What the 2003–2004 Southport Accretion (W0049-21) Actually Contains — and Why it Matters

W0049-21 is an accretion of Southport inmate case files covering a narrow slice of time: inmates whose sentences reached maximum expiration in 2003–2004. That date window is your first filter. If someone's max expiration falls outside those years, this accretion won't help you. These files sit within a Southport-specific subseries of the State Archives' general inmate case files (Series 14610). When a case file exists, it can be surprisingly detailed - covering family and social background, arrest information, confinement history, and release or parole records.

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• ✓ Class A-1
• ✓ CMC A status
• ✓ Arson (1st, 2nd)
• ✓ Kidnapping (1st, 2nd)
• ✓ Conspiracy (1st)
• ✓ Coercion (CMC A, class D only)

The second filter matters just as much: W0049-21 doesn't cover every Southport inmate whose sentence maxed out in 2003–2004. It only includes records for inmates in specified felony and central monitoring classes. So if you're searching for someone whose sentence reached maximum expiration in 2003 or 2004, ask whether they fit one of those class categories. If not, their case file won't be here - even if they served time at Southport during that period.

W0049-21 makes more sense once you understand the retention rule behind it. For inmates released after 1956, only certain categories of case files went to the State Archives: people who died in custody, sex offenders, inmates of certain minority ethnic groups, those serving life sentences, and a 2% sample of all released inmates. Everyone else's files were destroyed. That's a hard truth for families doing research - sometimes the records you expect simply weren't kept.

W0049-21 sits within the State Archives' broader Southport holdings (Series 14610), but it's not a general "Southport, 2003–2004" collection. It's tied specifically to maximum expiration dates in 2003–2004, then narrowed further to listed felony and central monitoring classes. This explains why two people from the same era at Southport can have very different search outcomes. One person appears in W0049-21 because they fit both the date window and the class criteria. Another doesn't appear at all - even with overlapping incarceration dates - because they fall outside those inclusion rules.

Want to review these records in person? You'll need an appointment with the New York State Archives research room. Email archref@nysed.gov or call (518) 474-8955 to schedule. Don't show up without confirmation. Wait for an email or phone call before you visit.

1. Start with the series and accretion number - Identify W0049-21 in the State Archives finding aid tools so you’re working from the right record set.
2. Ask staff to confirm what you need - Contact the Archives (archref@nysed.gov or (518) 474-8955) and explain who you’re trying to locate, including that you’re checking whether the person fits W0049-21’s scope.
3. Get the exact retrieval details for the Records Request/Reserve Form - Consult Archives staff to obtain the container/file/item (or microfilm roll) number for space 4 and the contents description for space 5.
4. Schedule your visit and wait for confirmation - Appointments aren’t final until the Archives confirms by email or phone, so make sure you have that confirmation before you go in.