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.
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 test took place over the course of five days in a housing unit at Broad River Correctional Institution
The House voted for a general fund budget that includes funding for more officers as well as a boost in officer pay
The project will allow the state to design the prison in a more efficient layout requiring fewer COs to watch over inmates
California has committed $260 million to repair leaking roofs and clear dangerous mold at more than two dozen prisons
Upset for not being removed from lockdown, the inmate broke a sprinkler head resulting in cells flooding
The Justice Department gave the state 49 days to have a remedial plan or face a federal lawsuit
Vision, collaboration, funding and officer buy-in have led to proven results
The federal government is putting the state on notice that it may sue if officials don’t make improvements soon
Any of these things can place officers, correctional staff and inmates in harm’s way
Lawmakers have agreed to close two prisons within the next year
The logbook is a tool that has the power to protect or destroy someone
The Oklahoma sheriff and most employees resigned over poor conditions including carbon monoxide discovered at the jail
A federal judge has ordered immediate renovation of a temporary jail building to house inmates with serious mental health issues
Nearly 300 prison employees were displaced and 5,000 inmates relocated across Florida
The Houston lawmaker suggested consolidating the agency’s 850-kid population into a former state jail
New online scheduling tool smooths out in-person visitation at King County Jail
The inmate is being transferred to an out-of-state prison to serve his sentence for conspiring to kidnap a baby
The female prison population has risen while the youth center sits empty
Drug cases make up a large portion of crime originating in the prisons, along with assaults and thefts
A Brooklyn detention center is once again without heat a month after outages sparked protests
Peer support is an effective means of getting help to officers in need, from other officers who understand their problems
This year, deputies have reported 13 attacks, with one injury, and 33 inmate-on-inmate attacks, with 16 injuries
All four staff members and 28 of the 29 inmates were treated in emergency departments at local hospitals
Low salaries, frequent overtime shifts and poor working conditions have created a statewide epidemic
The corrections center has been under increasing scrutiny since the deaths of seven prisoners over a four-month period in 2018
The governor blocked the sale of a former state prison that was proposed to privately operation as a federal immigration detention center
The House gave first-round approval to legislation that would ground drones near correctional facilities
The detention center would receive new prisoners for the first time in more than a decade
COs and some state lawmakers immediately criticized the plan
Supervisors approved a plan to tear down the Men’s Central Jail and build at least one mental health treatment facility
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