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Facility Design and Operation

Facility Design and Operation are fundamental to correctional facilities’ safety, efficiency, and effectiveness. This directory provides articles and resources on best practices in facility layout, construction, and daily operations. Proper design and operation not only enhance security but also improve the working environment for staff and living conditions for inmates. For more on maintaining optimal facility standards, explore our section on Correctional Facility Maintenance.

A federal judge ordered state prison officials to relocate most inmates from Stateville following a lawsuit over hazardous conditions
Focusing on her experience working in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a female psychologist gives an account of the world inside the system
Corrections administrators said prison jobs were plentiful within a 65-mile radius of Stateville, but many employees already travel long distances to reach work at Stateville
App-based technologies can help improve facility operations and safety to the benefit of both staff and inmates
The court order, which came after a lawsuit that claimed inmates were housed in unsafe conditions, hurries a plan to demolish the prison and build a new one in its place
The Supermax – designed to be confining in every way – houses the nation’s most dangerous and notorious criminals
El Chapo, “shoe bomber” Richard Reid and the Boston Marathon bomber will live the rest of their days in the “Alcatraz of the Rockies”
Salem, Gloucester and Cumberland counties, which already share a court system, will be merging their inmate populations into a single, 900-bed jail facility in Salem
The standards set baselines for several jail conditions, including prenatal care for pregnant women, the use of force on inmates and the basic rights of those in the jails
The state’s union president said that in previous rounds of closures, many corrections officers have chosen to retire or change careers rather than uproot their families
Correctional facilities have to be tough, durable and secure. This doesn’t happen by accident.
The corrections director said sweat lodges are a culturally specific way to address the spiritual needs of indigenous inmates — and hopefully reduce recidivism
The new jails are being built using the design-build format that is supposed to speed up construction, according to the city’s Department of Design and Construction
The IDOC recommendation comes a little more than a month after the governor unveiled a plan to rebuild Stateville and Logan correctional centers
A 2020 evaluation report by the state found that “several conditions at the state prisons reduce safety, including persistent staffing shortages, heavy overtime use, suspensions of prisoner activities, unprofessional workplace relationships, limited oversight and outdated infrastructure”
The state plans to rebuild two prisons, Stateville Correctional Center and Logan Correctional Center, after an outside review reported a year ago that both are nearly “inoperable” in their current condition
“Lieutenants have gone through jailer school, all jail protocols have been reinforced, reemphasizing training in policy and inmate movement,” Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said
The looming deadline comes after Los Padrinos and the Barry J. Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility failed key inspections in January
The department’s vision centers around transforming the state’s correctional system, “which has been historically perceived as a punitive model, " shifting to a focus on rehabilitation and restoration, and reducing recidivism
The council suggests retraining corrections officers, reducing inmate numbers for individual cells, enhancing staff amenities and creating re-entry beds for post-release transition