What Happens During the First 3–4 Weeks at Craven Correctional Institution (NC): A Family Guide

Craven Correctional Institution is one of North Carolina's largest prison processing centers. If your loved one just arrived there, they're at the start of their prison time - the facility handles initial intake work before longer-term decisions get made.

Craven is a male, medium-custody facility with a capacity of 850. It's a busy, structured environment built to handle a steady flow of people moving through intake.

New admissions at Craven typically go through a three-to-four week processing period. During that time, the facility conducts testing, evaluations, and interviews to determine prison assignments, job placements, and program eligibility.

Processing at Craven centers on three things: testing, evaluations, and interviews. Staff use this information to decide where someone will be assigned in the prison system - and what job and program placements might fit once they get there.

With a capacity of 850 and constant movement, Craven is designed to manage a lot of people at once while these decisions are being made. For families, this stage can feel like everything is "in progress" - because it is. The longer-term prison, job, and program assignments are still being determined.

More than 400 inmates process through Craven each month. That volume is a big reason the first few weeks can feel slow from the outside - everyone moves through the same testing, evaluation, and interview steps, and there's simply a lot happening at once.

During the three-to-four week intake period, your loved one stays at Craven while testing, evaluations, and interviews wrap up. With more than 400 people processing through each month, communication and updates often lag behind what families want. There's a lot of churn, and the bigger decisions - prison placement, jobs, programs - are still being finalized.

• ✓ Phone: 252-244-3337
• ✓ Street address: 600 Alligator Road, Vanceboro, NC 28586
• ✓ Mailing address: P.O. Box 839, Vanceboro, NC 28586

Craven Correctional Institution is located in Craven County. If you're coordinating rides, time off work, or sending mail, that detail helps keep your notes and paperwork organized.

1. Save the facility’s contact info - Phone: 252-244-3337; Street address: 600 Alligator Road, Vanceboro, NC 28586; Mailing address: P.O. Box 839, Vanceboro, NC 28586.
2. Write down your loved one’s identifying details - Keep their full legal name and any ID number you have in one place so you can reference it quickly when you call or send mail.
3. Track changes during the processing window - Because intake lasts about three to four weeks, expect updates to happen over time; check official status updates as you’re able and keep dated notes of what you learn.

While your loved one goes through the three-to-four week processing period, focus on getting ready for what comes next. Once testing, evaluations, and interviews are complete - and prison placement, job, and program decisions are made - your next steps become clearer and more stable.