N.C. Correctional Institution for Women

Facility Mailing Address: 4287 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4287
Street Address: 1034 Bragg Street, Raleigh, NC 27610
Phone: 919-733-4340
County: Wake
Offender capacity: 1,776
Facility type: Female, Close, Medium and Minimum Custodies

LIMITED VISITATION RESUMES OCT. 1, 2020

The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice will resume limited visitation at all state’s prisons effective Oct. 1, 2020 with significant restrictions due to the pandemic. Visitation was suspended in all state prisons on March 16, 2020, with the exception of legal and pastoral visits, to help prevent the potential spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

The health and safety of employees and offenders in our care are the top priorities of the Department of Public Safety. For information on coronavirus and how to protect yourself, please go the NC Department of Health and Human Services website.

To learn what else Prisons is doing to combat coronavirus, click here.

For more information on visitation, click here.

Directions

In Raleigh, take New Bern Avenue to Tarboro Street to Martin Luther King Boulevard and turn right. The unit will be to the left. Turn onto Coleman Street and make an immediate left into the prison's parking lot.

From I-40, take Exit 300 (Rock Quarry Road). Take Rock Quarry Road to the intersection with Martin Luther King Boulevard and turn left. The unit will be to the left. Turn onto Coleman Street and make an immediate left into the prison's parking lot.

SENDING MAIL TO OFFENDERS

To help keep contraband out of prisons, all mail to offenders must be sent through a private company, TextBehind.

You must address mail to offenders in this way, or it will be returned:

Offender Name and OPUS Number
Prison Name
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131

Examples:

John Doe #1234567                      Jane Doe #7654321
Polk Correctional Institution          N.C. Correctional Institution for Women
P.O. Box 247                                P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131                        Phoenix, MD 21131

IMPORTANT: The return address (at the top left of the envelope) must contain both the full first name and the full last name of the sender. Do not use initials. TextBehind will return mail that does not provide the sender's full first and last names.

The state’s prisons for women have been using TextBehind since February 2020.

Here’s how it works:

  • Offender mail is addressed and delivered to TextBehind.
  • TextBehind will make digital copies of the contents.
  • TextBehind will forward the digital files to the prison.
  • The prison will print acceptable pages and deliver them to the offender.

You may also download the TextBehind app to send mail by a smartphone or computer, avoiding paper mail sent via the U.S. Postal Service.

Offenders will continue to receive all acceptable contents of the mail you send — letters, photos, cards, artwork, etc. For more information about TextBehind, including a short video, click here.

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions.

TextBehind will not accept packages or legal mail. For more information on sending packages or legal mail, see the FAQs. You can also contact the prison where the offender is currently assigned.

All Prison facilities encourage family and friends to write to offenders. For security reasons, all incoming mail is checked to see if it contains any illegal or unauthorized items. Outgoing mail from offenders may also be checked.

Personal letters will not be read unless the officer-in-charge or designee has reason to believe the letter contains threats of harm or criminal activity, escape plans or plans to violate prison rules. If the officer-in-charge decides to delay or not deliver the letter to the offender, the offender will be told in writing the reason for this action.

Incoming mail from lawyers, any legal aid service assisting offenders, or state and federal court officials must be opened in the presence of the offender before it is checked for illegal or unauthorized items.

For information regarding sending money to offenders, ordering packages for offenders or about the offender telephone system, please click the links.

Overview

The North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh is the state's primary correctional facility for women. It houses the largest offender population in the state and serves as the support facility for the state's other female prisons. The campus-style facility sits on 30 acres of a 190-acre tract of state land in southeast Raleigh. NCCIW houses offenders of all custody levels and control statuses, including death row, maximum, close, medium, minimum, safekeepers and youth. It provides the primary medical, mental, and alcohol and chemical dependency treatment for female offenders.

The facility operates a diagnostic center that serves as the point of entry into the prison system for women. Upon arrival, offenders undergo a series of diagnostic evaluations that will determine future prison assignments.

Some of the programs available to NCCIW offenders include:

  • Correction Enterprises license tag plant
  • Dental lab
  • N.C. Travel and Tourism Information Call Center
  • High School Equivalency Testing
  • Office technology
  • Cosmetology
  • Horticulture
  • Job Start
  • Job for Life (Reentry)
  • Mothers and Their Children (MATCH)
  • Alcohol/Chemical Dependency Program
  • MotherREAD

Offenders may attend worship services in the Chapel of the Nameless Woman and participate in Bible studies or other religious programs offered by prison chaplains, Prison Fellowship and other religious volunteers and organizations.