A DIN number in prison, short for Department Identification Number, is the unique ID that New York State assigns to every person admitted to its prison system. It follows the individual from facility to facility for the entire length of their sentence and is the primary way the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) identifies and tracks them.1New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Parolee Lookup Glossary The term itself is specific to New York; federal prisons and other states use their own inmate numbers that work in similar ways.
What the Format Tells You
Every DIN has three parts: a two-digit year, a letter, and a four-digit sequence number. The year is the year the person was admitted for their current incarceration. The letter identifies the DOCCS reception center that first processed them. The four-digit sequence reflects the order in which people were processed at that center.1New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Parolee Lookup Glossary
So a DIN written as 98-A-0004 identifies someone admitted in 1998, processed through the reception center designated “A,” and recorded as the fourth person processed there under that year-and-letter combination. The number is short but surprisingly informative once you can read it.
When Someone Gets a DIN
A DIN is created at intake, when a person enters a state correctional facility on a new commitment. If they finish their sentence, are released, and later come back on a new conviction, they receive a fresh DIN reflecting the new admission year and reception center.2Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Lookup Info and Instructions
Parole violators are the main exception. A person returned to custody for breaking parole conditions keeps the DIN they were originally assigned. The same rule covers absconders, escapees, and people arrested while on temporary release; none of them get a new number.3Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Directive 4007 – Incarcerated Individual Identification Numbers That distinction matters, because the DIN can tell you whether a person is serving a brand-new sentence or finishing one that was interrupted.
How the DIN Is Used
Inside DOCCS, the DIN is the primary internal identifier. It stays active for the person’s entire term of commitment, including any period of community supervision after release, no matter which facility houses them along the way.2Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Lookup Info and Instructions Medical files, disciplinary reports, transfer orders, and hearing results are all filed under the DIN rather than the person’s name, which cuts down on confusion when multiple people share a name.
The most visible everyday use is mail. DOCCS directives require incarcerated people to print their name and DIN on the return address of every outgoing envelope, formatted as “John Doremi, 00-A-0000.”4Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Directive 4422 – Incarcerated Individual Correspondence Program If you are sending a letter or package into a state prison, including the full name and DIN on the address helps ensure it reaches the right person. The same applies when depositing money into someone’s account; the DIN identifies the account that receives the funds.
How to Look Up a DIN
DOCCS runs a free Incarcerated Lookup tool online that covers all 44 state correctional facilities and pulls from the department’s database in real time.5New York State. Find an Incarcerated Individual at a Correctional Facility You can search by last name alone, add a birth year to narrow the results, or enter a known DIN or NYSID by itself.2Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Lookup Info and Instructions
DIN vs. NYSID and Booking Numbers
A person moving through New York’s criminal justice system can pick up several different ID numbers, each belonging to a different agency.
The New York State Identification Number (NYSID) is assigned by the Division of Criminal Justice Services and is a permanent identifier that stays with someone for life.3Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Directive 4007 – Incarcerated Individual Identification Numbers The DIN only covers a single period of state prison custody, while the NYSID links a person’s entire criminal history across all agencies in the state.1New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Parolee Lookup Glossary The NYSID is primarily meant for law enforcement and criminal justice agencies, though DOCCS will not block a public search if you happen to have one.2Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Lookup Info and Instructions
Booking numbers are something different. They are assigned at the local level when someone is processed into a city or county jail, and they have no connection to the state DIN. Someone held in county jail before trial and then sentenced to state prison ends up with both a local booking number and a DIN, from different agencies at different stages. The DIN does not apply to anyone held only in a local jail. It is strictly a state prison identifier.
Federal Prisons and Other States
Federal prisons do not use DINs. The federal equivalent is the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) register number, which serves the same core purpose of uniquely identifying someone within the system but uses a different format: eight digits written as five digits, a hyphen, and a three-digit suffix.6Federal Bureau of Prisons. Program Statement 5100.08 – Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification The BOP runs its own online Inmate Locator covering anyone incarcerated from 1982 to the present, searchable by name or number.7Federal Bureau of Prisons. Inmate Locator
Other state prison systems use their own numbering conventions. Some are purely numeric, others mix letters and numbers the way New York’s does. The naming varies: “inmate number,” “offender ID,” “CDCR number” in California, and so on. To locate someone in a state prison outside New York, check that state’s department of corrections website for its inmate search tool and whatever number format it uses.