Riverbend Maximum Security Institution
Encyclopedia
Riverbend Maximum Security Institution is a prison in Nashville, Tennessee
, operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction
. The prison opened in 1989 and replaced its 100 year-old neighbor, the Tennessee State Penitentiary
. Even today, it is billed as one of the state's most high-tech facilities. RMSI, which is made up by 20 different buildings, sits on 132 acre (0.53418552 km²) located off Cockrill Bend Boulevard in Nashville, TN. Riverbend's designated capacity is 736 offenders. Of that number, 480 are classified as high risk.
The prison's overall mission is to ensure the safety of the public, departmental employees and inmates by managing high-risk male offenders. Warden Colson oversees a staff of nearly 400 people, including administrative workers, correctional officers, unit managers and medical personnel.
Education programs at the prison include GED and Adult Basic Education. There are also vocational classes available for printing, commercial cleaning, industrial maintenance, cabinet making/millwork and computer information systems. TRICOR, the prison industry, also manages a data entry plant and print shop at the prison. Inmates not involved in academic vocation, or industry programs are required to work in support service roles throughout the facility.
Most male death row prisoners live at Riverbend. The State's Electric Chair
& Lethal Injection
gurney are located at Riverbend. On September 12, 2007 at 1:00 am, Daryl Holton was executed in the Electric Chair
. This was the first execution by the Electric Chair
in Tennessee
since 1960.
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction
Tennessee Department of Correction
The Tennessee Department of Correction is a Cabinet-level agency within the Tennessee state government, headed by the Tennessee Commissioner of Correction, who is currently Gayle E. Ray, who succeeded George Little on 1/1/2010...
. The prison opened in 1989 and replaced its 100 year-old neighbor, the Tennessee State Penitentiary
Tennessee State Prison
Tennessee State Prison is a former correctional facility located near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Opened in 1898, the prison has been closed since 1992. It has been the location for the films Nashville, Marie, Ernest Goes to Jail, Against the Wall, The Green Mile, The Last Castle and Pillar's...
. Even today, it is billed as one of the state's most high-tech facilities. RMSI, which is made up by 20 different buildings, sits on 132 acre (0.53418552 km²) located off Cockrill Bend Boulevard in Nashville, TN. Riverbend's designated capacity is 736 offenders. Of that number, 480 are classified as high risk.
The prison's overall mission is to ensure the safety of the public, departmental employees and inmates by managing high-risk male offenders. Warden Colson oversees a staff of nearly 400 people, including administrative workers, correctional officers, unit managers and medical personnel.
Education programs at the prison include GED and Adult Basic Education. There are also vocational classes available for printing, commercial cleaning, industrial maintenance, cabinet making/millwork and computer information systems. TRICOR, the prison industry, also manages a data entry plant and print shop at the prison. Inmates not involved in academic vocation, or industry programs are required to work in support service roles throughout the facility.
Most male death row prisoners live at Riverbend. The State's Electric Chair
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...
& Lethal Injection
Lethal Injection
Lethal Injection is the fourth studio album by California-based rapper Ice Cube. Similar to the rapper's previous albums, it was a commercial hit, debuting at #5 on the Billboard 200 with 215,000 copies sold in its first week...
gurney are located at Riverbend. On September 12, 2007 at 1:00 am, Daryl Holton was executed in the Electric Chair
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...
. This was the first execution by the Electric Chair
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...
in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
since 1960.
Notable prisoners
- Sedley AlleySedley AlleySedley Alley was convicted of abducting, raping, and murdering 19-year-old United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Suzanne Marie Collins near Naval Air Station Memphis in Millington, Tennessee.-The crime:...
, convicted rapist and murderer, was executed there by lethal injection on June 28, 2006 - Paul Dennis ReidPaul Dennis ReidPaul Dennis Reid, Jr. is an American serial killer, convicted and sentenced to death for seven murders during three fast food restaurant robberies in Metropolitan Nashville, Tennessee and Clarksville, Tennessee between the months of February and April 1997...
, convicted murderer of seven; Reid's execution date was set for April 29, 2003, but just before being taken to the execution chamber, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed Paul Reid's execution on reasoning that Reid was mentally ill. Executions scheduled for June 2006 and January 2008 were also stayed. - Philip WorkmanPhilip WorkmanPhilip Workman was a death row inmate executed in Tennessee on May 9, 2007. He was convicted in 1982 for the murder of a police officer following a botched robbery of a Wendy's restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee, and sentenced to death by lethal injection.Workman's guilt remains controversial and...
, a convicted murderer executed May 9, 2007 - Daryl HoltonDaryl HoltonDaryl Keith Holton was an American convicted child killer, executed by electrocution by the state of Tennessee on September 12, 2007 in Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.- Crime :...
, a convicted child murderer executed September 12, 2007 - Lemaricus Davidson, sentenced to death October, 30 2009 for the 2007 kidnapping, rape, torture and murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom