129-Year-Old Maryland Maximum-Security Prison Closes

JESSUP, Md. — The violence-plagued Maryland House of Correction was closed in March because it is too old and dangerous to safely house prisoners, according to state officials.

Nearly 850 inmates at the 129-year-old maximum-security prison were transferred to other facilities during a process that took several weeks to execute. The plan was created by Correctional Services Secretary Gary D. Maynard, who was appointed to the post in January, following a nonfatal stabbing of a correctional officer.

“It very quickly became clear to me that one of my first jobs was to close the antiquated and dangerous House of Correction,” Maynard says. “This facility is not suited for modern-day incarceration, much less maximum-security.”

To avoid potential inmate violence, the plan was kept secret and only four of Maynard’s 12 aides were notified. Officials transferred 655 of the inmates during the final week of the facility’s operation. Some inmates were transferred at night and they were not told of their destination until after they were in transport vehicles, according to the reports.

(Above) A prison employee escorts an inmate from the House of Correction to a transport vehicle. (Above left) Governor Martin O’Malley, foreground, and corrections Secretary Gary Maynard spoke during a press conference.

About 100 of the most dangerous prisoners were relocated to federal prisons and state facilities in Virginia and Kentucky. In exchange, Maryland will house 60 women from other jurisdictions.

“(The) closure of the House of Correction is a necessary first step to reforming our department of corrections and ensuring the safety of the public, our corrections officers, and our inmates,” says Governor Martin O’Malley.

Most of the inmates were sent to the North Branch Correctional Institution in Cumberland, a new maximum-security facility. Renovations on 150 cells at facilities throughout the state were also completed to allow inmate transfers.

None of the 438 prison employees were laid off and they were all offered jobs at other department facilities, many of which are in the area. Officials say the staff transfers will help the other facilities, which have had trouble recruiting employees.

State officials initially planned to convert the prison into a minimum-security facility after a correctional officer was murdered by an inmate in July, but Maynard decided that immediate action had to be taken following the last stabbing in March.

A correctional officer and three inmates died in the prison within the last year. There were also large riots at the prison in 1945 and 1964. In 1979, 30 inmates escaped from the facility after removing bars from a window with a saw. Another multiple-inmate escape occurred in 1989, when three inmates escaped and killed a Florida police officer.

Corrections officials, union representatives and politicians have pushed for the prisons closure for several years. Its design is based on prison-management concepts that were common in the 1800s, and there are areas with tight corners and narrow stairwells that create blind spots for prison workers. The locks are so old that inmates were able to pick them and leave their cell, and thick walls in some areas of the facility prevented radio communication.

The inmate hospital at the prison, which serves all inmates in the Jessup region, will remain open and some employees will remain at the prison for administrative tasks.