Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women

Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women
Location Route 250 West
Troy, Virginia 22974
Coordinates 37°59′4.8″N 78°16′12.1″W / 37.984667°N 78.270028°W / 37.984667; -78.270028
Status Operational
Security class Level 3[1]
Capacity 1,200[2]
Population 1,199 (as of June 2008)
Opened April 1998
Managed by Virginia Department of Corrections
Warden Wendy S. Hobbs[1]

Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women is a prison operated by the Virginia Department of Corrections. It is located in the town of Troy, about 55 miles (89 km) northwest of Richmond. The security level 3 facility housed 1,199 female inmates as of June 2008,[1] including the women's death row for the Commonwealth of Virginia.[3]

History

Future site in Fluvanna County, just to the south of U.S. Route 250 in 1994, four years before the prison was opened.

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 that would have created between 250 and 300 jobs.[4] Construction began on 30 acres (12 ha) in Fluvanna along U.S. Route 250 in January 1996, with initial plans to open by August 1997.[2]

Completed at a cost of $53.1 million,[5] the correctional center was opened in April 1998,[6] starting with about 800 prisoners.[5] The facility is the second in the state dedicated to housing only female inmates, after the Virginia Correctional Center for Women in Goochland.[6] The new prison was designed to accommodate 1,200 inmates and incorporated a 78,000 sq ft (7,200 m2) medical facility on site to minimize the risk of escape. The perimeter was secured by electronic fences and patrols.[2]

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."[7]

Investigations

In 1999, the American Civil Liberties Union 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.[8] 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.[9]

Executions

Though the facility houses the death row for Virginia's female inmates, executions by lethal injection are conducted at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia, located to the south of Richmond.[3] Teresa Lewis, the only woman held in Fluvanna's death row,[10] was executed on September 23, 2010.[11]

Notable inmates

Inmate Number Status Description
Teresa Lewis[12] 321094[13] Executed September 23, 2010[11] Murder
Kimberly Taylor 1091987

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women". Virginia Department of Corrections. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "Fluvanna prison is just for women". The Free Lance-Star. Associated Press. March 17, 1997. p. A1. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Virginia Death Row / Execution Facts". WTTG. November 10, 2009. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Lynchburg, Bedford debate prison site". The Free Lance-Star. Associated Press. June 30, 1992. p. C3. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  5. 1 2 Green, Frank (December 11, 1998). "Corrections officials challenge ban on cosmetics for inmates". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. B5. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  6. 1 2 Moyer, Laura (April 10, 1998). "A prison built for women". The Free Lance-Star. p. B1. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Warden fights lipstick ban for prisoners". The Free Lance-Star. Associated Press. December 11, 1998. p. A1. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  8. ↑ Baskerville, Bill (October 11, 1999). "Prison sex allegations increasing". The Free Lance-Star. p. A1. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  9. ↑ Potter, Dena (December 29, 2009). "Warden of Largest VA Women's Prison Retiring". WHSV. Associated Press. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  10. ↑ Baskerville, Bill (June 8, 2004). "Only woman on Virginia Death Row says sentence unfair". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  11. 1 2 "Teresa Lewis Put to Death". WHSV. Associated Press. September 23, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  12. ↑ Harris, Donna (September 3, 2010). "Emotions Rise Over Pending Execution of Teresa Lewis". WSET. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Teresa Wilson Bean Lewis #1227". Clark County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. September 2010. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
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