Columbia Correctional Institution
Encyclopedia
Columbia Correctional Institution, (CCI), is an adult male maximum-security correctional facility
operated by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections
Division of Adult Institutions in Portage, Wisconsin
. The facility was constructed on 110 acre (0.4451546 km²) at a cost of $38.6 million dollars. It has 27 acres (109,265.2 m²) inside the perimeter fence. Columbia Correctional Institution opened in May 1986, with an original capacity of 450 inmates housed in single bed cells. In 1997, a 150 bed barracks was constructed for minimum security inmates and over time many of the single bed cells have been converted to double bed cells. The current operating capacity is 541. The average daily population for 2007 was 839.
Gregory D. Grams, the fifth warden, has been in that position since March 2005.
In 1988, a sculpture entitled Chromatic Fragments - Vortex to the Sky by artist and University of Illinois
Professor of Art Christiane Martens was installed in the parking area of the prison. The 20 feet (6.1 m) tall painted steel sculpture cost $50,000.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal
and the Portage Daily Register, in 2007 and 2008 two female staff members were accused of having sex with inmates at the prison. A 42-year-old cafeteria worker who was accused of sex with an inmate in the prison freezer pleaded no contest to a lesser charge in 2007. In 2008, a 45-year-old female corrections officer was charged with multiple counts of second degree sexual assault. The use of force was not alleged in either situation, but Wisconsin law does not allow prisoners to consent to sex with prison staff. Punishment can be up to 40 years in prison, and a large fine.
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
operated by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections
Wisconsin Department of Corrections
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections is an administrative department in the executive branch of the state of Wisconsin responsible for corrections in Wisconsin, including state prisons. As of 2011, the department is administered by Secretary Gary Hamblin. The DOC secretary is appointed by the...
Division of Adult Institutions in Portage, Wisconsin
Portage, Wisconsin
Portage is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,662 at the 2010 census making it the largest city in Columbia County...
. The facility was constructed on 110 acre (0.4451546 km²) at a cost of $38.6 million dollars. It has 27 acres (109,265.2 m²) inside the perimeter fence. Columbia Correctional Institution opened in May 1986, with an original capacity of 450 inmates housed in single bed cells. In 1997, a 150 bed barracks was constructed for minimum security inmates and over time many of the single bed cells have been converted to double bed cells. The current operating capacity is 541. The average daily population for 2007 was 839.
Gregory D. Grams, the fifth warden, has been in that position since March 2005.
In 1988, a sculpture entitled Chromatic Fragments - Vortex to the Sky by artist and University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
Professor of Art Christiane Martens was installed in the parking area of the prison. The 20 feet (6.1 m) tall painted steel sculpture cost $50,000.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin State Journal
The Wisconsin State Journal is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin...
and the Portage Daily Register, in 2007 and 2008 two female staff members were accused of having sex with inmates at the prison. A 42-year-old cafeteria worker who was accused of sex with an inmate in the prison freezer pleaded no contest to a lesser charge in 2007. In 2008, a 45-year-old female corrections officer was charged with multiple counts of second degree sexual assault. The use of force was not alleged in either situation, but Wisconsin law does not allow prisoners to consent to sex with prison staff. Punishment can be up to 40 years in prison, and a large fine.
Buildings and grounds
- Opened in 1986, $38.6 million
- Originally designed and built to house 450 inmates, one per cell, 541 design capacity plus modifications and expansions
- Count as of June 27, 2008 - 828
- Overcrowding has some inmates sleeping on the floor
- Overcrowding forced the construction of a 150 bed barracks in 1997 for minimum security inmates and conversion of many single bed cells into double bed cells.
- 12 total housing units - 6 general population, 2 SMU (Special Management Unit [psych]), 2 segregation (plus one housing unit is half for SMU seg and reception and orientation houses min/med security seg if not put to DS2 or DS1), 1x 150 bed barracks, 1x 13 cell R&O (Reception & Orientation). The facility is stated to have ten living areas with 50 cells each and a 150 bed barracks.
High-profile residents
Some nationally and locally notorious individuals who have been incarcerated at CCI include:- Jeffrey DahmerJeffrey DahmerJeffrey Lionel Dahmer was an American serial killer and sex offender. Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, with the majority of the murders occurring between 1987 and 1991. His murders involved rape, dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism...
- Deceased - Jesse AndersonJesse AndersonJesse Michael Anderson was an American criminal who was murdered in prison, along with infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver.-Early life:...
- Deceased - Christopher ScarverChristopher ScarverChristopher J. Scarver is an American convicted murderer who, while in prison, murdered notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and convicted murderer Jesse Anderson. He described the killings as "the work of God".-Early life:...
- Convicted murderer who, while in prison, killed Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson - Filemon Amaro Jr. - Waukesha County courtroom shootout in 1978 that killed two sheriff's deputies
- Kim Brown - Serial Killer
- James OswaldJames OswaldJames Oswald was a Scottish composer and music publisher.Oswald was born in Scotland in 1711, and died in Hertfordshire in 1769....
- Convicted of a crime spree in the mid-1990s that included, kidnappingKidnappingIn criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, bank robberies, wounding two officers and killing Waukesha Police Captain James Lutz