Monroe Correctional Complex

Last updated

Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC)
Monroe Correctional Complex aerial view.jpg
Aerial view of the complex
USA Washington location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Washington
Location Monroe
Coordinates 47°50′37″N122°0′7″W / 47.84361°N 122.00194°W / 47.84361; -122.00194
StatusOperational (With warm closed units)
Security classLevel 2 (Minimum 2), Level 3 (Minimum 3, Medium), Level 4 (Close), Level 5 (Maximum, ITU)
Capacity3,100+
Population1,533(as of December, 2023)
Opened1910
Former nameWashington State Reformatory
Managed by Washington State Department of Corrections
Governor Jay Inslee
Warden Dan White, John Padilla, Superintendents
Street address16550 177th Avenue SE
City Monroe
County Snohomish County
State/province Washington
Postal codeP. O. Box 777 (WSR/IMU)
P. O. Box 7001 (MSU)
P. O. Box 514 (SOU)
P. O. Box 888 (TRU)
CountryUnited States
Website www.doc.wa.gov/corrections/incarceration/prisons/mcc.htm

The Monroe Correctional Complex is a Washington State Department of Corrections men's prison located in Monroe, Washington, United States. [1] With a bed capacity of over 3,100, it is the second largest prison in the state. [2]

Contents

Facility

Vocational classes offered at MCC include printing, information technology and personal computer support specialist, and inmates can earn a GED while incarcerated. An independent non-profit, University Beyond Bars (UBB), offers college courses as a volunteer organization, and some people incarcerated at MCC have earned associate degrees despite the prohibition of state funding for post-secondary education.

A staff-supervised youth program is offered to high school and middle school students. It is designed to deter students from becoming involved in a criminal lifestyle by meeting selected inmates who tell them about the choices they made which led to their incarceration.

Class II and III jobs are located within MCC. Class III jobs provide essential services to the facility such as maintenance, janitorial, clerical warehouse workers, and kitchen work. Class II jobs are designed to reduce the cost of goods and services to state agencies and other tax-supported entities. These include laundry services, a print shop, a license tab shop, and the panel program. Class I industries were once housed at MCC, but were eliminated in July 2004 as a result of a Washington Supreme Court decision that held that inmates cannot be employed by private commercial enterprises.

Inmates have access to classification and mental health counselors at MCC, in addition to a wide range of paid and volunteer staff.

Units

Washington State Reformatory Unit (WSRU) - The original prison at the site; constructed in 1910. WSR is the second oldest prison in the state, only to Washington State Penitentiary. WSR has a capacity of approximately 720, and houses minimum, medium, and maximum custody inmates. [3] There are also extended family visit trailers for family style visits with immediate relatives, available to the entire Monroe complex. WSR also has an inpatient hospital on the 4th floor that is classified as Maximum security even though the rest of the facility is medium, which classifies WSRU as a (Maximum Security) rating for DOC's transport rating System. The 4th floor hospital is also used by other correctional facilities within the state. Major medical care can often be performed here along with daily dialysis, X-ray, and minor medical procedures, but serious surgical procedures are performed in community hospitals.

Special Offender Unit (SOU) - Opened in 1980 as Special Offender Center (SOC) under Gov. Dixy Lee Ray, and later renamed to Special Offender Unit (currently SOU) under Gov. Jay Inslee, the Special Offender Unit houses Mentally Ill Offenders, and has a 400-bed capacity. Security Levels are Maximum, Close, Medium and Minimum. [4] The SOU is unique in that it also employed Psychology Doctors to assess and treat mentally ill Offenders as part of its base operation unlike other facilities.

Twin Rivers Unit (TRU) - Originally known as Twin Rivers Corrections Center, the Twin Rivers Unit was opened in 1984. With a population capacity of 800, TRU houses both minimum and medium security levels. The Washington State Sex Offender Treatment and Assessment Program is located at TRU, and those participating in the program are housed there. [4]

Minimum Security Unit (MSU) - Opened in 1997, the Minimum Security Unit has a capacity of 470. The MSU has a program housing Mentally Ill Offenders that allows them to transfer to minimum from other security levels. This program is the only one in the state. [4] MSU houses Offenders with less than 4 years to serve.

Intensive Management Unit (IMU) - Opened in 2007, the IMU being Violator Unit and Intensive Management System (IMS) has a capacity of 200+, 100+ of that being designated for probation violators. The IMS houses Offenders that are difficult to manage or are a threat to others. IMS has extremely controlled movement where as the Violator unit is treated as Minimum to medium security where violators can move in their respective areas [4] [5]

History

The Washington State Reformatory opened in 1910, making it the second oldest operational prison in Washington state, behind the Washington State Penitentiary. [1] The next facility opened was the Special Offender Unit in 1980. [6] In 1984 the Twin Rivers Corrections Center was opened. [7] It is now known as the Twin Rivers Unit. In 1997 the Minimum Security Unit was opened. [2] In 2007 the Intensive management unit was opened. [5]

On January 29, 2011, Officer Jayme Biendl was strangled to death with an amplifying cord by an inmate within prison walls. Inmate Byron Scherf was accused of the murder. [8] Officer Biendl had repeatedly filed work orders for additional security measures to her supervisors which went unanswered. Inmate Byron Scherf was found guilty of the murder of Officer Biendl and sentenced to death. However, when Governor Jay Inslee was elected into office he placed a moratorium in favor of on all inmates on death row.

During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, the Monroe complex had eleven positive cases—five staff and six inmates in the same minimum security unit. [9] Over 100 prisoners at the complex rioted on April 8 in response to the outbreak, but were broken up by corrections officers using crowd control tactics and an evacuation of housing units. [10] [11] The following day, Governor Inslee announced plans to release nonviolent offenders and at-risk inmates to lower the risk of infection. [12]

Notable inmates

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington State Department of Corrections</span> Law enforcement agency

The Washington State Department of Corrections (WADOC) is a department of the government of the state of Washington. WADOC is responsible for administering adult corrections programs operated by the State of Washington. This includes state correctional institutions and programs for people supervised in the community. Its headquarters are in Tumwater, Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oak Park Heights Prison</span> Maximum security prison in Minnesota, United States

Minnesota Correctional Facility – Oak Park Heights (MCF-OPH) is Minnesota's only Level Five maximum security prison. The facility is located near the cities of Bayport and Stillwater. The facility is designed and employed with trained security officers to handle not only Minnesota's high-risk inmates but other states' as well. They also have the largest contract to house federal inmates with serious, violent histories. The prison has never had an escape, and only one homicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Bay Correctional Centre</span> Building

The Long Bay Correctional Complex, commonly called Long Bay, is a correctional facility comprising a heritage-listed maximum and minimum security prison for males and females and a hospital to treat prisoners, psychiatric cases and remandees, located in Malabar, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The complex is located approximately 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south of the Sydney CBD and is contained within a 32-hectare (79-acre) site. The facility is operated by Corrective Services New South Wales, a department administered by the Government of New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silverwater Correctional Complex</span>

The Silverwater Correctional Complex, an Australian maximum and minimum security prison complex for males and females, is located in Silverwater, 21 km (13 mi) west of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The complex is operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the New South Wales Government Department of Communities and Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Jersey State Prison</span> State prison for men in Trenton, New Jersey

The New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), formerly known as Trenton State Prison, is a state men's prison in Trenton, New Jersey operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections. It is the oldest prison in New Jersey and one of the oldest correctional facilities in the United States. It is the state's only completely maximum security institution, housing the most difficult and/or dangerous male offenders in the inmate population. NJSP operates two security units and provides a high level of custodial supervision and control. Professional treatment services, such as education and social work, are a priority at the facility. The Bureau of State Use Industries operated the bedding and clothing shops that were once located in Shop Hall at the facility. These industries have been relocated to South Woods State Prison.

Pontiac Correctional Center, established in June 1871, is an Illinois Department of Corrections maximum security prison for adult males in Pontiac, Illinois. The prison also has a medium security unit that houses medium to minimum security inmates and is classified as Level 3. Until the 2011 abolition of the death penalty in Illinois, the prison housed male death row inmates, but had no execution chamber. Inmates were executed at the Tamms Correctional Center. Although the capacity of the prison is 2172, it has an average daily population of approximately 2000 inmates.

The Twin Rivers Corrections Center opened in 1984 and is part of the Monroe Correctional Complex facility in Monroe, Washington. Currently, it is the largest prison in all of Washington State. It is now referred to as Twin Rivers Unit (TRU). It currently employs 1200 people. Monroe Correctional Complex is a Close, Medium, and Minimum security facility, which houses approximately 2800 inmates in five wings, typically two to a cell. Some inmates with special needs are housed in individual cells. Inmates are generally required to participate in some kind of program, whether it is educational, treatment, or Class III industries. Such programs may include earning a General Educational Development (GED) certificate, or sexual offender or chemical dependency treatment. Class III industries include janitorial, clerical or kitchen work, for example.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Concord</span> Prison in Concord, Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord (MCI-Concord) is a medium security prison for men located in Concord, Massachusetts in the United States. Opened in 1878, it is the oldest running state prison for men in Massachusetts. This prison is under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. There are 570 inmates with a total capacity of 614 general population beds.

The Pendleton Correctional Facility, formerly known as the Indiana Reformatory, is a state prison located in Fall Creek Township, Madison County, near Pendleton and about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Indianapolis. Established in 1923, it was built to replace the Indiana State Reformatory located in Jeffersonville after a fire severely damaged the original property. The Pendleton facility currently offers maximum and minimum-security housing for adult males over 22 years old. The maximum-security portion is made up of 31 acres (130,000 m2) surrounded by a concrete wall. It has an average daily population of approximately 1,650 inmates. Located on the grounds outside the enclosure, the minimum-security dormitory holds approximately 200 prisoners on a daily basis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohio Reformatory for Women</span>

The Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW) is a state prison for women owned and operated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in Marysville, Ohio. It opened in September 1916, when 34 female inmates were transferred from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. ORW is a multi-security, state facility. As of July 2019, 2,394 female inmates were living at the prison ranging from minimum-security inmates all the way up to one inmate on death row. It was the fifth prison in the United States, in modern times, to open a nursery for imprisoned mothers and their babies located within the institution. The Achieving Baby Care Success (ABC) program was the first in the state to keep infants with their mothers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky State Penitentiary</span> Maximum security prison located in Eddyville, Kentucky

The Kentucky State Penitentiary (KSP), also known as the "Castle on the Cumberland," is a maximum security and supermax prison with capacity for 856 prisoners located in Eddyville, Kentucky on Lake Barkley on the Cumberland River, about 4.8 kilometres (3 mi) from downtown Eddyville. It is managed by the Kentucky Department of Corrections. Completed in 1886, it is Kentucky's oldest prison facility and the only commonwealth-owned facility with supermax units. The penitentiary houses Kentucky's male death row inmates and the commonwealth's execution facility. As of 2015 it had approximately 350 staff members and an annual operating budget of $20 million. In most cases, inmates are not sent directly to the penitentiary after sentencing, but are sent there because of violent or disruptive behavior committed in other less secure correctional facilities in the commonwealth. This was Kentucky's second penitentiary: the first was made uninhabitable from a flood in 1937.

The Correctional Industrial Facility, otherwise known as the CIF, is an Indiana Department of Corrections prison located in Fall Creek Township, Madison County, near Pendleton. It is a medium-security prison. As of 2019, the prison housed 1,471 inmates, and employed 307 staff. Constructed in 1985, CIF formerly housed the Indiana Department of Correction's PEN food products plant. However, the food products plant was replaced by a brake refurbishing factory in partnership with the industrial company Meritor, which is the largest employer of offenders in the facility. Wendy Knight is the current Warden of CIF.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Correctional Institution</span> State prison in Union County, Florida

The Union Correctional Institution, formerly referred to as Florida State Prison, Raiford Prison and State Prison Farm is a Florida Department of Corrections state prison located in unincorporated Union County, Florida, near Raiford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno</span>

Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Oklahoma. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility has an adjacent satellite camp for minimum-security male offenders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State Correctional Institution – Cambridge Springs</span>

State Correctional Institution (SCI) Cambridge Springs is a minimum-security correctional facility for females in Cambridge Springs, in Crawford County in northwestern Pennsylvania. The majority of the inmates housed here are nearing their release from prison.

Joseph Harp Correctional Center (JHCC) is an Oklahoma Department of Corrections state prison for male inmates located in Lexington, Cleveland County, Oklahoma. The medium-security facility opened in September 1978 and with a capacity of 1045 inmates is the largest medium-security prison in the state.

Washington Corrections Center for Women is a Washington State Department of Corrections women's prison located in Gig Harbor, Washington. With an operating capacity of 740, it is the largest women's prison in the state and is surrounded by Washington State Route 16, and McCormick forest park. It opened 53 years ago in 1971, 82 years after statehood.

Lexington Assessment and Reception Center (LARC) is a maximum-security state prison for men located in Lexington, Cleveland County, Oklahoma, owned and operated by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. The LARC complex also hosts the medium-security Lexington Correctional Center and the Rex Thompson Minimum Security Unit.

The Buena Vista Correctional Facility is a state prison for men located in Buena Vista, Chaffee County, Colorado, owned and operated by the Colorado Department of Corrections. The facility opened as an adult prison in 1978, and houses 871 inmates at medium and close security levels, along with the 288-inmate Buena Vista Minimum Center, and another 100 minimum security inmates within the Colorado Correctional Alternative Program. The Boot Camp is closed today. The close security facility is known to inmates as "The Buildings" and the Minimum is known as "The Mods". The prison is split into 6 Housing units A&O which is an Orientation unit that inmates are placed in when they first arrive to the prison. Segregation is the unit where inmates are placed for disciplinary actions, North Unit, Lower North Unit, East Unit and South Unit which houses the majority of the prisons active gang members and violent offenders. In the late 90s and Early 2000s "The Buildings was referred to as "Gladiator School" because most of Colorado's younger gang members were sent there. During that time the fighting and violence was at a record High in the State.

The Maine Correctional Center is a medium/minimum security prison in South Windham, Maine. It is operated by the Maine Department of Corrections and has an inmate capacity of 662, making it the second largest prison in the state. All residents sentenced to less than five years are directly admitted to this facility.

References

  1. 1 2 "Monroe Correctional Complex". www.doc.wa.gov. Archived from the original on July 23, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Monroe Correctional Complex is state's biggest big house". The Everett Herald . January 20, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC) | Washington State Department of Corrections". www.doc.wa.gov. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC) | Washington State Department of Corrections". www.doc.wa.gov. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  5. 1 2 ""Prison within prison" opens in Monroe". The Seattle Times. October 31, 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Special Offender Unit Orientation" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "TRCC" (PDF).
  8. ↑ "Big changes under way at Monroe prison". The Seattle Times. November 3, 2011.
  9. ↑ Cornfield, Jerry (April 9, 2020). "COVID-19 outbreak worsens at Monroe prison". The Everett Herald. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  10. ↑ Hutton, Caleb (April 9, 2020). "Over 100 Monroe prisoners riot after COVID-19 outbreak". The Everett Herald. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Virus Sparks Prison Riot, Hits More WA Long-Term Care Homes". U.S. News. April 9, 2020.
  12. ↑ Cornfield, Jerry; Hutton, Caleb; Bryan, Zachariah (April 9, 2020). "After Monroe 'riot,' governor plans release for some prisoners". The Everett Herald. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Filming Locations for The Butterfly Effect (2004), in Vancouver and Washington State". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  14. ↑ Sunde, Scott; Staff, Seattlepi com (August 24, 2012). "The real 'Drugstore Cowboy' dies in state prison". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.