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Difference Between North Carolina Prison and Federal Prison

What is the Difference Between Federal Prison and North Carolina State Prison?

The state and federal prison systems in the United States punish crimes against society by depriving criminals of their freedom. In addition to demanding retribution from criminals, prisons are designed to remove criminals from the community to deter future illegal activities or behavior.

While the North Carolina prison system focuses on achieving these goals within the state limits, the federal prisons operate on a national level. Federal prisons are targeted at incarcerating and rehabilitating individuals accused of committing federal crimes. These crimes typically include identity theft, fraud, drug trafficking across state and country borders, offenses committed on federal property, etc. Concurrently, the correction facilities under the North Carolina prison system hold offenders who violated the state criminal codes by committing crimes such as robbery, arson, theft, murder, etc. The federal prison system operates on a much broader scope than the North Carolina prison system because it deals directly with national or federal interest crimes.

The North Carolina prison system differs from the federal system in that they are run by different entities and operates by different governing statutes. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is responsible for administering the federal prison system, while the North Carolina Department of Correction (NCDOC) controls the North Carolina prison system. Each organization maintains updated databases of all inmates incarcerated within its facilities. According to state and federal laws, this information is accessible to the public on request.

The North Carolina Prison System

North Carolina has an incarceration rate of 639 per 100,000 people. The state's prison system is run by the North Carolina Department of Correction (NCDOC). The department operates under the administrative directive of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS). As an agency of the state, the department manages the housing, treatment, care, and well-being of all offenders sentenced by the state judiciary. Facilities under this department's control include state prisons, jails, immigration detention facilities, and juvenile justice facilities.

North Carolina has 56 correctional institutions that house over 38,000 residents. There are four regional prison offices under the North Carolina Department of Public Safety: the Eastern, Western, Central, and South Central offices. Each office manages the correctional institutions in its geographical zone. Prison facilities in North Carolina Prison System include:

Central Region

  • Columbus Correctional Institution
  • Davidson Correctional Center
  • Forsyth Correctional Center
  • Hoke Correctional Institution
  • Lanesboro Correctional Institution
  • Lumberton Correctional Institution
  • Morrison Correctional Institution
  • New Hanover Correctional Center
  • Pender Correctional Center
  • Piedmont Correctional Institution
  • Randolph Correctional Center
  • Sampson Correctional Institution
  • Scotland Correctional Institution
  • Southern Correctional Institution
  • Tabor Correctional Institution

Coastal Region

  • Bertie Correctional Institution
  • Caledonia Correctional Institution
  • Carteret Correctional Center
  • Craven Correctional Institution
  • Eastern Correctional Institution
  • Greene Correctional Institution
  • Hyde Correctional Institution
  • Maury Correctional Institution
  • Odom Correctional Institution
  • Pamlico Correctional Institution
  • Pasquotank Correctional Institution
  • Tyrrell Prison Work Farm

Mountain Region

  • Albemarle Correctional Institution
  • Alexander Correctional Institution
  • Avery Mitchell Correctional Institution
  • Brown Creek Correctional Institution
  • Caldwell Correctional Center
  • Catawba Correctional Center
  • Craggy Correctional Center
  • Foothills Correctional Institution
  • Gaston Correctional Center
  • Lincoln Correctional Center
  • Marion Correctional Institution
  • Mountain View Correctional Institution
  • Rutherford Correctional Center
  • Swannanoa Correctional Center for Women
  • Wilkes Correctional Center

Triangle Region

  • Caswell Correctional Center
  • Central Prison
  • Dan River Prison Work Farm
  • Franklin Correctional Center
  • Harnett Correctional Institution
  • Johnston Correctional Institution
  • Nash Correctional Institution
  • Neuse Correctional Institution
  • North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women
  • Orange Correctional Center
  • Polk Correctional Institution
  • Sanford Correctional Center
  • Wake Correctional Center
  • Warren Correctional Institution

Unlike many states in the country, North Carolina operated without any private state prison facilities until 2015. The federal prison, Rivers Correctional Institution, is the only privately-owned prison in North Carolina.

The state-run prison system classifies inmates by their gender, type of conviction (felony or misdemeanor), and type of custody (close, medium, or minimum). Members of the public who intend to visit or contact any inmate in the system can see the North Carolina prison directory for inmate addresses, contact information, and visiting times.

How to Lookup Inmates in North Carolina

Department of Public Safety provides information on offenders in the prison system via the inmate locator tool on its website. This online feature helps locate individuals incarcerated in state prisons. It also helps find state prison probationers, parolees, escapees, and even records of released inmates. To use the search tool, inquirers must provide the inmate's full name or ID number. They can further streamline their search results by adding gender, race, ethnicity, age range, and date of birth. Inquirers seeking North Carolina inmate records of released inmates can search released inmate records by county, month, and year.

Although the prison facilities provide inmates with necessities, inmates still need money to meet other needs. Family and friends can send money to incarcerated inmates. They can send the funds through:

  • Walk-in cash deposits at any MoneyGram agent location listed on the JPay website. Payers have to provide a receiving code of 1224.
  • Money orders mailed to JPay
  • Online credit/debit card deposits
  • Deposits through the JPay Mobile App

If senders choose to send funds by money order, they must mail it along with a deposit slip, and the money order should be made payable to JPay.

Mailing address:

JPay
P.O. Box 173070
Hialeah, FL 33017

Payments made via money order take ten days to get to the inmates; therefore, an online credit/debit card deposit is the preferred option for sending funds because it is quicker.

North Carolina County Jails

North Carolina has 100 counties within its limits, the seventh-highest number of counties. Along with state prisons, North Carolina also has county and city jails. Local sheriff offices operate the county jails, while the local police departments manage the city jails. These facilities are typically used to hold offenders after they are arrested, awaiting trial, or unable to post bail. They are usually situated in the same premises as the sheriff and police departments. Occasionally, the county/city jails house offenders that have been convicted of crimes with short sentences or people who have been charged with contempt of court.

Unlike the state prisons, there is no central repository for the records of inmates incarcerated in North Carolina county and city jails. Regardless, each county/city jail maintains inmate records accessible through the facility staff, sheriff's office, police department, and county/city website. The sheriff or police departments either provide inmate locator tools or publish updated inmate lists and records on these websites.

How Does the Federal Prison System Work?

The federal prison system comprises correctional and detention facilities where individuals who have been accused and convicted of violating federal laws are incarcerated. The Federal Bureau of Prisons manages these facilities.

The federal bureau maintains records of federal inmates that were released after 1982. Inquirers can use the Inmate Locator to find federal prisoners in the system. Those who require further information about any federal inmate can query the bureau by submitting a Freedom of Information Act request. There is only one federal prison in North Carolina: the Rivers Correctional Institution.