Greensville Correctional Center
Encyclopedia
Greensville Correctional Center is a prison
facility located in unincorporated
Greensville County
, Virginia
, near Jarratt
. It is operated by the Virginia Department of Corrections
. Greensville houses the execution chamber used to carry out capital punishment
by the Commonwealth of Virginia
.
.
Initially, the center was classified as a maximum security facility. However, with the subsequent opening of other facilities intended for the most hardened violent criminals, the security classification at Greensville has been lowered to medium security. There is a double perimeter fence topped with razor wire as well as six 52 feet (15.8 m) high guard towers to bolster perimeter security.
The facility consists of 4 pod-style buildings (three have a capacity for 516 inmates each; the fourth can handle 192 higher-risk inmates) arranged in a semicircle in a 125 acre (0.5058575 km²) campus-like setting. The tract of land upon which the Correctional Center is constructed measures 1105 acres (4.5 km²). It is located one mile (1.6 km) from Interstate 95. The primary contractor for the project was Morrison-Knudsen.
In 1995, a minimum-security work camp for low-risk inmates was constructed adjacent to the main complex. Together, the two facilities have a capacity of 3,007 inmates.
The facility contains a dedicated health care unit and mental health center which serves inmates in the eastern region of the Virginia corrections system. It is also home to the state death chamber, which was completed in April 1991. 109 executions by electrocution
or lethal injection
have taken place in the L Building, located at the rear of the facility.
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...
facility located in unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
Greensville County
Greensville County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,560 people, 3,375 households, and 2,396 families residing in the county. The population density was 39 people per square mile . There were 3,765 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, near Jarratt
Jarratt, Virginia
Jarratt is a town in Greensville and Sussex counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 589 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.3 square miles , all land....
. It is operated by the Virginia Department of Corrections
Virginia Department of Corrections
The Virginia Department of Corrections is the government agency responsible for operating prisons and correctional facilities for the US Commonwealth of Virginia. The agency is fully accredited by the American Correctional Association and is one of the oldest functioning correctional agencies in...
. Greensville houses the execution chamber used to carry out capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
by the Commonwealth of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
History
Opened in September 1990 in a ceremony presided over by Governor L. Douglas Wilder, the $106 million facility was built to provide initial relief to the then overcrowded Virginia correctional system. The facility opening allowed for the subsequent closure of two century-old Virginia State Penitentiary facilities in downtown RichmondRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
.
Initially, the center was classified as a maximum security facility. However, with the subsequent opening of other facilities intended for the most hardened violent criminals, the security classification at Greensville has been lowered to medium security. There is a double perimeter fence topped with razor wire as well as six 52 feet (15.8 m) high guard towers to bolster perimeter security.
The facility consists of 4 pod-style buildings (three have a capacity for 516 inmates each; the fourth can handle 192 higher-risk inmates) arranged in a semicircle in a 125 acre (0.5058575 km²) campus-like setting. The tract of land upon which the Correctional Center is constructed measures 1105 acres (4.5 km²). It is located one mile (1.6 km) from Interstate 95. The primary contractor for the project was Morrison-Knudsen.
In 1995, a minimum-security work camp for low-risk inmates was constructed adjacent to the main complex. Together, the two facilities have a capacity of 3,007 inmates.
The facility contains a dedicated health care unit and mental health center which serves inmates in the eastern region of the Virginia corrections system. It is also home to the state death chamber, which was completed in April 1991. 109 executions by electrocution
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
or lethal injection
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
have taken place in the L Building, located at the rear of the facility.
See also
- Capital punishment in VirginiaCapital punishment in VirginiaCapital punishment is legal in the U.S. State of Virginia. In what is now the Commonwealth of Virginia, the first execution in the future United States was carried out in 1608. It was the first of 1,384 executions, the highest total of any state in the Union...
- List of Virginia state prisons
External links
- Greensville Correctional Center / Greensville Work Center at the Virginia Department of CorrectionsVirginia Department of CorrectionsThe Virginia Department of Corrections is the government agency responsible for operating prisons and correctional facilities for the US Commonwealth of Virginia. The agency is fully accredited by the American Correctional Association and is one of the oldest functioning correctional agencies in...