Utah State Prison
Coordinates: 40°29.5′N 111°54′W / 40.4917°N 111.900°W
Utah State Prison, or USP, is one of two prisons managed by the Utah Department of Corrections' Division of Institutional Operations.[1] It is located in Draper, Utah, United States, about 20 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.[2]
History
The prison was built to replace Sugar House Prison, which closed in 1951. Its location was once remote and the nearby communities were rural. Since the prison's erection, business parks and residential neighborhoods have developed the once rural area into a suburban one. This has prompted the possibility of moving the prison to a more isolated location.[3] A study was completed by Wikstrom Economic & Planning Consultants, Inc., to determine if moving the prison would be feasible. The test of feasibility was whether or not the value of the real estate of the current location could support the cost of relocation. It was determined that the cost of relocating the prison far exceeded the value that could be realized from the sale of the Draper prison site.[4]
Facility
The large prison complex houses both male and female prisoners in separate units. The prison has a capacity of over 4,000 inmates.[2] The Draper site is located near Point of the Mountain along the Traverse Ridge and consists of several units named after surrounding mountains and mountain ranges. These units range from minimum security to supermax. The Uintas house maximum security units for male inmates and include a supermax facility and execution chamber. Wasatch and Oquirrhs house the medium security male inmates. Promontory is a medium security therapeutic community designed to treat drug abusers. Timpanogos houses female inmates and Olympus is the mental health unit. Lone Peak is a minimum security unit.
Scott P. Evans Architect & Associates designed the five buildings of the evaluation facility. The same company performed a reroof and a seismic upgrade of the SSD building.[5]
Notable inmates
- Ted Bundy, serial killer, was sentenced to 15 years in the Utah State Prison in 1976, but was extradited to Colorado to face other murder charges.
- Ronnie Lee Gardner, convicted for murder and executed by firing squad on June 18, 2010.
- Gary Gilmore was executed at the Utah State Prison in 1977. He was the first prisoner legally put to death in the United States since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended a 1967 moratorium on capital punishment.[6]
- Thomas Arthur Green, a convicted bigamist and noted practicing polygamist, served his sentences here. He was released in the summer of 2007.[7]
- Mark Hofmann, convicted for murder and forgery, is currently incarcerated at the Utah State Prison.[8]
- Warren Jeffs, president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was incarcerated at the Utah State Prison.[9] However, he is now serving a life sentence for sex crimes in Texas.[10]
- Troy Kell, convicted for murder after stabbing an inmate 67 times in the Central Utah Correctional Facility and sentenced to the death penalty and has chosen to be executed by firing squad.
- Barton Kay Kirkham, convicted for murder and the last inmate to be executed by hanging in the state of Utah in 1958.[11]
- James W. Rodgers, convicted for murder and the last inmate to be executed by firing squad in the United States in 1960, before a de facto national moratorium on capital punishment was enacted with the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Furman v. Georgia.[12]
- John Albert Taylor, executed by firing squad in 1996 for the 1988 rape and strangulation of an 11-year-old girl.[13]
See also
References
- ↑ Utah Department of Corrections. (2006, December 19). Utah Department of Corrections Facilities. Retrieved March 31, 2007, from http://www.cr.ex.state.ut.us/corrections/facilities/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Utah Department of Corrections. (2006, December 19). Utah State Prison. Retrieved March 31, 2007, from http://www.cr.ex.state.ut.us/corrections/facilities/usp.html
- ↑ Dougherty, J. M., & Stewart, E. (2005, May 29). To move or not to move: That's question for prison. Deseret Morning News. Retrieved March 31, 2007, from http://www.citizensedproject.org/prisonmove3.html
- ↑ Wikstrom Economic & Planning Consultants, Inc. (2005). Evaluation of the Feasibility of Relocating the Utah State Prison. Wikstrom Economic & Planning Consultants, Inc.
- ↑ "Justice/Correctional." Scott P. Evans Architect & Associates. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.
- ↑ About:Cribe/Punishlmore.htm
- ↑ Coalition for Religious Freedom and Tolerance. (2002, March 11). LATEST NEWS ON TOM GREEN AND FAMILY. Retrieved March 31, 2007, from http://www.religious-freedoms.org/latest_news_on_tom_green_and_fam.htm
- ↑ Gurrister, T. (2005, October 9). Hofmann case revisited. Standard-Examiner.
- ↑ Winslow, B. (2007, November 22). Jeffs has been an inmate at Utah State Prison. Deseret Morning News. Retrieved November 29, 2007, from http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695229917,00.html
- ↑ "Texas, feds wait turns in polygamist leader cases". Associated Press. 2010-07-28. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ↑ Metcalf Jr., Dan (2010-06-17). "History of Utah executions". KTVX. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
- ↑ Beecham, Bill (November 11, 1976). "Convicted Killer Gets His Wish: Firing Squad Monday". The Telegraph (Nashua). Associated Press. p. 22. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
- ↑ "Firing Squad Executes Killer". The New York Times. 1996-01-27. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
External links
| |||||
