New York's lookup is keyed on the DIN and will tell you someone is at Fishkill without telling you which of its units, which is the part that decides your visiting hours. Start with the search below.
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New York runs one lookup for all 41 of its prisons, at nysdoccslookup.doccs.ny.gov. You can search by name or by DIN, the Department Identification Number every incarcerated person is given, and the result tells you which facility holds them. What it does not tell you is which unit inside Fishkill, and that matters more here than at most prisons, because Fishkill runs three different visiting schedules and they are not interchangeable.
Go to nysdoccslookup.doccs.ny.gov and you get two ways in.
By DIN, if you have it. This is the fastest and the only one that cannot return the wrong person. A DIN is assigned when someone enters state custody and it stays with them through every transfer, so it is worth writing down the first time you see it.
By name, if you do not. Enter last name and first name. Common names return a list, and you pick from it using date of birth or age.
What comes back is the person’s current facility, their DIN, and basic sentence and status information. If it says Fishkill Correctional Facility, they are in Beacon, Dutchess County.
The lookup gives you a facility. At most prisons that is enough. At Fishkill it is half the answer.
This prison runs three separate visiting schedules, set by which unit someone is housed in:
| Unit | Visiting hours | Last arrival |
|---|---|---|
| General population | 8:15 AM to 3:00 PM | 2:15 PM |
| Regional Medical Unit | 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM | 1:00 PM |
| Residential Rehabilitation Unit and Special Housing Unit | 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM, Saturdays only | Not published |
Nothing in the lookup distinguishes them. Ask the person directly, or call the facility on 845-831-4800, before you plan a trip to Beacon. A family that assumes general population hours and arrives at 2:00 PM for someone in the Regional Medical Unit has missed the 1:00 PM cutoff by an hour.
Fishkill is a medium security prison, and families are often puzzled to find someone classified higher than that living in it.
DOCCS Directive 0051 explains it, unit by unit. General confinement takes medium or lower. But the Regional Medical Unit and the Unit for the Cognitively Impaired accept maximum B or lower, and the S Block Special Housing Unit and the Residential Rehabilitation Unit accept maximum A or lower. The 21A Residential Rehabilitation Unit is medium or lower.
In other words, someone can be classified maximum and still be sent to Fishkill, because the medical and rehabilitation units here are the resource the state is placing them near. The classification has not changed. The placement reflects what the person needs.
Five reasons, in the order they are usually the answer.
They are still in county custody. Someone arrested, held pre-trial, or recently sentenced has not yet been received into the state system. The DOCCS lookup covers state prisons only. Check the county jail where the case is being heard.
They are in New York City custody. The city jails run their own system and their own lookup. Someone at Rikers Island will not appear in the DOCCS tool at all.
They are in federal custody. Different system again, searched at bop.gov.
The name is spelled differently on the record than you expect, or the record uses a former name. Try the surname alone and work through the list.
They have been released or transferred. A transfer updates the facility field rather than removing the record, so a person who has moved will still appear, at their new prison.
This corner of the Hudson Valley has a naming problem, and posting to the wrong one costs weeks.
The lookup gives the facility name exactly. Take it literally rather than by geography.
The DIN is not just for the search. It appears on almost everything a family does:
That last one is specific to this prison. Weekend visiting alternates between odd and even DINs by date, with holidays open to everyone. Knowing the number is not optional here; it is how you read the visiting calendar.
6 of 7 questions
The Department Identification Number, assigned when someone enters New York State custody. It stays with them through every transfer and it is what the lookup, the mailroom and the deposit system all key on. If you only take one thing from a first phone call, take the DIN.
Inmate SearchNo, and at Fishkill that is the gap that costs people a wasted journey. The lookup returns the facility. Fishkill runs three visiting schedules by unit, general population, the Regional Medical Unit, and the rehabilitation and special housing units. Ask the person, or call 845-831-4800.
Inmate SearchThey are probably still in county custody. Sentencing and transfer to a state prison are separate events, sometimes weeks apart, and the DOCCS lookup only covers people already received into the state system. Check with the county jail handling the case.
Inmate SearchNo. Rikers is run by the New York City Department of Correction, which is a separate system with a separate lookup. The DOCCS tool covers the 41 state prisons only. A person can move from Rikers into state custody after sentencing, at which point they appear here.
Inmate SearchFishkill's units accept different classifications. Its Regional Medical Unit and Unit for the Cognitively Impaired take maximum B or lower, and the S Block and Residential Rehabilitation Unit take maximum A or lower, even though general confinement here is medium. DOCCS Directive 0051 sets out each unit's eligibility.
Inmate SearchRead the facility name in the lookup literally rather than going by the town. Fishkill Correctional Facility is in Beacon. Downstate Correctional Facility is in the town of Fishkill and is a different prison. Green Haven is also in Dutchess County. Mail sent on a geographic guess ends up at the wrong prison.
Inmate SearchThe record carries sentence and status information, which is the closest the tool gets. DOCCS also runs a separate parolee lookup for people under community supervision. For a firm release date, the facility's Offender Rehabilitation Coordinator is the better route, through the person themselves.
Inmate SearchThree schedules, and the last digit of the DIN decides your weekend.
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All information on this page comes directly from official government and facility sources. How we verify information › Last verified September 15, 2026.