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• Full Finding Aid
• Overview
• Arrangement
• Scope and Contents
• Other Finding Aids
• Access Restrictions
• Acquisition Information
• Processing Information
• Access Terms
• Detailed Description

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New York State Department of Correctional Services Wallkill Correctional Facility Inmate Case Files

Some content may contain outdated and offensive terminology. See: New York State Archives Statement on Language in Descriptive Resources

Overview of the Records

Arrangement

Roughly numerical by DIN number.

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.

Other Finding Aids

Available at Repository

Folder lists are available at the repository.

Acquisition Information

This subseries was transferred under RDA 14610 by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Processing Information

W0054 is formally part of Series 14610, Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Inmate Case Files. To improve access, Series 14610 was divided into "W" subseries corresponding to individual correctional facilities.

Access Restrictions

Summary information on adult inmates is disclosable under law. State Archives staff will review records containing probation, parole, medical, and juvenile criminal history data and disclose information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law and Personal Privacy Protection Law. The identity of victims of sex crimes is not disclosable. Unless a specific law forbids disclosure indefinitely, all records must be disclosed after 75 years.

Access Terms

Detailed Description