The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WIDOC) is an administrative department in the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

of the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

responsible for

corrections In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and su ...

in Wisconsin, including state

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 ...

s and community supervision. The secretary is a cabinet member appointed by the

governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's army and air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Wiscons ...

and confirmed by the

Wisconsin Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

. Divisions of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections include: the Division of Juvenile Corrections (DJC), the Division of Adult Institutions (DAI), the Division of Community Corrections (DCC) and Division of Management Services (DMS). WIDOC is headquartered in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

History

The first prison under the jurisdiction of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections opened in 1851 in

Waupun Waupun is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, Dodge and Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 11,344 at the 2020 census. Of this, 7,795 were in Dodge County, and 3,549 were in Fond du ...

. In 1853, Wisconsin permanently abolished the

death penalty 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 ...

, making it the first state to do so. In 1909, a law was enacted creating

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

and the state's first

Parole officer A probation and parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probati ...

was appointed. In 1933,

Taycheedah Correctional Institution Taycheedah Correctional Institution is a prison in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin near the Town of Taycheedah. Established in 1921, it was known as Wisconsin Home for Women until 1975. The facility houses maximum-security and medium-security adult female ...

opened as an all female prison. In June 2008, over 120 minimum-security supervised inmate workers were used to assist in filling sandbags and flood cleanup during the

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

. In April 2020, 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 ...

filed a lawsuit asking the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

to order Governor

Tony Evers Anthony Steven Evers (born November 5, 1951) is an American educator and politician serving as the 46th governor of Wisconsin since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Wisconsin's Superintendent of Public Instruction from 200 ...

and the Department of Corrections to reduce the prison population due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Division of Adult Institutions

The Division of Adult Institutions (DAI) oversees 19 adult institutions and 16 adult correctional centers, along with the Office of Program Services, the Bureau of Correctional Enterprises, the Bureau of Health Services and the Bureau of Offender Classification and Movement. The Wisconsin Correctional Center System consists of 14 adult male facilities statewide that assist inmates in reintegration to the community. The Wisconsin Women's Correctional System includes Taycheedah Correctional Institution and two adult female correctional centers. Male inmates entering the prison system first go to

Dodge Correctional Institution Dodge Correctional Institution (DCI) is an adult male maximum-security correctional facility operated by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections Division of Adult Institutions in Waupun, Wisconsin, US. The facility was converted from the Centr ...

before being given permanent assignments, and female inmates to

Division of Juvenile Corrections

The Division of Juvenile Corrections operates three juvenile facilities and several regional offices in the Northwest and Southeast. Secured juvenile correctional facilities include: *Lincoln Hills School and Copper Lake School are located in Irma, WI. *The Grow Academy is a residential program offering comprehensive treatment for county and state-supervised youth as an alternative to incarceration, as well as a step down for youth returning to the community. The state also uses residential care centers and works with the Department of Health Services in relation to the

Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center (MJTC) is a juvenile psychiatric facility of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, located in the Lorenz Hall Annex on the grounds of the Mendota Mental Health Institute (MMHI) in Madison, Wisconsin. It ha ...

(MJTC). Facilities that are now closed include: * Ethan Allen School for Boys ( Delafield) - Closed on July 1, 2011.Johnson, Mike.
Millions spent on improvements to Ethan Allen School
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Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

''. March 6, 2011. Retrieved on September 22, 2011. ** Facility was converted from the Wisconsin State TB Sanitarium to a juvenile facility in April 1959. * Southern Oaks Girls School - Closed on July 1, 2011.

Division of Community Corrections

The function of the Division of Community Corrections (DCC) is to supervise offenders (more than 68,000 as of 2017) on probation, parole or extended supervision, which includes the operation and maintenance of the Wisconsin sex offender registry program. These offenders are supervised by Probation and Parole Agents who use evidence based-practices to enhance public safety by addressing their offender's most influential criminogenic needs to lower their level of recidivism and assist them in building skills needed to be successful in the community. Agents provide investigative services to the courts and the Parole Commission to aid in sentencing and community reentry planning. On August 24, 2020, a Division of Community Corrections building was burned down during the

Kenosha unrest In the aftermath of the August 2020 police shooting of Jacob Blake, protests, riots, and civil unrest occurred in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and around the United States as part of the larger 2020–2022 United States racial unrest and Black Lives Ma ...

. This office was responsible for the supervision of sexual offenders in

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosh ...

Division of Management Services

The Division of Management Services (DMS) provides analytical and operational services that support all Department of Corrections' policies, programs, and service delivery initiatives. The Division serves as a resource in the areas of training, risk management and safety, fleet management, budgeting, internal auditing, accounting, fiscal services, food services, purchasing and procurement, facilities management, telecommunications, general support services, information systems, technology management, and records management.

Facilities

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections operates 20 prisons.

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Two officers have died in the line of duty.Officer Down Memorial Page
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Historical leadership

State Prison Commissioners (1853–1874)

References

External links

Wisconsin Department of Corrections
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Wisconsin Department Of Corrections Prisons in Wisconsin State corrections departments of the United States Juvenile detention centers in the United States 1851 establishments in Wisconsin Government agencies established in 1851