Wyoming State Penitentiary

Wyoming State Penitentiary
Location 2900 S Higley Blvd,
Rawlins, Wyoming
Status In Use
Security class Level IV/Level V Maximum Security
Capacity 750 inmates
Opened

Frontier Prison: 1901

North Facility: 1980

Current facility: 2001
Closed

Frontier Prison: 1980

North Facility: 2001
Managed by Wyoming Department of Corrections
Director Michael Pacheco, Warden

Wyoming State Penitentiary is a Wyoming Department of Corrections state maximum-security prison for men located in Rawlins, Carbon County, Wyoming.[1]

The facility first opened in 1980 and housed about 500 medium-security prisoners. That portion of the complex, now called the North Facility, closed in 2001 as the newer South Facility opened. The South Facility boasts the third generation prison layout of 'pods.' A driving factor behind this was the faults with the star, or block, layout of the North Facility. Narrow halls and blind, sharp corners caused dangers to staff. Security issues of the old North Facility came to light when Corporal Wayne Martinez was killed by three inmates. The three inmates gained access to the control center Corporal Martinez was in, beating him with a fire extinguisher and stabbing him over thirty times. Two inmates involved in the attack were given life without the possibility of parole, while the third was sentenced to death. In memory of Corporal Martinez, the Wayne Martinez Training Center was given his name. The North Facility remains standing, but abandoned.[1]

Prior to 1991 the Wyoming Board of Charities and Reform operated the prison.

Previous Wyoming state prisons

Wyoming's first state prison, built in 1872 near Laramie, Wyoming and decommissioned in 1901, is now the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site. That 1872 building was replaced by another facility designed by architect Walter E. Ware and completed in 1901.

The 1901 "Wyoming Frontier Prison" at 500 W. Walnut Street

The Ware-designed prison operated for 80 years. Convict Henry Ruhl was executed there in 1945, the only person executed by the U.S. Federal Government in Wyoming. It closed as a prison in 1981 when replaced by the current location.

The 1901 building is now a museum called the Wyoming Frontier Prison and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[2] Visitors can go on guided tours through the old prison. There are exhibits about the old and current prisons and the Wyoming Peace Officers' Museum.

References

  1. 1 2 "Wyoming State Penitentiary". Wyoming Department of Corrections. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  2. ↑ "The Wyoming Frontier Prison". The Wyoming Frontier Prison. Retrieved 7 August 2018.

Coordinates: 41°45′56″N 107°12′56″W / 41.76566°N 107.21562°W / 41.76566; -107.21562

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