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The Colorado Department of Corrections is the principal department of the Colorado state government that operates the state
prisons A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...
. It has its headquarters in the Springs Office Park in
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
El Paso County,
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
, near
Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
. The Colorado Department of Corrections runs 20 state-run prisons and also has been affiliated with 7 for-profit prisons in Colorado, of which the state currently contracts with 3 for-profit prisons.
" Prison Jobs to Return? Walsenburg currently awaits state's decision. Retrieved on January 18, 2018.


Facilities


State-Run Prisons

*
Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility The Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility is a state prison for men located in Ordway, Colorado, Ordway, Crowley County, Colorado, owned and operated by the Colorado Department of Corrections. The facility opened in 1987 and houses a maximum of 1 ...
(1007 inmate capacity)( Ordway) * Arrowhead Correctional Center (494 inmate capacity) ( Cañon City) * Buena Vista Correctional Facility (826 inmate capacity) (
Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to: Places Canada *Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador, with the name being originally derived from “Buena Vista” *Buena Vista, Saskatchewan * Buena Vista, Saskatoon, a neighborhood in ...
) * Centennial Correctional Facility (604 inmate capacity) (Cañon City)(Maximum Security)(mental health facility) * Colorado Correctional Center (Camp George West) (150 inmate capacity) ( Golden) *
Colorado State Penitentiary Colorado State Penitentiary (commonly abbreviated CSP) is a Level V maximum security prison in the U.S. state of Colorado. The facility is part of the state's East Cañon Complex, together with six other state correctional facilities of various s ...
(756 inmate capacity) (Cañon City) Maximum Security * Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility (900 inmate capacity) (Cañon City) (Medium Security) * Delta Correctional Center (480 inmate capacity) ( Delta) * Denver Reception & Diagnostic Center (542 inmate capacity) (
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
) * Denver Women's Correctional Facility (900 inmate capacity) (Denver) * Four Mile Correctional Center (499 inmate capacity) (Cañon City) * Fremont Correctional Facility (1661 inmate capacity) (Cañon City) * LaVista Correctional Facility (564 inmate capacity)(
Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
) *
Limon Correctional Facility The Limon Correctional Facility is a Level IV, mixed-custody Colorado state prison for men, located in Limon, Lincoln County, Colorado, owned and operated by the Colorado Department of Corrections. History The facility opened in 1991, and hou ...
(960 inmate capacity)( Limon) * Rifle Correctional Center (192 inmate capacity) (
Rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
) *
San Carlos Correctional Facility San Carlos Correctional Facility (SCCF) is a maximum security facility on the campus of the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipali ...
(250 inmate capacity) (Pueblo) (mental health facility) * Skyline Correctional Center (249 inmate capacity) (Cañon City) *
Sterling Correctional Facility Sterling Correctional Facility (SCF) is located in Sterling, Colorado and is the largest prison in the Colorado Department of Corrections system. State statute dictated that prisoners with death sentences were to be held at the administrative seg ...
(2545 inmate capacity) ( Sterling) * Trinidad Correctional Facility (500 inmate capacity) (
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
) * Youthful Offender System (
Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
)


For-profit Prisons

*
Bent County Correctional Facility The Bent County Correctional Facility is a private medium-security prison for men located in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. The facility is owned and operated by CoreCivic under contract with the Colorado Department of Corrections The Co ...
(1466 inmate capacity) ( Las Animas). Owned by
CoreCivic CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasl ...
. * Cheyenne Mountain Re-Entry Center (650 inmate capacity) ( Colorado City) is no longer a part of the CDOC as of March 7, 2020 * Crowley County Correctional Facility (1894 inmate capacity) ( Olney Springs). Owned by
CoreCivic CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasl ...
. * Southern Peaks (Cañon City) Youth prison owned by
GEO Group The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a publicly traded C corporation that invests in private prisons and mental health facilities in North America, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, the company's ...
.


Closed Prisons

* Fort Lyon Correctional Facility (closed 2012) ( Bent County) * High Plains Correctional Facility (
Brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped durin ...
) (closed since 2010) (Last owned and operated by GEO Group) * Hudson Correctional Facility ( Hudson) (closed since 2013) Owned by
GEO Group The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a publicly traded C corporation that invests in private prisons and mental health facilities in North America, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, the company's ...
. * Huerfano County Correctional Facility (
Walsenburg The City of Walsenburg is the Statutory City that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,049 at the 2020 census, down from 3,068 in 2010. History Walsenb ...
). Closed since 2010. Owned by
CoreCivic CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasl ...
. *
Kit Carson Correctional Center The Kit Carson Correctional Center was a privately owned, medium-security state prison for men located in Burlington, Kit Carson County, Colorado Kit Carson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, th ...
( Burlington) (Private Prison; closed since 2016) Owned by
CoreCivic CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasl ...
.


Operations

All male prisoners entering the Colorado DOC system first go to the Denver Reception & Diagnostic Center (DRDC) before going to their assigned facilities; assignments are primarily determined by security level, and each facility can accommodate inmates of different security levels. In 2012 the state of Colorado had no designated
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution ...
. All prisoners with death sentences were given classifications of "Close", the highest custody designation possible. As of 2017, all prisoners with death sentences are located at the
Sterling Correctional Facility Sterling Correctional Facility (SCF) is located in Sterling, Colorado and is the largest prison in the Colorado Department of Corrections system. State statute dictated that prisoners with death sentences were to be held at the administrative seg ...
. The
execution chamber An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which capital punishment is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a maximum-security prison, although not always at the same prison where the death r ...
is located at the
Colorado State Penitentiary Colorado State Penitentiary (commonly abbreviated CSP) is a Level V maximum security prison in the U.S. state of Colorado. The facility is part of the state's East Cañon Complex, together with six other state correctional facilities of various s ...
. By state statute, executions took place there.Death Row FAQ
." () Colorado Department of Corrections. Retrieved on April 19, 2012.
The death penalty was abolished in 2020. From the 1890s to the 1990s, the Colorado death row was located at the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility.Mitchell, Kirk.
Colorado moves death-row inmates so they can exercise outdoors
." ''
Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 1 ...
''. July 28, 2011. Retrieved on April 19, 2012.
The execution chamber was also located in this prison. In the 1990s the Colorado State Penitentiary opened. Previously state statute dictated that prisoners with death sentences were to be held at the administrative segregation facility at the Colorado State Penitentiary.Death Row FAQ
."
Archive
Colorado Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 15, 2010.
In 2011 the State of Colorado moved its death row prisoners in order to settle a federal lawsuit filed by Nathan Dunlap, a death row prisoner. Dunlap had complained about the state's lack of outdoor exercise facilities at Colorado State Penitentiary. The Crowley County facility experienced two major riots involving Colorado and Washington state prisoners, the first in 1999 when operated by
Correctional Services Corporation Correctional Services Corporation (CSC), originally Esmor Correctional Corporation, was a correctional firm founded by James F. Slattery in 1987. It was located in Sarasota, Florida, USA, and traded on the NASDAQ (NASDAQ NMS:CSCQ). It had been a co ...
and the second on July 20, 2004, when owned and operated by the
Corrections Corporation of America CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasle ...
, and involving Wyoming inmates as well.


Fallen officers and officials

Since the establishment of the Colorado Department of Corrections, 17 officers have died while on duty, including Tom Clements.The Officer Down Memorial Page
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See also

*
List of law enforcement agencies in Colorado This is a list of law enforcement agencies in the U.S. state of Colorado. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics' 2008 ''Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies,'' the state had 246 law enforcement agencies employing 12,069 s ...
*
List of United States state correction agencies This is a list of corrections agencies in the states of the United States. State adult prison agencies * Alabama Department of Corrections * Alaska Department of Corrections * Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry * Ark ...
*
List of U.S. state prisons This is a list of U.S. state prisons (2010) (not including federal prisons or county jails in the United States or prisons in U.S. territories): * Alabama * Alaska * Arizona * Arkansas * California * Colorado * Connecticut * Delaware * Flor ...


References


External links


Colorado Department of Corrections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colorado Department Of Corrections State law enforcement agencies of Colorado State corrections departments of the United States Lists of United States state prisons Penal system in Colorado