Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation of Puerto Rico

Department overview
Formed	December 9, 1993
Jurisdiction	executive branch
Headquarters	San Juan, Puerto Rico
Motto	Security, Rehabilitation
Employees	5,386
Department executive	Einar Ramos López, Secretary of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Key documents	Article VI of the Constitution of Puerto Rico Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1993
Website	www.ac.gobierno.pr

The Department of Correction and Rehabilitation of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Departamento de Corrección y Rehabilitación de Puerto Rico) is the executive department of the government of Puerto Rico responsible for structuring, developing, and coordinating the public policies of Puerto Rico over its correctional system and the rehabilitation of its adult and young population.^[1]

Secretary

The Secretary of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Spanish: Secretario de Corrección y Rehabilitación) is the appointed official responsible for setting the public policy of Puerto Rico for its corrections, rehabilitation and parole systems. ^[2]

Since January 2016 the incumbent Secretary has been Einar Ramos López.^[3]

Agencies

• Corrections Administration
• Juvenile Institutions Administration
• Labor and Training Enterprises Corporation
• Office of Pretrial Services
• Parole Board

History

Río Piedras State Penitentiary (Oso Blanco), built 1933, closed 2004

In August 2015 the department was one of eight identified by the Department of Justice as "high-risk" recipients of federal money, based on audits showing "irregular spending and lax internal controls".^[4]

In January 2016, $10 million of delayed payments to the department's vendor, Trinity Services Group, threatened to interrupt the food supply to all of its 12,500 inmates. ^[5]

Prisons

There are no private prisons in Puerto Rico, but the territory has contracted with corrections companies in the past.

In March 1993 the government made a three-year agreement with city officials in Appleton, Minnesota to fill all 516 beds of their Prairie Correctional Facility with Puerto Rican inmates. The prison had been built by the city and was sitting empty.^[6] Early disputes "underscored the communication problem among inmates and guards". With the introduction of additional prisoners from Colorado and resulting inmate unrest, city officials ended the contract.

In March 2012, Puerto Rico contracted with Corrections Corporation of America to send as many as 480 inmates to CCA's Cimarron Correctional Facility near Cushing, Oklahoma. ^[7] The three-year contract was brought to a premature close in June 2013 after unit-wide fights and "disruptive events", with the inmates sent home.^[8]

Current

Following is a list of Puerto Rico's 33 state prisons.^[9] This list does not include federal prisons (such as the Metropolitan Detention Center, Guaynabo) or jails of other jurisdictions.

• Institución Correccional Guerrero, Aguadilla, stated capacity 1000
• Centro de Detención del Oeste, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, capacity 546
• Anexo Sabana Hoyos 384, Arecibo, Puerto Rico, capacity 384
• Centro de Tratamiento Residencial, Arecibo, capacity 75
• Institución Correccional Sabana Hoyos 728, Arecibo, capacity 728
• Institución Correccional Sabana Hoyos 216, Arecibo, capacity 216
• Programa Agrícola de la Montaña-La Pica, Jayuya, capacity 50
• Anexo Custodia Mínima, Ponce, capacity 192
• Centro de Clasificacion Fase III, Ponce, capacity 280
• Centro de Ingresos del Sur Ponce 676, Ponce, capacity 676
• Institución Adults Ponce 1000, Ponce, capacity 831
• Institución Correccional Juvenes Adultes, Ponce, capacity 304
• Facilidad Medica Correccional, Ponce, capacity 486
• Institución Máxima Seguridad, Ponce, capacity 420
• Institución Correccional Ponce Juvenes Adultes 224, Ponce, capacity 224
• Institución Correccional Ponce Principal, Ponce, capacity 534
• Vivienda alterna Anexo 246, Ponce, capacity 246
• Modular Detention Unit (MDU), Ponce, capacity 224
• Centro con Libertad Para Trabajar, Ponce, capacity 112
• Escuela Industrial para Mujeres Vega Alta, Vega Alta, capacity 471
• Anexo Seguridad Máxima, Bayamón, capacity 292
• Institución Correccional Bayamón 308/488, Bayamón, capacity 563
• Centro de Ingresos Metropolitano, Bayamón, capacity 705
• Institución Correccional Bayamón 501, Bayamón, capacity 516
• Centro Detencion Bayamón 1072, Bayamón, capacity 1428
• Hogar Intermedio para Mujeres, San Juan, capacity 38
• Campamento Zarzal Dirección, Río Grande, capacity 500
• Institución Correccional Zarzal, Río Grande, capacity 450
• Hogar de Adaptación Social, Fajardo, capacity 36
• Anexo Guayama 296, Guayama, capacity 296
• Institución Correccional Guayama 945, Guayama, capacity 320
• Institución Correccional Guayama 500, Guayama, capacity 516
• Institución Correccional Guayama Máxima Seguridad 1000, Guayama, capacity 529

The main women's prison, Escuela Industrial para Mujeres Vega Alta, was opened in 1954, replacing a prison in Areceibo; work began on the facility in 1952. Puerto Rico also operates the Hogar de Adaptación Social en Vega Alta, which opened in 1987, and the Hogar Intermedio para Mujeres in Río Piedras, which opened in 1996.^[10]

Former

Puerto Rico's former prison facilities include:

• Río Piedras State Penitentiary (opened 1933, closed 2004, demolished 2015)^[11]

External links

• Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Spanish)

References

1. "Contáctenos." Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation of Puerto Rico. Retrieved on May 19, 2010. "Dirección Física: Ave. Teniente Cesar Gonzalez. Esq. Calle Juan Calaf #34. Urb. Industrial Tres Monjitas. San Juan, PR 00917"
2. Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1993
3. "Nombran nuevo secretario de Corrección" (8 Jan 2016). ELNUEVODIA.COM. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
4. Planas, Roque (19 Aug 2015). "DOJ Cracks Down on Puerto Rico Over Financial Mismanagement". Huffington Post. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
5. "Puerto Rico money woes threaten meals for 12,500 prison inmates". Fox News Latino. ETE. 22 Jan 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
6. "Appleton built it ... and they came". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
7. "Puerto Rican Inmates To Be Transferred To Cushing Prison". Associated Press. 3 Jan 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
8. Vicent, Samantha (12 June 2015). "Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing remains under lockdown after inmate brawl". Tulsa World. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
9. "locations". Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
10. "Perfil de la Población de Mujeres Confinadas Año 2015" (Archive). Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Retrieved on December 9, 2015.
11. Coto, Danica (17 May 2014). "Puerto Ricans struggle over once-grisly Oso Blanco prison". Seattle Times. Associated Press. Retrieved 26 July 2016.