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

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

Hå Hå is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is the southernmost municipality in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the v ...

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, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is one of the largest prisons and has capacity for 219 inmates, 140 in a

closed prison Closed prisons are prisons with the high level of supervision of the inmates. The opposite is an open prison. Closed prisons may have further categorization in terms of security. Finland , of the 28 prisons in Finland, 70% of inmates are in closed ...

and 24 in a department with an

open prison An open prison or open jail is any jail in which the prisoners are trusted to complete sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security and are often not locked up in their prison cells. Prisoners may be permitted to take up employmen ...

. The prison is for male

inmate A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a sentence in pr ...

s. 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, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

. There is no bus service to the prison. Åna is the largest correctional institution in the Southwestern Region of the Norwegian Correctional Services. Åna prison is also one of the largest Norwegian governmental owned

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

History

Åna prison has origins as a

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

institution. Opstad Forced Labor Institution () was opened in 1912, and was a prison with ''hard labor'' for

vagrants Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

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 husk, 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 ...

, growing

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es and vegetables. There is a barn containing approx. 100 adult

dairy cows Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred with 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 ...

in addition to about 120 calves. There is also a piggery for 120

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

Biogas Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, Wastewater treatment, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic ...

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

by Norwegian Correctional Services 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