Oregon State Penitentiary

Oregon State Penitentiary

Location	Salem, Oregon, United States 44°55′55″N 123°00′18″W / 44.932°N 123.005°W / 44.932; -123.005Coordinates: 44°55′55″N 123°00′18″W / 44.932°N 123.005°W / 44.932; -123.005
Status	Operational
Security class	Maximum (male)
Opened	1866
Managed by	Oregon Department of Corrections

Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), the first state prison in Oregon, United States, was originally located in Portland in 1851. In 1866 it was moved to a 26-acre (110,000 m²) site in Salem and enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall averaging 25 feet (7.6 m) in height. OSP is operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections as Oregon's only maximum security prison.

The penitentiary currently has special housing units for maximum custody inmates; disciplinary segregation; offenders with psychiatric problems; and inmates sentenced to death. Executions, which are performed by lethal injection in Oregon, are conducted at the penitentiary. The 196-bed, self-contained Intensive Management Unit provides housing and control for those death row and male inmates who disrupt or pose a substantial threat to the general population in all department facilities.

Most housing in the penitentiary is in large cell blocks with most inmates housed in single man cells that have been converted to double man cells to increase capacity. The penitentiary also has a full service infirmary and an administrative segregation (protective custody) unit.

Oregon State Penitentiary has a separate minimum security facility located on its grounds.^[1] It was first opened in 1964 as Oregon's first women's prison,^[2] and was called Oregon Women's Correctional Center.^{[citation needed]} On September 30, 2010, the state announced that it will close the minimum custody unit.^[2]

Notable inmates

Old formal gates at the prison

• Bobby Beausoleil
• Jerry Brudos
• Gary Gilmore
• Keith Hunter Jesperson
• Joseph Kelly
• Randall Krager
• Richard Laurence Marquette
• Harry Charles Moore
• Carl Panzram
• Dayton Leroy Rogers
• Harry Tracy
• Hank Vaughan
• Randall Woodfield^[3]

See also

Oregon portal

• Oregon Department of Corrections
• List of Oregon prisons and jails
• Harry Minto

References

1. ^ "Oregon State Penitentiary." Oregon Department of Corrections. Retrieved on November 2, 2010.
2. ^ ^{a b} Zaitz, Les. "Oregon to close prison, lay off 63 workers in $2.5 million budget cut." The Oregonian. Thursday September 30, 2010. Updated on Friday October 1, 2010. Retrieved on November 2, 2010.
3. ^ Domestic News. United Press International, October 3, 1983, Monday, AM cycle.