District of Columbia Department of Corrections

The District of Columbia Department of Corrections (DCDC) is a correctional agency responsible for the adult jails and other adult correctional institutions in the District of Columbia.^[1]

History

The DOC was first established as an agency in 1946, when the District Jail (built 1872) was combined with the Lorton Correctional Complex.^[1] The latter began as a workhouse for male prisoners in 1910, but later expanded to include eight prisons on 3,000 acres (12 km²) of land in Lorton, Fairfax County, Virginia.^[1]

In 1999 the DCDC was paying the Virginia Department of Corrections to house 69 prisoners at the Red Onion State Prison.^[2]

Operations

The DOC operates the Central Detention Facility (DC Jail) with an inmate capacity of 2,164.^{[citation needed]} The DC Jail houses adult males; the DC Jail includes pre-trial prisoners, convicted misdemeanants, and convicted felons who are going to be transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.^[3] The current DC Jail opened in 1976.^[4]

The Correctional Treatment Facility (CTF), which the district established in 1992, is located adjacent to the DC Jail. The 8 story structure, located on 10.2 acres (4.1 ha) of land, consists of five multi-story buildings that appear like one large building. The CTF houses medium security male prisoners.^[5] In addition the CTF houses adult females and juveniles who have been sentenced as adults.^[3] The district began contracting operations of the CTF to the Corrections Corporation of America after it signed a 20 year contract with the CCA in March 1997.^[5]

The department has contracts with four private and independently operated halfway houses: Efforts from Ex-Convicts, Extended House, Inc., Fairview, and Hope Village. The US District Court for DC and the Superior Court of DC place pretrial offenders and sentenced misdemeanants in halfway houses as an alternative to incarceration. The halfway houses offer a variety of educational opportunities and other programming services.^{[citation needed]}

With the passage of the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, the Department of Corrections transferred the sentenced felon population formerly housed at the Lorton Correctional Complex to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and discontinued operations there on December 31, 2001.^{[citation needed]}

Notable inmates

Central Detention Facility

• Ingmar Guandique, suspect in the murder of Chandra Levy^[6]

See also

	District of Columbia portal
	Criminal justice portal
	Law enforcement/Law enforcement topics portal

• List of law enforcement agencies in the District of Columbia

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} http://doc.dc.gov/doc/cwp/view,a,3,q,491557,docNav_GID,1448,docNav,%7C30838%7C,.asp
2. ^ Timberg, Craig. "At Va.'s Toughest Prison, Tight Controls." Washington Post. Sunday April 18, 1999. C1. Retrieved on January 16, 2010.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Frequently Asked Questions." District of Columbia Department of Corrections. Retrieved on February 21, 2011.
4. ^ "Central Detention Facility." District of Columbia Department of Corrections. Retrieved on February 21, 2011.
5. ^ ^{a b} "Correctional Treatment Facility." District of Columbia Department of Corrections. Retrieved on February 21, 2011.
6. ^ "Levy slaying suspect arrives in DC for court date." Associated Press at The Guardian. April 22, 2009. Retrieved on February 21, 2011. "The inmate has been kept in a D.C. jail since his arrival Monday from a Federal Bureau of Prisons transfer center in Oklahoma City."

External links

• Official website