Åna Prison ( Norwegian: ''Åna fengsel'') is a prison in

Hå Hå is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is the southernmost municipality in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Varhaug. Other villages in Hå include Brusand, Hæen, ...

municipality in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

, Norway. It is one of the largest prisons and has capacity for 219 inmates, 140 in a closed prison and 24 in a department with an open prison. The prison is for male inmates. There is no wall around the prison, but there are still very few escapes. The prison is located approximately an hour's drive south of

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

. There is no bus service to the prison. Åna is the largest correctional institution in the Southwestern Region of the

Norwegian Correctional Services The Norwegian Correctional Service (in Norwegian: ''Kriminalomsorgen'') is a government agency responsible for the implementation of detention and punishment in a way that is reassuring for the society and for preventing crimes. The agency is gove ...

. Åna prison is also one of the largest Norwegian governmental owned farms.

History

Åna prison has origins as a forced labor institution. Opstad Forced Labor Institution ( no, Opstad tvangsarbeidshus) was opened in 1912, and was a prison with ''hard labor'' for vagrants until the ''Vagrancy Act'' provisions on forced labor was abolished in 1970, and the institution became a regular prison. The institution changed its name to ''Åna Kretsfengsel'', a name it had until 2000, when Åna was renamed to ''Åna fengsel''. In the closed section, there were many cells that contained four inmates, and Åna prison was the only prison in Norway that had so many prisoners in the same cell, and this scheme was criticized as unworthy. These cells were converted into cells for one inmate in 2010. Åna prison has also been notorious for major drug problems among the prisoners.

Open Department

The 24 open prison facilities were opened in 2006 and consists of apartments with four people in each housing unit. This section is mainly for inmates who are in the final phase of his sentencing.

Farming

Besides being among the largest Norwegian prisons, Åna also is one of the largest farms in the entire country. The cultivated area is used for feed production and

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

, growing potatoes and vegetables. There is a barn containing approx. 100 adult

dairy cows Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species ''Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was mad ...

in addition to about 120 calves. There is also a piggery for 120 pigs. Biogas plant at the farm provides heating of the prison.Bio Forsk
in Norwegian Some of the inmates are working at the farm, if it is safe and proper.

External links

Including Information for visitors and Application for visits (pdf files)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ana Prison Hå Farms in Rogaland Prisons in Norway 1912 establishments in Norway Organizations established in 1912