including word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations, and desktop publishing. In addition, instruction is offered in filing, mailing procedures, bookkeeping, and business correspondence.

Plumbing and Heating

Students in Plumbing and Heating Course learn the installation of water, gas, waste disposal systems, and heating units in buildings and homes. This program covers basic instruction in plumbing, including code restrictions, blueprint reading, fixtures for domestic and commercial establishments, as well as oil burner repair and servicing.

Sex Offender Counseling and Treatment Program

The Sex Offender Counseling and Treatment Program (SOCTP) is a comprehensive program of counseling and treatment offered by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for convicted sex offenders and other offenders the Department identifies as likely to benefit from sex offender counseling and treatment based upon a study of their background.

Special Education

The Special Education Program provides intensive one-on-one and small group instruction to students under 21 years of age identified as having a disability. The goal of this program is to tailor learning activities to the diagnosed needs of students with a disability to enable them to achieve learning objectives and, where appropriate, to successfully participate in the regular academic program.

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 Wende Correctional Facility

Careers at Wende Correctional Facility