N.Y. Laws » CHAPTER Correction / ARTICLE Establishment of Correctional Facilities, Commitments to Department and Custody of Incarcerated Individuals
New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Correction Law § 70 (2026)

Establishment, use and designation of correctional facilities

✓ text as retrieved May 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
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§ 70. Establishment, use and designation of correctional facilities.
1.  (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this
subdivision, every institution operated by the department for the
confinement of persons under sentence of imprisonment, or for the
confinement of persons committed for failure to pay a fine, shall be a
correctional facility.
  (b) An institution operated by the department for the care and
confinement of persons who have been found to be mentally defective or
mentally ill by a court and who are confined in such place pursuant to
an order of a court based upon such finding shall not be deemed to be a
correctional facility.
  (c) An institution operated by the department as a drug treatment
campus, as defined in subdivision twenty of section two of this chapter
and used to provide intensive drug treatment services for parolees and
certain parole violators, shall not be deemed to be a correctional
facility.
  2. Correctional facilities shall be used for the purpose of providing
places of confinement and programs of treatment for persons in the
custody of the department. Such use shall be suited, to the greatest
extent practicable, to the objective of assisting sentenced persons to
live as law abiding citizens. In furtherance of this objective the
department may establish and maintain any type of institution or program
of treatment, not inconsistent with other provisions of law, but with
due regard to:
  (a) The safety and security of the community;
  (b) The right of every person in the custody of the department to
receive humane treatment; and
  (c) The health and safety of every person in the custody of the
department.
  3. (a) The commissioner may continue to maintain, as a correctional
facility, any institution operated by the department prior to May
eighth, nineteen hundred seventy, and may add to or close any such
place, and may establish and maintain new correctional facilities, in
accordance with the needs of the department and provided expenditures
for such purposes are within amounts made available therefor by
appropriation; provided, however, that before the closure of any
correctional facility, for reasons other than those set forth in
paragraph (a) of subdivision eight of section forty-five of this
chapter, the provisions of section seventy-nine-a of this article shall
be adhered to.
  (b) A correctional camp or a shock incarceration correctional facility
may be established by the department (i) upon land controlled and
designated by the commissioner, or (ii) on land controlled and
designated by the commissioner of parks, recreation and historic
preservation or, in the sixth park region, by the commissioner of
environmental conservation.
  4. Two or more correctional facilities may be maintained or
established in the same building or on the same premises so long as the
incarcerated individuals of each are at all times kept separate and
apart from each other except that the incarcerated individuals of one
may be permitted to have contact with incarcerated individuals of the
other in order to perform duties, receive therapeutic treatment, attend
religious services and engage in like activities as specifically
provided in the rules and regulations of the department.
  5. Each correctional facility must be designated in the rules and
regulations of the department and no correctional facility can be used
by the department for confinement of persons unless the rules and
regulations of the department specify at least the following:
  (a) The name and location of the facility;
  (b) Whether the facility is to be used for the confinement of males or
for the confinement of females;
  (c) The age range of the persons who may be confined in the facility;
and
  (d) The classification of the facility.
  6. Correctional facilities shall be classified by the commissioner in
accordance with the following types of classifications:
  (a) Each facility shall be classified with respect to the type of
security maintained as either a maximum, medium or minimum security
facility.
  (b) Each facility shall be classified with respect to the function
served in accordance with one or more of the following categories: (i)
reception center; (ii) residential treatment facility; (iii) detention
center; (iv) correctional camp; (v) diagnostic and treatment center;
(vi) general confinement facility; (vii) work release facility; (viii)
shock incarceration correctional facility; (ix) alcohol and substance
abuse treatment facility; (x) alcohol and substance abuse treatment
correctional annex.
  7. The commissioner shall have the authority to enter into leases
within the amount appropriated therefor, for the purpose of maintaining
or establishing any correctional facility or any adjunct thereto.
  8. The commissioner is authorized to enter into contracts, within the
amount appropriated therefor, with any university, social agency or
qualified person to render professional services to any correctional
facility.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 17 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1975–2025 · leading case: Doe v. Coughlin, 518 N.E.2d 536 (N.Y. 1987).
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Doe v. Coughlin, 518 N.E.2d 536 (N.Y. 1987). · cites it 7× “The conjugal visit program is a rehabilitative measure established pursuant to statutory directive to assist "sentenced persons to live as law abiding citizens” (Correction Law § 70 [2]; see, 7 NYCRR 200.”
United States ex rel. Lois Sero v. Peter Preiser, 506 F.2d 1115 (2d Cir. 1975). · cites it 3× “The commendable goal was to afford young adult offenders, and indeed all prisoners, treatment in accordance with the rehabilitative aims of the New York Correction Law, see N.Y. Correction Law § 70 (2); (McKinney Supp.”
Montane v. Evans, 116 A.D.3d 197 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep't 2014). “successful and productive reentry into society” (L 2011, ch 62, § 1, part C, § 1, subpart A, § 1; see Correction Law § 70 [2]). In enacting these amendments, the Legislature required the Board to incorporate risk and needs principles into the review process, to measure the…”
Bezio v. Dorsey, 989 N.E.2d 942 (N.Y. 2013). “Not only does DOCCS have a statutory obligation and constitutional duty under the Eighth Amendment to safeguard the lives of individuals housed in its correctional institutions (Correction Law § 70 [2]; see generally Estelle v Gamble, 429 US 97 [1976]), but it can, in some…”
Moss v. Ward, 450 F. Supp. 591 (W.D.N.Y. 1978). “As stated earlier, it could not be enforced at present because it is not written. Also, certain sections of the Correction Law and regulations contained in Part 301 of the N.”
Ayers v. Coughlin, 530 N.E.2d 373 (N.Y. 1988). “20 (1), as well as Correction Law §§ 70 (2), 137 and 504 (1) relating to safe, healthy and humane confinement, to weigh crowding in the respective facilities as well as the options available to the county officials to increase the capacity of local jails; he maintains that these…”
Alcantara v. Annucci, 203 A.D.3d 1483 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep't 2022). · cites it 3× “Subject to certain exceptions, "[t]wo or more correctional facilities may be maintained or established in the same building or on the same premises so long as the incarcerated individuals of each are at all times kept separate and apart from each other" (Correction Law § 70…”
Rivers v. State, 142 Misc. 2d 563 (1989). “This duty arises both from the due process guarantees contained in the Federal and State Constitutions (Estelle v Gamble, 429 US 97, 103 ; Powlowski v Wullich, 102 AD2d 575, 587 ) and from statute—Correction Law § 70 (2) which directs DOCS to maintain and operate its…”
People ex rel. Morejon v. New York State Bd. of Parole, 183 Misc. 2d 435 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1999). · cites it 3× “Lastly, Correction Law § 70 (1) (c) provides that: “An institution operated by the [DOCS] as a drug treatment campus, defined in [Correction Law § 2 (20)] and used to provide intensive drug treatment services for parolees and certain parole violators shall not be deemed to be a…”
In re the Arbitration between Bukowski, 148 A.D.3d 1386 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep't 2017). · cites it 2× “As for general principles enunciated in New York law, Correction Law § 70 requires DOCCS to establish and maintain its correctional facilities with due regard for “[t]he right of every person in the custody of [DOCCS] to receive humane treatment” and “[t]he health and safety of…”
Muckova v. State, 33 Misc. 3d 427 (2011). “While there does not appear to be any case on point with the situation in the instant claim, it is clear to me that a duty can be read from Correction Law § 70 (2) (a), which specifically directs DOCS to maintain prison facilities with “due regard to .”
N.M. v. State of New York, 2025 NY Slip Op 25140 (2025). · cites it 3× “6 [8]) and violated Correction Law § 70 (2) (b)'s requirement that incarcerated individuals be treated humanely, § 137 (5)'s mandate that incarcerated individuals should not be "subjected to degrading treatment," and DOCCS Directive No.”
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