Employees 4,404 Population 3,930,065 (2013 est.) | Operations jurisdiction* State of Oregon, USA | |
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Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Size 98,466 square miles (255,030 km) General nature Law enforcement
Civilian police | ||
The Oregon Department of Corrections is the agency of the U.S. state of Oregon charged with managing a system of 14 state prisons since its creation by the state legislature in 1987. In addition to having custody of offenders sentenced to prison for more than 12 months, the agency provides program evaluation, oversight and funding for the community corrections activities of county governments. It is also responsible for interstate compact administration, jail inspections, and central information and data services regarding felons throughout the state. It has its headquarters in Salem.
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Facilities
The Oregon Department of Corrections operates 14 facilities across the state, with the Oregon State Penitentiary the only Maximum Security facility.
Death row
Male death row inmates are held at Oregon State Penitentiary. Women on death row are held at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility until shortly before their execution. The execution chamber is at Oregon State Penitentiary.
Private prisons
The state of Oregon does not use private prisons, and as of 2001 outlawed its former practice of exporting state prisoners to other states.
An effort in 1996 had about 12% of Oregon's prisoner population exported to private facilities run by Corrections Corporation of America in Texas and Arizona. The experiment ended after escapes, sexual contact between guards and inmates at Central Arizona Detention Center, and a controversy related to CCA's housing of 240 Oregon sex offenders in a private facility near Houston Intercontinental Airport. Local authorities were only notified of their presence after two had escaped.
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Oregon Department of Corrections in 1987, ten officers have died in the line of duty.