Riverhead Jail Overview
Suffolk County Correctional Facility - Riverhead is operated by the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office Corrections Division under Sheriff Dr. Errol D. Toulon, Jr. The facility is a county jail, not a state prison and not a short-term police lockup. It houses male and female incarcerated individuals at minimum, medium, and maximum custody levels. Its population includes unsentenced people waiting on local criminal cases, sentenced people serving local jail terms, and people whose paperwork or status requires continued county custody.
The Riverhead jail is the older and more historically documented of Suffolk County's two correctional facilities. A New York State Commission of Correction maximum facility capacity packet says Riverhead was built in 1969 and expanded by 300 beds in 1980. The same state source lists an 840-bed maximum facility capacity at standard, made up of 38 individual occupancy housing units and 3 multiple occupancy housing units. The official sheriff page describes Riverhead as using both linear and podular housing, with medical, dental, mental-health, rehabilitation, and visiting areas inside the facility.
The official Suffolk facility directions page lists Riverhead as the public-facing eastern Suffolk correctional location. The county also operates Yaphank, but Riverhead remains the primary facility because the sheriff and state capacity material identify it as the main jail building for Suffolk County inmate population reporting.
The sheriff's corrections page is the source for Riverhead's facility description and capacity.
The same source also separates Riverhead from Yaphank by housing layout and program role, which helps families avoid treating both jails as one interchangeable building.
Riverhead Inmate Population
Riverhead has a stated maximum capacity of 840 incarcerated individuals. The strongest public figures come from the sheriff's official capacity page, the State Commission of Correction capacity packet, and the New York DCJS jail population reports. DCJS reported a 2025 Riverhead average census of 500. The monthly DCJS report prepared June 1, 2026 listed Riverhead's final monthly value as 505. Those numbers should be read as population snapshots, not a promise that a person will be in the building on a later call.
The 2025 DCJS custody-category row for Riverhead counted 63 sentenced people, 3 civil holds, 10 federal holds, 7 technical parole violators, 8 state-ready people, and 380 other unsentenced people. That mix explains why one Riverhead inmate lookup may touch several systems. A person can be in Suffolk County jail custody while a court case is pending, while a state transfer is being arranged, or while another agency has a hold.
Riverhead Inmate Lookup
Suffolk County did not publish a sheriff-hosted, searchable jail roster with public inmate profiles during the research sweep. The practical lookup chain for Suffolk County Correctional Facility - Riverhead starts with VINELink New York for custody notification and then Central Records for direct confirmation. Use WebCriminal for filed court charges, DOCCS after state-prison transfer, and BOP or ICE only when the case has moved out of county custody.
- Search VINELink New York for custody or release-notification information tied to Suffolk County custody.
- If the result is not clear, call Central Records at (631) 852-2241 with the person's full legal name and date of birth.
- Ask whether the person is housed at Riverhead or Yaphank, whether bail is set, and whether any hold blocks release.
- Use the court portal for filed charges, and switch to DOCCS only after a person is sentenced and moved to state custody.
The sheriff's Records and Statistics Section is important here. Research identifies the Records Unit, Writ Control Unit, and Document Management Unit as the local offices that process admissions, discharges, court movement, transfer movement, and court-document interpretation. For a broader roster walkthrough, the Suffolk County jail lookup process is covered on the Suffolk County jail inmate records page.
Riverhead Address and Contact
Use the main facility number for general routing and the Central Records number for bail and practical custody questions. Family visits, attorney visits, bail posting, and records requests each have separate contact paths, so callers should ask for the right office before traveling to the jail.
Suffolk County Correctional Facility - Riverhead
100 Center Drive South
Riverhead, NY 11901
(631) 852-2200
Central Records / bail: (631) 852-2241, available 24 hours a day
Visiting reservations are made by phone at (631) 852-1893. Attorney visiting may be scheduled at (631) 852-3356. The sheriff's bail information page says Riverhead accepts bail 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and all bonds are accepted only at Riverhead.
Visiting Riverhead Inmates
Family visiting at Riverhead is by appointment only under the sheriff's official visiting information. Visitors must be registered before a reservation is made by phone. The registration form asks for the incarcerated person's first name, last name, date of birth, and six-digit PIN issued by the Sheriff's Office. That PIN is a local detail families often need even though Suffolk does not document it as a public roster search field.
| Day | Hours | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday-Friday | 2:30-3:30 PM; 4-5 PM; 6:45-7:45 PM; 8:15-9:15 PM | Family visits by appointment |
| Saturday | 8:30-9:30 AM; 10-11 AM; 1-2 PM; 2:30-3:30 PM | Family visits by appointment |
| Sunday | Not listed | No public family block found |
| Monday | Not listed | No public family block found |
| Attorney visits | Call (631) 852-3356 | Non-contact booth, video, or telephone scheduling |
Only two adult visitors are allowed per incarcerated individual, and only adults scheduled for the visit may be on the correctional facility grounds. A visitor under 18 must have a parent or documented legal guardian, or a parental acknowledgement form on file, with original birth certificate or court documentation when required. Immediate family members who lack acceptable ID may call the START Resource Center for document help, though the sheriff says document costs remain with the visitor or incarcerated person.
Mail and Money Rules
The sheriff's inmate mail, phone, and resources page uses one mail address format for Suffolk County Correctional Facility mail. Mail should be sent care of the incarcerated individual's name at Suffolk County Correctional Facility, 110 Center Drive South, Riverhead, NY 11901. If the person has a common name, the sheriff says to add date of birth on the front of the envelope.
| Service | Provider / Detail | Fee / Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Phone calls | Securus phone service | Provider rates apply |
| Commissary | Keefe commissary | No local fee listed |
| Lobby kiosk | Cash, credit, or debit deposits in Riverhead and Yaphank visiting lobbies | Service fee applies |
| Online deposit | AccessCorrections.com | $100 per deposit limit; service fee applies |
| Phone deposit | 1-866-345-1884 | $100 per deposit limit; service fee applies |
| Money order | Money order by mail for deposit to commissary account | No personal checks accepted |
Incoming mail rules are strict. The sheriff lists white envelopes only, no stamps, no Polaroids, no photos larger than 5 by 7 inches, no cards larger than 6 by 9 inches, no stickers, no pornographic or offensive graphic pictures, and no hard-covered publications with the cover attached. Deposits are usually available in about 15 minutes or sooner, but the service fee reduces the amount that reaches the commissary account.
Riverhead Booking and Intake
Riverhead booking records begin with court and commitment paperwork. The sheriff's Records Unit processes admissions and discharges, coordinates court and transfer movement, and reviews or interprets court documents. After a person is committed to Suffolk County jail custody, staff handle identity, property, medical screening, classification, phone access, and housing assignment. Riverhead's linear and podular units matter because classification can place people by custody level, medical need, court status, or other local rules.
Medical care is not just an outside referral point. Suffolk County Health Services says the Jail Medical Unit provides care at both Riverhead and Yaphank, and the sheriff describes Riverhead as having medical, dental, and mental-health units. Intake may also connect a person to rehabilitation staff or facility programs. For young adults, Riverhead is tied to Choose Your Path, a program for ages 18 to 25 that combines vocational training, schooling, counseling, pre-release and post-release services, mental-health support, and a 40-hour week of programs or work assignments.
Note: Confirm custody and visitor eligibility with Central Records or visiting staff before traveling to Riverhead.
About Riverhead Facility
Riverhead's role is shaped by age, layout, and records work. It is the county's primary correctional facility, but it is not the only jail location in Suffolk County. The Yaphank correctional facility carries more of the specialized dormitory, treatment, and reentry-program identity, while Riverhead is defined by its older build, its standard capacity record, and its mixed linear and podular housing.
Official directions place Riverhead off the Long Island Expressway eastbound at exit 71 or from Sunrise Highway eastbound through County Road 51 and Route 24. The Suffolk Sheriff FOIL page is the fallback for incarceration records that are not available through VINE, phone confirmation, or a counter inquiry. The sheriff limits its usual records to men and women incarcerated at Suffolk correctional facilities, so requests for police reports, accident reports, or court files must go to the agency that maintains those separate records.