Inmates moved to renovated Chillicothe Correctional Center
On Friday inmates from the Chillicothe Correctional Center were moved to the new CCC.
Published Dec. 11, 2008
Missouri's female prisoner count has risen 150 percent in the last 10 years, prompting the Missouri Department of Corrections to build a new correctional center for incarcerated women.
Hundreds of female prisoners from the old Chillicothe Correctional Center were moved to the new Correctional Center in the same town early Friday morning, according to a news release from the Missouri Department of Corrections. The new prison took two years to complete.
The original center was constructed in 1887 and held 525 inmates, the news release stated. The new prison can hold 1,636 inmates.
The new facility will help relieve overcrowding at the Women's Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, which currently holds 500 over its maximum capacity.
Department of Corrections spokesman Dean Watson said the conditions at the old facility needed to be upgraded for the safety of the inmates and the staff.
"The new facility is more modern and safely cautious," Watson said.
Watson also said additional inmates will be moved from the Women's Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center in the near future.
Although the inmates have been in the new facility for a short period, he said the female prisoners seem to like it better.
"Most of the inmates say that the new facility is much cleaner, the gymnasium is better and bigger and the yard is bigger," Chillicothe Correctional Center Warden Jennifer Miller said.
Miller also said the security will be better and the security guards will have a greater range of sight while on shift. There will also be more technological security changes in the new facility, including cameras.
A total of 581 prisoners were moved from the old center into the new facility Friday morning.
The old facility will be turned over to the city of Chillicothe, Miller said.
