RMSC Population Transfer

Governor Hochul and Mayor de Blasio announced agreement to transfer incarcerated women and Trans individuals out of Rikers

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In order to free up staff and increase safety, the Department of Correction (DOC) is temporarily transferring its relatively small female population of approximately 200 to Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County. We want everyone in the City’s custody to be safe while incarcerated and the best way to do that is to decrease the overall population across the jail system. To that end, women currently incarcerated at DOC will be transferred to Bedford Hills Correctional Facility and transgender, gender nonbinary, and intersex individuals will be afforded an opportunity to be transferred there as well.

Bedford Hills Correctional Facility sits on 200 acres and provides women incarcerated there with multiple opportunities to be outdoors each day. Women and TGNBI individuals will have access to the same or better programming and services and will also continue to have access to jobs and education if they so choose.

Bedford Hills offers visitation 7 days a week and DOC and DOCCS have worked to expand visiting hours so families can visit in the evening on week days. DOC will provide buses leaving from Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn to help facilitate family, friends, and attorney visits. Attorney information on Bedford Hills programs and visitation policies can be found below.

Staff working at the Rose M. Singer Center (RMSC) will be transferred to other posts within the Department to relieve triple tours, increase program, recreation, and medical appointment provision, and increase overall safety for everyone.

Movements will occur twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays, beginning the week of October 18th. We will be starting with transfers of approximately 10-20 persons every week. The entire process will take approximately 7 weeks, and a DOC counselor will meet with incarcerated persons several days before they are moved.

Pre-trial individuals housed at Bedford Hills will continue to have access to free phone calls and their current commissary funds. All funds will be transferred to Bedford Hills via the Riker’s Island Central cashier’s office following the normal facility transfer process and be deposited into the incarcerated persons commissary account in Bedford Hills. They will do it as quickly as possible so any transferred person will have nearly immediate access. Please visit https://doccs.ny.gov/account-deposits for additional information on how to deposit funds. If you have questions about your loved ones at RMSC and the transfer then we recommend you contact the Office of Constituent & Grievance services (OCGS) at 718-546-1500.

What you need to know about Bedford Hills Correctional Facility?

The facility is located in Westchester county at 247 Harris Road, Bedford Hills NY 10507.
Family and friends will be able to visit their loved ones three days after their arrival to Bedford Hills. Please note: weekend visits at Bedford Hills rotate A-L or M-Z. For more information about Bedford Hills visit process and schedule go to https://doccs.ny.gov/location/bedford-hills-correctional-facility

Please check back here frequently for the latest updates.

Bedford Hills Visit Bus Schedule

Bedford Hills Visit Bus Schedule - Spanish