Search Bridgeport Correctional Center Inmates

The Center's Role in Milford Custody

Connecticut does not run county jails. The state unified all county jails and prisons under one Department of Correction in 1968, so there is no Milford County jail and no county roster. When someone is arrested in Milford, the local police handle booking and short-term holding. If that person is not released on a promise to appear or on bond, the court can place them in state custody, and that custody runs through the Connecticut Department of Correction.

Bridgeport Correctional Center is the facility that matters most for Milford. The official Connecticut Department of Correction page says the center serves the Superior Courts of Ansonia, Derby, Milford, Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk, and Stamford. Because Milford appears on that list, this is the correctional center a Milford defendant is most likely to enter. It holds people in both legal stages, which is something a county jail and a long-term prison usually keep apart.

The facility sits at 1106 North Avenue in Bridgeport. It is a Level 4 high-security center, and it also runs a smaller sentenced level-2 minimum-security unit for a workforce population. The custody flow for a Milford case reads as arrest, booking at the police department, first appearance in court, and then state custody at Bridgeport Correctional Center if the person is held. Local arrest starts at the Milford Police Department, and continuing custody is tracked through the state system from there.

The official facility page from the Department of Correction lays out the service area and contact details for anyone tracking a Milford case. You can review it on the Bridgeport Correctional Center facility page, which names the Superior Courts it covers.

The page confirms the address, the main phone line, and the list of courts the center serves, including Milford. That service-area line is the single clearest reason this facility anchors Milford inmate-population coverage.

Who Is Held at Bridgeport Correctional Center

The center holds two broad groups. The first is accused people, also called pretrial, who have been charged but not yet convicted or sentenced. The second is sentenced people who are serving time. A pretrial hold means the person is in custody while a case moves through court, often because bond was not posted. A sentenced status means a judge has imposed a term and the person is serving it.

Most of the count here is pretrial. On June 2, 2026, the facility held 481 accused or other-status people and 97 sentenced people, for a total of 578. That mix reflects the center's job as a correctional center rather than a long-term prison. The Department of Correction also runs a sentenced level-2 minimum-security workforce unit at this site for people who qualify for outside-clearance jobs and community support programs.

Housing is spread across named units. The numbers below come from the Department of Correction facility history and describe the major dorm and center units. They are housing-unit figures, not a single official rated capacity, because the agency does not publish one current capacity number for the center.

Madison, Fairmount, and Memorial are open-dorm units built in 1986 and 1992. The New Center was built in 1974 for roughly 310 Level 4 inmates. A person held here may have come from Milford or from any of the other courts the center serves, so the population is not a Milford-only group.

How to Look Up a Bridgeport Inmate

There is no county roster for this facility. The correct tool is the Connecticut Department of Correction inmate search, which is a statewide system. It covers every person in state custody, so it includes both pretrial and sentenced people at Bridgeport Correctional Center and at every other state facility. You can reach it through the CT DOC inmate search page or the direct search host at ctinmateinfo.state.ct.us.

The search is statewide for a reason. A person booked through a Milford case may be held at Bridgeport while pretrial, then moved after sentencing to a different facility under classification. Do not limit a search to one center. Run the name, then read the current location field on the result to see where the person is held now.

1. Open the Connecticut Department of Correction inmate search page.
2. Enter a name, a CT DOC inmate number, or a date of birth.
3. Read the current location field to confirm the person is at Bridgeport Correctional Center.
4. Open the profile for status, bond, controlling offense, and release dates.

The official service page says you can search using a CT DOC number, a name, or a date of birth. The fields below match what the state describes.

The public search is rebuilt each night from the agency's OBIS system, so it updates daily and may not show a change made earlier the same day. A record can show the inmate number, name, date of birth, latest admission date, current location, status, bond amount, controlling offense, date of sentence, maximum and estimated release dates, and any detainer. The state warns that release dates can change and that not every status is processed right away. The full inmate records search workflow walks through these channels in more depth.

Bridgeport Correctional Center Contact

The center handles general calls on its main line. Staff there can answer facility questions, but they cannot place a visitor on an inmate's visiting list and cannot transfer a call to an inmate. Inmate lookup is done through the state search, not by calling the front desk.

The center lists present staffing of 325. For school and education matters, the Department of Correction gives a direct address at DOC.BPT-School@ct.gov. Before driving to Bridgeport, confirm custody through the state search, since the facility is not the Milford courthouse and not the police department.

Population Counts and Trends

The most reliable figures for this facility come from Connecticut's open-data daily population feed. They are facility counts for Bridgeport Correctional Center, not a Milford-only census. A person counted here may come from any court in the center's service area. The snapshot below was queried on June 2, 2026.

The yearly averages move with bond practice, court pace, and policy. The center ran above 650 on average in 2021 and 2022, dropped sharply in 2023, then climbed back. Each figure below is an average of the daily total counts for that year from the same open-data feed.

The 2026 figure is a partial-year average, so it should not be read as a full annual number. All of these counts come from the Connecticut open-data daily facility population feed. For broader context on how these numbers fit the local custody picture, see the Milford County inmate population overview.

Visiting Someone at Bridgeport

Bridgeport Correctional Center allows one in-person social visit and one video visit each week. Both must be scheduled in advance through the visit request form, and both require that the visitor already be on the inmate's approved active visiting list. A visit is not set until the facility sends back a confirmation. Submitting the form alone is not enough, and people who arrive without a confirmed slot are not accommodated.

General Department of Correction rules apply on top of the facility schedule. Arrive at least 15 minutes early. Bring valid photo identification. Cell phones and other electronics are not allowed inside. Non-contact visits are recorded, and dress must be reasonably modest or a visit may be denied. Visits are not held on state holidays, which include New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, Lincoln's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

Video visits run over Microsoft Teams and are free. They need a valid email address, and like in-person visits, they are not scheduled until the facility confirms. Because each type is limited to one slot a week, families should agree on which approved visitor uses the weekly slot. A first-time visitor cannot assume they can book the moment they find a person in custody, since approval onto the visiting list comes first.

Mail, Money, and Phone Rules

Money and mail follow two separate paths under Department of Correction rules. Letters go to the facility addressed to the inmate. Funds do not go to the facility at all. Money orders, certified checks, and cashier's checks go to the central Inmate Trust Fund in Wethersfield, not to the Bridgeport address. The state warns against sending letters, cards, notes, or photos in the same envelope as a money order.

For correspondence, write the inmate's full name and inmate number on the envelope and send it to the facility address. The agency discourages padded envelopes. If you do not know the inmate number, find it on the state inmate search before sending money, because the Western Union account field needs it. The Department of Correction explains these mail, money, and phone rules in detail.

The agency FAQ shown above spells out the deposit methods, the mail format, and the phone limits in one place. Phone contact runs only one way. Inmates cannot receive incoming calls, so a family member who calls the facility will not be transferred. Inmates place outgoing calls through Securus, and a calling list can hold up to ten numbers. You can review the rules on the CT DOC frequently asked questions page.

Programs and Services at Bridgeport

The Department of Correction says Bridgeport Correctional Center provides programming across several areas. These run inside the secure setting and through the sentenced workforce unit. The list below comes from the official facility page.

• Addiction Services
• Recreational Services
• Educational Services
• Volunteer Services
• Religious Services

The sentenced level-2 minimum-security unit supports an inmate workforce population. People in that unit who qualify can hold outside-clearance jobs and take part in community support programs. School and education questions route to DOC.BPT-School@ct.gov, the address the agency lists for the center's school staff. The facility page also links a PDF of inmate programs and the center's PREA audit reports.

Bridgeport Correctional Center History

The center opened in 1958. In 1974, the New Center was built to hold about 310 Level 4 inmates. The oldest section of the site, once used as chambers for a judge and as housing for people awaiting judgment, was demolished in 1997 after it took irreparable fire damage in 1990.

The named dorm units came later. Madison, Fairmount, and Memorial were built in 1986 and 1992 as open-dorm housing. Together they give the center its mix of Level 4 high-security space and the smaller Level 2 workforce unit. This long history, paired with the unified state system, is why a Milford defendant ends up in a Bridgeport correctional center rather than a local county jail.

Records Requests for This Facility

The Department of Correction handles records and public-information questions for its facilities, including Bridgeport Correctional Center. The inmate search covers basic custody and offender data, but a formal request goes to the agency's central office. The Public Information Office takes questions during weekday business hours.

Use the agency for custody and offender records tied to the center. Court records from a Milford case are kept by the Connecticut Judicial Branch, and local police reports are held by the Milford Police Department, so route each request to the office that owns the record. The state inmate search remains the fastest way to confirm whether a person is in custody and where.