I have been working for the MT DOC for 5yrs. We are one of less than two dozen prisons in the country that has a body scanner like the ones at the airports. It is the sound wave type at it is the coolest machine. As far as historic prisons, check out the old Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge. The crazy thing is, it only closed less than thirty years ago.

Nothing unique about my facility other than it should be torn down. Historic prison… mmmmmmm…. Leavenworth Military Correctional Facility (When it was the “Castle”. Was pretty interesting.

Mick, I would love to see pictures of your prison, I am going to go to the web site you gave twelveozcurl and see what all I can find. American prisons cater to inmates to the point that it is not a big deal to keep coming back. I have seen guys with 12-14 different inmate numbers, not counting the times they came back on a parole violation on a same number. Administration here takes an inmates word over a staff members word every time with the staff member being “investigated” (a real joke) and punished. That punishment being in the form of a written, verbal or working fine (you work for free cause they take so many of your day pay away as punishment) Bleeding hearts are killing the system here!

I work at Kentucky State Penitentiary, the “Castle on the Cumberland”. It was built in 1889, still in operation, now overlooks Lake Barkley. The institution does actually resemble a castle-type structure from the front. The original cell houses have been turned into admin offices, except for one.

I could handle that. We get stuck for 16 + hours sometimes on outside trips, and don’t even get a thank you, let alone paid for our meal.

The only time we don’t get official meal breaks are when we are on an escort outside the Prison. And then we get paid overtime for the time we should have had our meal break plus 17 Euro for meal expenses.( $25 for lunch)

I asked my supervisor for a lunch break the other day, he laughed and told me to eat while I do my rounds. “You have 8 hours, you can find time, just multi-task.” Sounds much less liberal towards the inmates in your neck of the woods. Wish Americans weren’t so quick to worry about these criminal’s rights so much.

When the Majority of Officers are on their breaks there are a skeleton crew of Officers on duty. eg: Breakfast 8:40 to 9:10 there are 12 Officers covering. As the inmates are locked back in their cells it is very smilier to night duty. And the staff mess is only a shout away. As has happened before you can have every officer back in the prison within 45 seconds. We work 12hr shifts. 8am to 8pm and 8pm to 8am. One week we work 3 days and the next we work 4 days. Because our working week starts on a Saturday it works like this. On Duty Mon,Tue. Off Duty Wed,Thur. On Duty Fri. Then the start of a new week. On Duty Sat, Sun. Off Duty Mon,Tue. and so on. So every second week we are Off Fri, Sat, Sun. And We only work 7 nights every 20 weeks. And those nights are spread over the 20 weeks.

Meal breaks for officers? That’s unheard of here in Ohio. We work a straight 8 hour shift, and it’s eat if you get a chance. Of course we all usually make time to eat, but nothing like yours where there are actual breaks for the officers. Must be nice. Sounds like there is a lot less liability issues for the officers over there as to dealing with the inmates and what happens to them if your not around. How many hours a day do you work?

They are issued with aluminum chamber pots. The way our system works is like this. 08:00am prisoners are unlocked to empty the chamber pots (Slop Out) and collect their breakfast which they eat in cell. 08:30am Locked in cell while the staff have breakfast. 09:10 staff return from breakfast. At which time cells will be picked at random to be searched. 09:40 Morning Unlock. Prisoners clean their cells and slop out and can use Toilets at the end of each landing then go to the Yard, Work or School. 12:00pm Inmates “Fall in”. Collect their lunch and are locked up until 14:00pm Afternoon unlock (as morning unlock).16:00 Fall in for Dinner. 17:20 Evening unlock as before. 19:10 fall in for the night prisoners may use the the toilets on the landings before they are locked up for the night. The Prison is locked down for the night by 19:30. All meals are eaten in cell. And when the are locked back the staff have their meal breaks and can carry out searches on targeted cells.

“Slop Out”, I bet that is a fun, great-smelling process. How exactly does that work? And what do they use if they have no toilets?

Wish the states were as harsh with the inmates. If an inmate smashed his toilet in Ohio, he’s be put in segregation for a few days, where he has his own new metal toilet AND his own shower, heating and air conditioning, and the broken toilet would be replaced immediately.

The odd time they let fly. But most of the time they behave themselves. They get to “Slop Out” about 6 times a day. When the prison was originally built every cell had a toilet. But the Civil War in the 1920’s the IRA smashed all the toilets during a riot. And they were never replaced. The attitude was that “They” broke them so they can do without them. And as inmates welfare was not high priority to the successive Governments up to the 1990’s at which point new prisons were being planned and built the cost of restoring the cell toilets was prohibitive. Mountjoy is scheduled to be replaced by a new prison in 2012 so they don’t see the need to do anything more but maintain the existing structure.

No in-cell sanitation? Bet it smells great in there!! How much of that ends up on your range?

The Prison it’s self is still solid. When they built things in those days they built them to last. But because it is old and the cost of upgrading it makes the Dept shudder. Most of the cells have no in cell sanitation. They only got electricity in the cells 2 years ago. As for the Service web site this is it. It’s not much. http://www.irishprisons.ie/prisonsItem.asp?prisonID=5

Mick what is the condition of your prison? Is it falling apart or have they done a decent job of keeping it maintained all those years? Does Ireland’s prsion system have a website or anything with current/historical pics of their prisons?

I work in Mountjoy Prison in Ireland. The prison was built in 1850 and is still in use 158 years later.

The former Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio is a good one. The reformatory opened in 1896 and closed in 1990. It now features tours in the summer, a haunted house in the halloween season, haunted tours and overnight “ghost hunts”. The prison features the cell block listed in “Guinness Book of World Records” as the world’s largest free-standing steel cell block—six tiers high.

Most of “The Shawshank Redemption,” was shot at this prison in 1993, and “Air Force One,” with Harrison Ford, had scenes filmed there in 1996. Two earlier movies, “Harry and Walter Go to New York” and “Tango & Cash,” also feature the prison.

The reformatory was in the news again in April 2006 when filmmakers took over the site to make a horror film starring Christopher Knight, best known as Peter on TV’s “The Brady Bunch.”

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is operated by the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society, a nonprofit group.

This month, Corrections.com focuses on architecture. What makes your facility’s design unique? What historic prisons have you visited?