Oregon State Penitentiary

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Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), the first state prison in Oregon, United States, was originally located in Portland in 1851. In 1866 it was moved to a 26-acre site in Salem and enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall averaging 25 feet in height. OSP is operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections as Oregon's only maximum security prison.

The penitentiary currently has special housing units for maximum custody inmates; disciplinary segregation; offenders with psychiatric problems; and inmates sentenced to death. Executions, which are performed by lethal injection in Oregon, are conducted at the penitentiary. The 196-bed, self-contained Intensive Management Unit provides housing and control for those death row and male inmates who disrupt or pose a substantial threat to the general population in all department facilities.

Most housing in the penitentiary is in large cell blocks with most inmates housed in double cells. The penitentiary also has a full service infirmary and an administrative segregation (protective custody) unit.

Oregon State Penitentiary has a free-standing minimum facility located on its grounds. It was originally built in 1964 as Oregon's first women's prison and was called Oregon Women's Correctional Center. The facility now accommodates 176 minimum-custody inmate workers who perform a variety of jobs. They maintain the area outside of the secure perimeter of the Oregon State Penitentiary, they work in a portion of the Oregon Corrections Enterprises (OCE) Laundry and maintain the grounds of the department's central office. The facility also provides inmate labor for community service projects in and around the city of Salem.

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