Alexander Correctional Institution (AXCI) is a
North Carolina Department of Public Safety
The North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS) is an umbrella agency that carries out many of the state's law enforcement, emergency response and homeland security functions. The department was created in 1977 as the Department of Crime Co ...
state prison for men, located in
Taylorsville, North Carolina
Taylorsville is a town in Alexander County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,098 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Alexander County.
Taylorsville is part of the Hickory– Lenoir– Morganton Metropolitan St ...
. The facility opened in 2004 as one of three 1000-bed Close Custody prisons built in the state.
The institution is a Close Custody prison, used mainly for housing felons. Inmates are assigned to one of four internal units: the Blue Unit for transferring prisoners and those with chronic health issues, Red Unit for security risk group and Mental Health prisoners, Green Unit for inmates on internal work assignments, and a Restrictive Housing Unit for disciplinary purposes.
Treatment of prisoners
In August 2008, a prisoner named Timothy Helms claimed that, while in solitary confinement, a beating by corrections officers had left him a brain-damaged
quadriplegic
Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or t ...
. An internal investigation showed various violations of the prison's own standards (Helms had been in restrictive housing for 571 consecutive days, officers had tethered him with a nylon strap similar to a leash, medical attention was delayed until the next day, etc.). No charges were ever filed, although one prison guard resigned after the investigation. Helms died in an extended-care facility in September 2010.
In 2014, two Alexander inmates died within four months. One of these was on March 12, when prisoner Michael Kerr died of dehydration while being transported for medical attention. Seven officers were fired after the event and another two resigned. Kerr's death prompted a federal criminal investigation and the state prison system settling a lawsuit with Kerr's heirs for $2.5 million.
On June 25, 2016, officers found inmate Justin Cauble unresponsive in his cell, dead of an apparent drug overdose.
References
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Prisons in North Carolina
Buildings and structures in Alexander County, North Carolina
2004 establishments in North Carolina