Union Correctional Institution Overview
Union Correctional Institution is operated by the Florida Department of Corrections at 25636 NE SR-16 in Raiford. It is a state prison for sentenced adult male prisoners, part of the long-standing Union and Raiford prison area in north Florida. It is not the Union County Jail and does not handle new local arrests or pre-trial detainees.
Because it is a state facility, its population comes from across Florida. A prisoner at Union Correctional Institution may have no Union County case at all; the prison simply sits within the county's borders. New arrests in Union County are handled by the Union County Jail, while sentenced prisoners are tracked by the state.
Who Is Held at Union Correctional Institution
The prison holds sentenced Florida state prisoners. A current official capacity and population figure was not available in the public pages reviewed for this facility, so no bed count or headcount is shown here rather than borrowing an unverified number. What is clear is the custody type: these are people serving state sentences after conviction, not county detainees awaiting first appearance.
This is the central point for any search. A sentenced prisoner is in state custody and is found through the Department of Corrections, even though the building stands in Union County. The county jail line cannot confirm custody for a state prisoner.
How to Look Up an Inmate at Union Correctional Institution
Use the Florida Department of Corrections offender search, the statewide locator for sentenced prisoners. It is the correct tool for this prison, not the county jail phone line. The public search screen is shown below.
- Open the FDC offender search.
- Search by the prisoner's DC number, or by first and last name.
- Open the matching record and confirm the current facility.
- Read the custody status, sentence data, and any release or supervision details shown.
If the person you want was just arrested locally, the state locator will not show them yet; that is a county jail question instead.
What a Florida DOC Record Shows
A Union Correctional Institution search returns a state custody record, which reads differently from a county booking sheet. State records describe a conviction and a sentence, not a fresh arrest. Knowing the fields ahead of time makes the locator easier to read and keeps a state record from being mistaken for a county jail booking.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| DC Number | The Florida Department of Corrections offender identifier. |
| Name and Demographics | The prisoner's name and identifiers such as race, sex, and birth date. |
| Current Facility | The prison or supervision location, which may be Union CI or another site after a transfer. |
| Custody Status | In custody, released, on supervision, or another state status. |
| Offense and Sentence | Conviction, sentence, and release information where available. |
| Photo | A state offender photo may appear; it is not a county booking mugshot. |
County Jail and State Prison Are Different Systems
The custody path explains why the search tool changes. A typical Florida case moves like this: Arrest, then Booking at the county jail, then First Appearance, then county jail custody while the case is pending, and only after a prison sentence does a person enter state custody. Union Correctional Institution sits at the far end of that path, not the start.
| Union County Jail | Union Correctional Institution | |
|---|---|---|
| Who Is Held | Local arrests and short sentences | Sentenced state prisoners |
| Run By | Union County Sheriff's Office | Florida Department of Corrections |
| How to Search | Call (386) 496-2501 | FDC offender search |
| Home County of Inmates | Mostly Union County | Anywhere in Florida |
Note: A prisoner at Union CI may have been convicted in a county hundreds of miles away, so the prison's location does not point to where the case was tried.
When the State Locator Is Not the Answer
The FDC search covers state prisoners, but not every custody question lands there. If a person is in federal hands, the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator is the right tool, and immigration detainees show up in the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Neither has a facility in Union County, so those searches always point outside it. Victims who want to be told when a state prisoner is released can register with Florida VINELink, which tracks custody changes. For court charges tied to a conviction, the court records after a jail arrest page covers the clerk and prosecutor side.
Union Correctional Institution Address and Contact
The prison is reached through its main institutional line, and inmate records run through the state, not the county. Confirm any visit before traveling.
Union Correctional Institution
25636 NE SR-16
Raiford, FL 32083
(386) 431-2000
Florida Department of Corrections
Visiting Someone at Union Correctional Institution
State prison visiting is not like county jail visiting. The Department of Corrections generally requires visitors to be approved in advance and to follow statewide dress, conduct, and search rules, with each institution confirming its own schedule. The FDC statewide visiting page is shown below.
Use the FDC visiting information page for the rules, then call the institution to confirm the current schedule before you travel, since prison visiting can change with security status.
| Step | Detail |
|---|---|
| Get approved | Visitors must be on the approved list before a visit. |
| Check the schedule | Confirm the institution's current visiting days and hours. |
| Follow the rules | State dress, conduct, and search rules apply on arrival. |
Mail, Phone, and Money at Union Correctional Institution
Mail and money for a state prisoner follow Department of Corrections procedures, not Union County Jail methods. Do not call the county jail to deposit funds for someone held here. Use the state pages built for it: the FDC contact-an-inmate page for mail and communication rules, and the FDC send-funds page for deposits.
| Service | Provider / Detail |
|---|---|
| Follow FDC contact-an-inmate rules. | |
| Phone / Communication | Governed by FDC statewide policy. |
| Money Deposit | Use the FDC send-funds page, not the county jail. |
Reception Into State Custody
People do not get "booked" into Union Correctional Institution off the street the way they are at a county jail. They arrive after sentencing, through the state's reception and classification process. Much of that intake for Florida prisoners happens at the nearby Reception and Medical Center before assignment to a permanent facility. Once a Union County defendant is sentenced to prison, they may transfer from the county jail into state custody and then appear in the FDC locator.
Common Questions About Union Correctional Institution
Is Union Correctional Institution the same as the Union County Jail?
No. The jail is a 36-bed sheriff-run facility for local arrests in downtown Lake Butler. Union Correctional Institution is a Florida state prison in Raiford for sentenced prisoners, run by the Department of Corrections. They are separate systems with separate search tools.
How do I find someone held here?
Use the Florida Department of Corrections offender search by DC number or by name. The county jail phone line cannot confirm custody for a state prisoner, even though the prison sits inside Union County.
Why might a prisoner here have no Union County case?
State prisons hold people convicted across Florida. A prisoner at Union CI may have been tried and sentenced in another county and simply assigned to this facility, so the location does not reveal where the case was heard.
About Union Correctional Institution
The prison is one of two major state corrections facilities inside Union County, alongside the Reception and Medical Center, and it anchors the historic Raiford prison area. Detailed current program, capacity, and security information is governed by statewide Department of Corrections policy and the institution's own pages, which were not fully captured in the sources reviewed here, so this page sticks to the verified address, phone, operator, and locator.
Union County is an unusual place because a small 36-bed county jail sits in the same borders as two large state prisons. That overlap is exactly why custody level has to be spelled out so carefully. The sheriff who runs the county jail spent years working inside the state corrections system before taking office, which is fitting for a county where state institutions are part of daily life, but the two systems still answer different questions for anyone searching for a person.
For anyone confused about where a person is held, the rule is steady: a county arrest starts at the Union County Jail, and a sentenced prisoner is found through the state. The Union County inmate population overview ties the systems together.
Note: Confirm custody and the current visiting schedule with the institution before traveling, since state prison rules and schedules can change with security conditions.