New Oregon Prison Opens, More Are on the Way

SALEM, Ore. – Oregon’s 13th state prison opened its doors in September and, in addition to a new facility under construction in Madras, the Department of Corrections is in the planning stages for construction projects at three other facilities.

The Warner Creek Correctional Facility, a 400-bed minimum-security work camp, will house inmates within three years of release. Prisoners at the facility will have the opportunity to participate in work crews to prepare for their release. The prison was originally scheduled for an early construction date, but the project was put on hold in 2002 because of budget constraints. The state's 2003-05 budget reauthorized construction. The 117,000-square-foot facility sits on 91 acres and includes housing areas, food services, health care facilities, a physical plant and a vehicle maintenance area.

The Shutter Creek Correctional Institution is outgrowing its existing facility, so the minimum-security prison is undergoing a renovation and expansion. The $5.3 million project, which has been discussed since 1995, should be completed in April 2006.

Construction of a three-story building will expand the existing 280-inmate facility by an additional 100 beds. The new structure will also include a mechanics area and classrooms. Shutter Creek's existing plumbing and phone lines are also being updated. Once the project is complete, Shutter Creek will hire an additional 34 staff members, according to officials.

Shutter Creek Correctional Institution's buildings date back to the 1950s when they were built as barracks for the U.S. Air Force.

In other news, the DOC has resumed plans for a new prison in Junction City. The department is preparing a request to the 2007 state Legislature for a 1,240-bed medium-security prison with 400 minimum-security beds.

The prison project was originally approved in 1997 and groundbreaking was slated for 2003, but the project was tabled due to a lack of funding and an inmate population that was smaller than expected. Recent inmate population projections indicate that the state will need an additional 4,450 beds by 2015.

With about 13,000 inmates in Oregon state prisons – 1,000 more inmates than the state system was designed to handle – officials are working to find about 500 beds to house inmates until medium- and minimum-security facilities open in Madras in 2007. The state's overcrowding problem is complicated by legislation that bans inmates from being housed in privately operated prisons.