Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI) is a medium

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...

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 ...

in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The largest facility in the

Oregon Department of Corrections The Oregon Department of Corrections is the agency of the U.S. state of Oregon charged with managing a system of 12 state prisons since its creation by the state legislature in 1987. In addition to having custody of offenders sentenced to prison ...

system, it is located 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 ...

northeastern

Malheur County Malheur County () is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,571. Its county seat is Vale, and its largest city is Ontario. The county was named after the Malheur River, which runs thr ...

, about northwest of central

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, which is near the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

History

The state's prison siting committee selected the Ontario site in October 1989 for a medium security prison that could house up to 3,000 inmates, which

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Neil Goldschmidt Neil Edward Goldschmidt (born June 16, 1940) is an American businessman and Democratic politician from the state of Oregon who held local, state and federal offices over three decades. After serving as the United States Secretary of Transportat ...

approved later in the month. SRCI opened in August 1991 with 576 medium and 72 minimum security beds. In 1994, the

Oregon Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

approved a $175 million expansion; built by

Hoffman Construction Hoffman Construction Company is a privately held construction founded in 1922. It is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. It also has an office location in Seattle. With a revenue of US$1.4 billion in FY2017, Hoffman was the 4th largest privately ...

, it was completed in 1998. At the time, it was the largest

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

project in the state's history.

Operations

Currently, the prison houses 2,336 medium security beds, 154 minimum security beds, and 510 beds in specialized units such as administrative segregation, disciplinary segregation, intensive management, and the infirmary/hospice. It is staffed by approximately 900 employees. Among the prison industries housed at Snake River are a commercial call center, a metal shop that manufactures road signs for the state, and a building trades program that manufactures small modular structures such as comfort stations and gatehouses for the state parks. The

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of the prison is approximately above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

References

External links

*
ODOC official site
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Malheur County, Oregon Prisons in Oregon 1991 establishments in Oregon

History

Operations

See also

References

External links