Find Inmates at Dade Correctional Institution

Dade Correctional Institution Overview

Dade Correctional Institution is operated by the Florida Department of Corrections and serves as a male state prison within the FDC Region 4 system. The facility sits on a roughly 205-acre campus in the Florida City area of Miami-Dade County, sharing that campus with Homestead Correctional Institution, which houses female state inmates. The location places both institutions near the edge of Everglades National Park in the southernmost part of Miami-Dade County. Dade CI holds adult men who have been sentenced to state prison for felony offenses in Florida courts.

The 2024 Dade CI PREA audit confirms the facility contains 10 housing units. The institution is not a booking or pretrial holding facility. No one is sent to Dade CI after a street arrest; people arrive here after receiving a felony sentence in a Florida state court and completing reception and classification at an FDC intake center. The distinction between this state prison and the Miami-Dade county jail system is explained further in Jail Inmate Records, which covers the county roster for pretrial detainees held by MDCR.

Dade CI Capacity and Population

According to the 2024 Dade CI PREA audit, the facility has a designated capacity of 1,406 and recorded a 12-month average daily population of 1,227. These figures come from the official Prison Rape Elimination Act audit conducted at the institution. The audit also found 10 distinct housing units operating within the facility. Capacity and population figures for state prisons can shift over time as FDC adjusts assignments, so current figures should be confirmed directly with the Florida Department of Corrections.

Dade Correctional Institution Inmate Search

State prison inmates at Dade CI are found through the Florida Department of Corrections Corrections Offender Network, not through the Miami-Dade county inmate roster. The county roster at MDCR covers people in Miami-Dade county jail custody. Once a person is sentenced to state prison and transferred into FDC custody, they leave the county system and only the FDC locator will show their current location and status. The FDC Inmate Population Information Search is available at pubapps.fdc.myflorida.com/OffenderSearch/Search.aspx?TypeSearch=AI. The broader FDC Corrections Offender Network menu, which includes active population, release, escape, supervised population, and absconder searches, is at pubapps.fdc.myflorida.com/OffenderSearch/InmateInfoMenu.aspx.

Each state prisoner has a DC Number, which is the primary FDC identifier. A DC Number is six characters long and is either entirely numeric or starts with one letter followed by five digits. Searching by DC Number returns the fastest and most precise result. Searches by last name and first name also work, using begins-with matching. The FDC search scope covers felony offenders sentenced to the Department of Corrections; it does not include people sentenced only to county jail, county probation, or other local supervision.

The screenshot below shows the FDC Inmate Population Information Search form, which is the correct starting point for looking up someone held at Dade CI.

After submitting a name or DC Number search, results appear with the person's current facility, offense information, and photo controls. Location updates run nightly, while the broader population file refreshes weekly.

1. Open the FDC Inmate Population Information Search.
2. Enter the person's DC Number if known, or enter last name and first name using at least the first few characters.
3. Confirm the result shows Dade Correctional Institution as the current facility location.
4. Open the individual profile to review offense history, sentence details, custody status, and release date information, which updates nightly.

FDC population data is completely refreshed weekly. Release dates and location changes are updated nightly. For questions about a specific record, contact the Bureau of Classification and Central Records at 850-488-9859 or central.classification@fdc.myflorida.com.

Dade CI Address and Contact Information

The facility is located in the Florida City area at the southern edge of Miami-Dade County. All official mail to the institution and general contact with the facility should use the information below. Fax is available for specific administrative purposes. Confirm any visit or contact protocol with the facility before traveling, because schedules and procedures can change.

For victim notification, custody-status alerts, and release notification, register through the VINE system. The FDC VINE inmate information line operates 24 hours a day at 1-877-846-3435. FDC Victim Services can be reached weekdays during business hours at 1-877-884-2846.

Visiting an Inmate at Dade Correctional Institution

Visiting someone at a Florida state prison is different from visiting a county jail. FDC requires every visitor age 12 or older to complete a visitor application before any visit takes place. The form is DC6-111A and may be mailed to the Classification department at Dade CI or submitted by the facility's visitation email address. Processing takes about 30 days. No visitor may simply arrive at the prison without prior approval on file; there are no walk-up visits. After approval, each visit must be separately scheduled through an FDC scheduling form submitted between Monday at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time and Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time for the upcoming weekend visit window.

The table below shows the visitation process steps rather than a fixed schedule, because FDC does not publish day-by-day visit hours the same way county jails do. Specific available visit days and times are confirmed once the scheduling form is submitted and approved.

Visitors should confirm current dress code requirements, identification rules, and any item restrictions with the facility before traveling. Conditions at the facility and scheduling availability may affect any planned visit.

Mail, Phone, and Money at Dade CI

Mail and communication at Dade CI follows FDC rules, which are distinct from those used by Miami-Dade county jails. Routine personal inmate mail sent to a Dade CI inmate is not delivered directly to the facility. Instead, FDC processes personal inmate mail electronically through a central processing facility, where it is scanned and delivered digitally. Physical letters sent by regular postal routes go through this central processing point before reaching the inmate. Legal and privileged mail has separate handling requirements. Any legal mail postmarked on or after September 15, 2025 must include both the attorney registration number and a legal-mail tracking number, or FDC will return it unopened.

The MDCR county mail address (PO Box 20527, Tampa, FL 33622) and TouchPay facility number 233101 are for county jail inmates only. Do not use those county jail channels for inmates at Dade CI or any other FDC state prison.

Note: Contact Dade CI directly at 305-242-1900 to confirm current phone vendor, funds deposit options, and mail address format before sending anything.

Reception and Classification at Dade Correctional Institution

No one arrives at Dade CI through a street arrest or the county booking process. The path into this state prison begins when a Miami-Dade defendant receives a felony sentence in a Florida state court. At that point, the person moves out of Miami-Dade county jail custody and enters FDC custody. For most male inmates, the first step after sentencing is transport to a reception center. South Florida Reception Center in Doral, for example, is one of three FDC male reception centers and receives newly sentenced prisoners from Miami-Dade and surrounding counties for classification, medical and psychological evaluation, and facility assignment.

Classification is the formal process by which FDC assesses an inmate's medical and mental-health needs, educational background, security risk level, and program requirements. The result is a custody level assignment and a specific facility designation. Dade CI receives inmates assigned to it after that classification process. Custody levels at Florida state prisons range from community to close custody, and assignment can change during a sentence based on conduct, programming, or other factors. Once an inmate is assigned to Dade CI, the FDC Offender Search is the correct lookup tool, not the MDCR roster, which stops reflecting that person as soon as they transfer to state custody.

FDC also operates separate searches for released inmates, inmates on supervised release, and escaped inmates. All of these are accessible through the FDC Corrections Offender Network menu at pubapps.fdc.myflorida.com/OffenderSearch/InmateInfoMenu.aspx. If someone was recently released from Dade CI, the Inmate Release Information Search updates nightly and covers recent releases.

About Dade Correctional Institution

Dade CI shares its 205-acre Florida City campus with Homestead Correctional Institution, which is the adjacent female state prison. The two facilities sit at the southern tip of Miami-Dade County, near the boundary of Everglades National Park. The proximity to Homestead CI means the two institutions are sometimes referenced together in FDC documentation, but they are distinct facilities with separate administrations, populations, and contact information. Homestead CI houses adult women sentenced by Florida courts; Dade CI houses adult men. Anyone looking for a woman held at the same campus address should check Homestead Correctional Institution through the FDC Offender Search.

As a Florida Department of Corrections facility, Dade CI operates under FDC policies covering classification, programming, disciplinary procedures, healthcare, and inmate rights. FDC is Florida's largest state agency and operates one of the largest state prison systems in the country, with more than 80,000 inmates statewide. The department is headquartered in Tallahassee at 501 South Calhoun Street. General FDC inquiries can also be directed to the main FDC line at 850-488-7052.

For VINE custody and release notification for someone at Dade CI, register through VINELink or call the FDC VINE line at 1-877-846-3435. The system provides automated alerts for inmate movement, transfer, release, escape, and death. Victims of crimes involving a Dade CI inmate may also contact FDC Victim Services at 1-877-884-2846 on weekdays during regular business hours.