Facility record · Florida
Bay Correctional Facility
Panama City · Bay County
- SecurityMedium
- Population964
- Occupancy98%
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Bay Correctional Facility is a state prison in Panama City, Bay County, Florida. It has a rated capacity of 985 and a reported population of 964 — about 98% occupancy, as recorded in the February 2026 federal dataset. By capacity it is the 58th-largest of the 111 state prison records listed for Florida with a published capacity. It is one of 4 correctional facilities in Bay County, and Florida operates 42 state prisons in total.
Contact & details
February 2026 federal directory dataset
Finding someone first
Nothing below works without two things: confirmation that the person is at Bay Correctional Facility, and their CDCR number. Book a visit without them and you will be turned away; post a letter without the number and the mailroom cannot route it.
The Florida Department of Corrections publishes a public search covering people in FDC custody and those released since 1997. County jail populations are held separately by each sheriff.
Phone calls, money and mail
Phone calls
Phone service at Florida DC state-run facilities is provided by Securus Technologies. Calls originate from inside only. To receive them, set up a prepaid account with Securus (securustechnologies.com or the Securus app) — Florida consumers pay no transaction fee on prepaid deposits. Securus's published FDC rate card is 4 cents per minute for local extended-area calls and 14 cents per minute for long-distance and interstate calls, with no connection charge. Electronic messaging that used to run through JPay Email is now Securus eMessaging on the same account. One important exception: the two CoreCivic-operated contract prisons (such as Lake City CF) use ViaPath/ConnectNetwork for calls instead of Securus — check the facility page before setting up an account.
Putting money on the books
Deposits to a Florida DC inmate's trust account run through JPay. Online at JPay.com or by phone at 1-800-574-5729, fees scale with the amount — from $1.95 on deposits under $10 up to $12.95 on deposits of $200–$300 (phone deposits add $1 per tier), with $300 the per-transfer maximum. Funds sent before 8:00 PM ET post the same day, any day of the week. Money orders use FDC's official Money Order Deposit Form and go to JPay's processing address printed on that form — never to the prison. JPay messaging 'stamps' and video sessions bill separately. Exception: the CoreCivic-operated contract prisons use their own trust-department address and Western Union instead of JPay — check the facility page first.
Writing to someone here
Since 2022, routine mail for every Florida DC inmate is digitized by Smart Communications — nothing physical reaches the person. Address letters exactly as: inmate's last name, first name, DC number / PO Box 23608 / Tampa, FL 33623, sent by U.S. Postal Service only (no FedEx/UPS). The inmate reads a scanned copy on a tablet or kiosk; photos arrive as copies, with prints available only at cost on request. Greeting cards and children's artwork are digitized like everything else, so don't send anything you want returned. Legal and privileged mail is exempt and still delivered physically at the institution — address it to the facility itself, not Tampa. The program began as a four-prison pilot on January 18, 2022 and now covers all state facilities.
Guides that go wider than this institution
These cover the same ground across every facility in the directory, which is what you want if the person may be moved, or if you are helping someone in a different state.