Oregon Department of Corrections

The Oregon Department of Corrections is the agency of the U.S. state of Oregon charged with managing a system of 12 state prisons since its creation by the state legislature in 1987. In addition to having custody of offenders sentenced to prison for more than 12 months, the agency provides program evaluation, oversight and funding for the community corrections activities of county governments. It is also responsible for interstate compact administration, jail inspections, and central information and data services regarding felons throughout the state. It has its headquarters in Salem.

The Oregon Department of Corrections operates 12 facilities across the state. They also operate the Community Corrections offices in Linn and Douglas counties.

In 1851, Oregon established its first state-run institution. Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) was established in 1851 in Portland, Oregon. However, in 1864 funds were allocated to purchase as its in Salem for OSP and an insane asylum. In 1866 OSP was relocated to Salem and encompassed by a concrete wall. OSP is Oregon's only maximum security prison. The capacity of the penitentiary is 1700 inmates. From 1866 to 2007 the Oregon Department of Corrections opened 13 more correctional institutions. For over a century Oregon sustained with one prison, with the addition of the second prison in 1929 (Mill Creek Correctional Facility) after the state allowed for the entrance of Black people in 1926.

In 1929 Mill Creek Correctional Facility (MCCF) was converted from a state training school to a minimum security prison (previously named Annex Farm). This facility is entirely self funded and uses prison labor to produce food for their facility and other ODOC institutions. Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution (EOCI) was opened in Pendleton in 1985 in the form Eastern Oregon Hospital and Training center and as a minimum security prison places significance on rehabilitation. However, Oregon Department of Corrections was not called the Oregon Department of Corrections until 1987 in which its name changed from "Corrections Division". Oregon Women's Correctional Center opened in 1965, became autonomous in 1972, and was recommissioned in 2002.

Santiam Correctional Institution was opened in 1977 in Salem as minimum security facility. Powder River Correctional Institution was opened in Baker City in 1989. Shutter Creek Correctional Institution was previously an Air National Guard Radar Station in North Bend and was converted to a minimum security labor camp in 1990. Snake River Correctional Facility was opened in 1991. South Fork Forest Camp (SFFC) has used inmate labor to combat forest fires and to assist the State Forestry Department in its reforestation program. Two Rivers Correctional Facility's construction was complete in March of 200; however, ODOC began housing inmates in December 1999. Coffee Creek's minimum security institution was opened in October 2001 and the medium security facility was opened in April 2002. Coffee Creek Correctional Facility (CCCF) comprises Oregon Corrections Intake Center (OCIC) for men and women; in addition, to the states only full service women's prison. Warner Creek Correctional Facility (WCCF) opened in September 2005 and houses 400 inmates. Construction for the institution was delayed in 2001 due to lack of funding and continued in 2003 after funding was allocated. Finally, the states newest prison, Deer Ridge Correctional Institution (DRCI), was established in 2007.

In 2021, Governor Kate Brown announced a plan to close 3 minimum security facilities operated by the department; Mill Creek Correctional Facility in Salem, Shutter Creek Correctional Institution in North Bend, and Warner Creek Correctional Facility in Lakeview. The closures were expected to save the state approximately $44 million. Later that same year, 193 employees of the department were placed on leave for failing to abide by Governor Brown's COVID-19 vaccination requirement for state employees.

Race:

While Latino people, Black people, and American Indian and/or Native American people are overrepresented in Oregon's incarcerated population, white people are underrepresented.