:''not to be confused with the
Allen Correctional Center
:''not to be confused with the Allen Correctional Institution, Lima, Ohio''
Allen Correctional Center is a state prison in Allen Parish, Louisiana, United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United ...
, Kinder, Louisiana''
The Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution (AOCI), also known as the Allen Correctional Institution, is a prison located in
Lima, Ohio
Lima ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, T ...
, a facility of the
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
.
History
Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution was built in 1987 in
Allen County, Ohio
Allen County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat is Lima. The county was created in 1820 and organized in 1831. The county is named in honor of Colonel John Allen, who was killed leading his ...
on a site northeast of Lima, Ohio that shared land with the Lima Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison that closed in 2004.
Hope Taft
Robert Alphonso Taft III (born January 8, 1942) is an American politician and attorney, who served as the 67th governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007 as a member of the Republican Party.
A member of the Taft political dynasty, Taft served first ...
, wife of
Bob Taft
Robert Alphonso Taft III (born January 8, 1942) is an American politician and attorney, who served as the 67th governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007 as a member of the Republican Party.
A member of the Taft political dynasty, Taft served first i ...
who was the Governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007, approached the administration at
Pickaway Correctional Institution in 2000 regarding the establishment of a reading room for children who visit the prison. The idea spread statewide and the room has been built in all 32 institutions that comprise the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction including the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution. Each room has an inmate narrator who reads to visiting children twice a day.
2014 prison escape
On the evening of September 11, 2014, 19-year-old T.J. Lane, the perpetrator of the
2012 Chardon High School shooting, escaped from the prison along with two other inmates. Lane had been a difficult inmate, being disciplined seven times during the 18 months he spent in prison since being sentenced to three life sentences for the shooting deaths of his victims. Escapee Lindsey Bruce was quickly recaptured, and soon after, Lane was also taken back into custody. The third fugitive, Clifford E. Opperud, 45, who was serving time for aggravated robbery, burglary, and kidnapping was the last to be recaptured, being found in the early morning hours of September 12.
"UPDATE: T.J. LANE IN CUSTODY AFTER PRISON ESCAPE"
News-Herald, September 12, 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
The prison
The population of the facility is 1,498 male inmates, most of whom are housed under minimum or medium security. A few prisoners are held under close or maximum security. All Maximum Security inmates are held at the Oakwood compound. The facility employs roughly 439 staff members of which 284 are classified as security. The cost of maintaining each inmate at the facility is approximately $62 per day.
Prisoners can participate in programs that will allow them to earn their GED or even a degree from the University of Findlay
The University of Findlay (UF) is a private university, private Christianity, Christian university in Findlay, Ohio. It was established in 1882 through a joint partnership between the Churches of God General Conference (Winebrenner), Churches ...
, located northeast of the prison. In addition, special classes are offered in power equipment technology, turf management, carpentry, masonry and plumbing.
Special programs
Bonds Beyond Bars is a program that allows fathers housed at Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution to participate in girl scout activities with their daughters in the visiting room on a biweekly basis.
My Child and I is a program that educates inmates on issues regarding family responsibility, relationship building and behavior cycles to promote positive fatherhood.
Angels for Animals is an organization that brings abandoned kittens to Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution where selected inmates care for the animals 24 hours a day until a home can be found for them. As of 2007, 40 kittens had been brought to the prison.
The Sugar Creek Development Unit (SCDU) is a 60-bed residential facility on the prison grounds that provides psychiatric and psycho-social services for mentally ill inmates. For some, this program is only temporary during their incarceration while for others, the SCDU serves as their living quarters for the duration of their sentence.
The Residential Treatment Unit (RTU) is a special facility that also provides psychiatric assistance for inmates who have difficulty living in the general prison population and are admitted to this program not only from within the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution but from other correctional institutions in Ohio as well.
Healing Through Music
an
Drumming up Hope
are two programs that th
Lima Symphony Orchestra
brings to the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution. Through these programs symphony musicians present concerts and facilitate drum circles with inmates.
Notable inmates
*James Ruppert
The Easter Sunday Massacre occurred on Easter Sunday, March 30, 1975, when James Urban Ruppert fatally shot eleven members of his own family in his mother's house at 635 Minor Avenue in Hamilton, Ohio.
Ruppert was tried and found guilty on two ...
*Donald Harvey
Donald Harvey (April 15, 1952 – March 30, 2017) was an American serial killer who claimed to have murdered 87 people, though official estimates are between 37 and 57 victims. He was able to do this during his time as a hospital orderly. ...
*T.J. Lane, perpetrator of the 2012 Chardon High School shooting
*Nathaniel Cook
Nathaniel Cooke was the designer of a set of chess figures called the Staunton chess set which is now the standard set.
Chess set
Cooke registered his design at the United Kingdom Patent Office on 1 March 1849 under the Ornamental Designs A ...
References
External links
Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
{{Authority control
Prisons in Ohio
Government buildings completed in 1987
Buildings and structures in Lima, Ohio
1987 establishments in Ohio