Research


Scope and Content Note

This subseries of the general inmate case files series, Series 14610, consists of inmate case files relating to men who were incarcerated in Wallkill Correctional Facility. Inmate case files describe in great detail the family and social background, arrest, confinement, and release/parole of inmates. The content of the case files reflects the role of each institution.

Beginning with inmates released after 1956, only the following case files categories were transferred to the State Archives: inmates who died in custody, sex offenders, inmates of certain minority ethnic groups, inmates who received life sentences, and a 2% sample of all inmates who were released from any correctional facility. All other case files were destroyed.

W0054-87: This accretion consists of approximately 4,500 inmate case files relating to inmates confined at Wallkill Prison from 1932 through 1956. (Several relate to inmates released after 1956.) The case files relate to inmates with Wallkill consecutive inmate numbers between #2 and #6079. The files contain records from the 1920s of inmates received earlier in other institutions and subsequently transferred to Wallkill. In addition, the files contain correspondence, memorandums, and other records dating through the mid-1960s relating to previously released inmates.

The records closely reflect the function of Wallkill as a medium security institution for male offenders. Inmates were transferred to Wallkill from maximum security prisons or after 1945 from the Elmira Reception Center. Wallkill was intended for inmates who could benefit from a relatively open environment and from a special rehabilitation program based on vocational and academic education. Inmates who were transferred had an IQ of at least 80 and a mental age of at least twelve. Transfers were at least sixteen years of age, but more often were eighteen or over. Inmates transferred to Wallkill usually had short sentences or were within three years of scheduled release.

Because of shorter sentences, lack of discipline problems, and less serious nature of crimes, the Wallkill case files are usually less voluminous than case files from other institutions. Case files may include, however, a number of records from the institution's Service Unit which closely planned the inmate's program and prepared him for eventual parole.

W0054-93: This accretion contains approximately 275 case files for inmates released from Wallkill Correctional Facility during the period 1957-1976. The records were transferred under a sampling plan covering case files for all inmates released after 1956.

W0054-98B: The accretion consists of case files for a 2% sample of inmates confined at the Wallkill Correctional Facility during the years 1976-1981. Included are case files for inmates serving life sentences and inmates who died in custody. No case files for female inmates or inmates of selected ethnic groups are present.

W0054-09: This accretion consists entirely of case files for inmates who were released from Wallkill Correctional Facility, 1989-1992. No female inmates are included.