Prison / Correctional Facility
Prison / Correctional Facility: A building or complex for the confinement of persons convicted of crimes.
Prison / Correctional Facility
The Guidelines define Prison / Correctional Facility as follows:
A building or complex for the confinement of persons convicted of crimes.
- INDICATORS: medium and maximum security facilities; long-term facilities.
INCLUDES: State or federal prisons, long-term juvenile detention facilities. Jails included only if they have long-term sentences and are a medium or maximum security facility.
DOES NOT INCLUDE: Short‐term holding facilities such as a jail at a police station, court house, sheriff’s department or sheriff’s office; half-way houses; minimum security locations; prison camps or work sites; administrative offices.
What is a Prison / Correctional Facility?
A Prison / Correctional Facility consists of federal and state prisons and juvenile detention facilities. It is important to note that city and county jails are not included. Check out this Q&A for how to handle county jails.
Where can I find authoritative lists of Prison / Correctional Facilities?
The Federal Bureau of Prisons website provides an authoritative list of federal prison facilities. Only Institutions, Private Facilities, and Correctional Complexes should be included -- not offices or training centers.
State Department of Corrections websites also list private and public prisons in each state.
Where do I place a Prison / Correctional Facility structure point?
If a prison has a single large building, place the point at the center of the building. If the prison does not have a distinctive single building, then place the point at the center of the prison facility.
If a prison complex has more than one named facility, each with its own separate grounds or building, then place a prison point on each facility. For example, the Florence Federal Correctional Complex has three facilities (Florence Federal Correctional Institution, Florence High Security United States Penitentiary, and Florence Administrative Maximum United States Penitentiary), and therefore should be represented by three structure points. It may be difficult to determine from aerial imagery which facility is which, but you may be able to tell from Google Street View™, from an online facility map, or by examining a photo of the prison entrance (if it exists on the prison webpage) and comparing this to the building footprint in the satellite image. If it cannot be determined which facility is which, then place all facility points adjacent to each other near the centroid of the entire facility.
How do I name a Prison/Correctional facility?
Try to find the official name of the prison (correctional facility) from an authoritative source (state, county, or federal corrections website), or from signage seen on or near the facility. Prison and correctional facility names can vary greatly, so as long as the name matches the one listed by an authoritative source, it is acceptable. For example: Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility. Check out our Name and Address Formatting guide for more on how to properly name prisons and correctional facilities.
*For federal penitentiaries, use the following format: <United States Penitentiary> <location name>. For example: United States Penitentiary Atwater.
