Tamms Correctional Center
Encyclopedia
The Tamms Correctional Center is a Illinois Department of Corrections prison
located in Tamms, Illinois
. The prison has two sections, a 200-bed minimum security
facility opened in 1995, and a 500-bed maximum security facility known as the Closed Maximum Security Unit (CMAX) opened in 1998. The CMAX facility houses the most disruptive and violent inmates, deemed unsafe to house in general prison populations.
Prior to the 2011 abolition of the death penalty, the CMAX section of the prison housed the State of Illinois execution chamber
, used for administering lethal injection
s. Andrew Kokoraleis was executed at Tamms in 1999. Prison officials initially claimed that the longest stay at Tamms for most prisoners would be no longer than 18 months. However, more than eleven years later, many of the prisoners that were sent to Tamms on opening day are still there.
Prior to the January 11, 2003 commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Tamms, Pontiac
, and Menard
correctional centers. After the commutations, only Pontiac continued to hold death row prisoners.
The prison has operated with prisoners filling about 50% of its cells. The state said that the occupancy rate reflects the officials being selective about who is imprisoned in Tamms. Critics of the facility stated that it was built too large and that it is too costly.
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...
located in Tamms, Illinois
Tamms, Illinois
Tamms is a village in Alexander County, Illinois, United States. The population was 724 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. The prison has two sections, a 200-bed minimum security
Prisons in the United States
Incarceration in the United States is one of the main forms of punishment and/or rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. At year-end 2009 it was 743 adults incarcerated per 100,000...
facility opened in 1995, and a 500-bed maximum security facility known as the Closed Maximum Security Unit (CMAX) opened in 1998. The CMAX facility houses the most disruptive and violent inmates, deemed unsafe to house in general prison populations.
Prior to the 2011 abolition of the death penalty, the CMAX section of the prison housed the State of Illinois execution chamber
Execution chamber
An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which a legal execution is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a maximum-security prison, although not always at the same prison where the death row population is housed...
, used for administering 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...
s. Andrew Kokoraleis was executed at Tamms in 1999. Prison officials initially claimed that the longest stay at Tamms for most prisoners would be no longer than 18 months. However, more than eleven years later, many of the prisoners that were sent to Tamms on opening day are still there.
Prior to the January 11, 2003 commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Tamms, Pontiac
Pontiac Correctional Center
Pontiac Correctional Center, established in June 1871, is a Illinois Department of Corrections maximum security prison for adult males in Pontiac, Illinois. The prison also has a medium security unit that houses medium to minimum security inmates and is classified as Level 3...
, and Menard
Menard Correctional Center
Menard Correctional Center, known prior to 1970 as Southern Illinois Penitentiary, is located in the town of Chester in Randolph County, Illinois. It is a state prison housing maximum-security and high medium-security adult males.The average daily population as of 2007 is 3,410. Menard Correctional...
correctional centers. After the commutations, only Pontiac continued to hold death row prisoners.
The prison has operated with prisoners filling about 50% of its cells. The state said that the occupancy rate reflects the officials being selective about who is imprisoned in Tamms. Critics of the facility stated that it was built too large and that it is too costly.
External links
- Tamms Correctional Center - Illinois Department of Corrections
- Illinois execution chamber photo
