Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women is a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

operated by the

Virginia Department of Corrections The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) is the government agency responsible for community corrections and operating prisons and correctional facilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The agency is fully accredited b ...

. It has a

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

postal address, and is in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Fluvanna County Fluvanna County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,249. Its county seat is Palmyra, while the most populous community is the census designated place of Lak ...

, about northwest of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. The security level 3 facility housed 1,199 female inmates as of June 2008, including formerly housing the women's

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

for the

Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United Stat ...

History

Fluvanna County became a candidate for a new women's prison after the Board of Supervisors of Bedford County rejected a 1992 proposal by the Virginia Department of Corrections for a new 600-inmate facility in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

that would have created between 250 and 300 jobs. Construction began on in Fluvanna along

U.S. Route 250 U.S. Route 250 (US 250) is a route of the United States Numbered Highway System, and is a spur of U.S. Route 50. It currently runs for from Richmond, Virginia to Sandusky, Ohio. It passes through the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. ...

in January 1996, with initial plans to open by August 1997. Completed at a cost of $53.1 million, the correctional center was opened in April 1998, starting with about 800 prisoners. The facility is the second in the state dedicated to housing only female inmates, after the Virginia Correctional Center for Women in Goochland. The new prison was designed to accommodate 1,200 inmates and incorporated a medical facility on site to minimize the risk of escape. The perimeter was secured by

electronic fence An electric fence is a barrier that uses electric shocks to deter people or animals from crossing a boundary. The voltage of the shock may have effects ranging from discomfort to death. Most electric fences are used for agricultural fencing an ...

s and patrols. In December 1998, warden Patti Leigh Huffman refused to enforce a state order that banned cosmetics from the female prison population. The Virginia Department of Corrections was concerned about drugs being smuggled in makeup containers, but the prison was already equipped for detection of such contraband. Huffman stated, "If a woman wants to use cosmetics to make her feel better, then that's important.... Self-esteem is a core factor of every program at Fluvanna."

Investigations

In 1999, the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

investigated growing reports of sexual misconduct by the male prison staff upon the inmates. The corrections department stated that it would not consider any relationship between guards and inmates consensual under any circumstances. In June 2009, state senator Frank Ruff requested that the department investigate allegations that the correctional center denied access to religious services and profiled lesbian inmates for segregation.

Death Row

Though the facility housed the

for Virginia's female inmates prior to its abolition in 2021,

executions Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

were conducted at

Greensville Correctional Center Greensville Correctional Center is a prison facility located in unincorporated Greensville County, Virginia, near Jarratt. The prison, on a plot of land, is operated by the Virginia Department of Corrections. "901 Corrections Way Jarratt, VA 238 ...

near

Jarratt, Virginia Jarratt is a town in Greensville and Sussex counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 652 at the 2020 census. In 1848, Jarratt was a stop on the Petersburg Railroad. Jaratt was incorporated in 1938. Geography Jarratt is locate ...

, located to the south of Richmond.

Teresa Lewis Teresa Wilson Bean Lewis (April 26, 1969 – September 23, 2010) was an People of the United States, American murderer who was the only woman on death row in Virginia prior to her capital punishment, execution. She was sentenced to death by let ...

, the only woman held in Fluvanna's death row, was executed on September 23, 2010.

Notable inmates

References

External links

Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women
at the