Metro State Prison , previously the Metro Correctional Institution , is an American former Georgia Department of Corrections prison for women in unincorporated southern DeKalb County , Georgia , near Atlanta . Female death row inmates (UDS, "under death sentence") were held in the Metro State Prison. The prison had room for 779 prisoners. It was closed in 2011. In 2018, the prison was renovated and reopened as the Metro Reentry Facility .
16-547: Metro State opened in 1980 as a men's prison. In 1993 the male prisoners were moved out of Metro and were replaced with prisoners from the Georgia Women's Correctional Institution . The prison planned to move the 700 male prisoners at Metro to other prisons. The swap was scheduled for completion on July 1, 1993. As the transfer occurred the prison was the only co-ed prison in the State of Georgia. Georgia DOC officials said that
32-565: A group of inmates from this prison were being transported in a bus on Georgia Highway 16 , in Putnam County, Georgia . Two inmates overpowered the guards and obtained their firearms. The suspects then shot and killed two of the guards, escaped the scene and later stole a vehicle. Following an unsuccessful home invasion, the suspects were caught two days later in Shelbyville, Tennessee , and taken into custody. The prison
48-664: A low-lying suburban office park or a modern middle school." 33°01′41″N 83°13′10″W / 33.02806°N 83.21944°W / 33.02806; -83.21944 Burruss Correctional Training Center The Burruss Correctional Training Center is a medium security level prison located in Forsyth, Georgia in Monroe County . It opened in 1986, and consists of four buildings. The prison provides work and rehabilitation programs for general population inmates. The facility houses adult male felons and juveniles. It
64-706: Is located in Milledgeville , Baldwin County , Georgia. with a Hardwick postal address. It is in proximity to Hardwick , and south of the center of Milledgeville, in the middle Georgia region. The prison was in a wooded area off of a main road. It is a part of the Middle Georgia Correctional Complex, which has five prisons. In 1992 Eric Harrison of the Los Angeles Times said that it "resembles nothing so much as
80-511: The Baldwin Correctional Institution and the Georgia Women's Correctional Institution ( GWCI ), is a prison located in Milledgeville , Georgia , United States , with a Hardwick postal address. The prison has a capacity of 900. After complaints in the early 1990s by more than 200 women of sexual abuse by guards, an investigation was conducted. More than a dozen guards were prosecuted. The state decided to move
96-486: The 7 prisons that participated in the 2010 Georgia prison strike . Baldwin was one of nine Georgia state prisons implicated in an FBI sting operation announced in February 2016. The agency indicted 47 correction officers who had agreed to deliver illegal drugs while in uniform. These charges were "part of a larger public corruption investigation into Georgia Correctional Facilities". Around 5:45 a.m. on June 13, 2017,
112-651: The Georgia Women's Correctional Institution would be moved to the Metro State Prison near Atlanta , which was to be emptied of its male prisoners. The officials scheduled the completion of the swap on July 1, 1993. Lynn Cook of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said that the swap occurred partly "to get the female inmates out of a culture at Georgia Women’s Correctional Institution that had allowed officers and other workers at
128-421: The department and several top employees at GWCI were relieved of their positions. As part of the scandal, 15 men and women were indicted on criminal charges of sexually abusing prisoners. Two prison guards pleaded guilty and received probation. A Baldwin County jury acquitted another prison guard. The state dropped charges against the other accused parties. In 1992 Mary Esposito, a native of Waycross, Georgia and
144-408: The female inmates out of a culture at Georgia Women’s Correctional Institution that had allowed officers and other workers at the prison to engage in sexual relationships with inmates." In 2011 the State of Georgia closed the prison. The women were moved to Lee Arrendale State Prison and Pulaski State Prison . Georgia DOC officials declined to state when the agency began moving the prisoners or when
160-554: The first female warden of an all-male prison in Georgia, took over as the warden of Baldwin State; she had been transferred from the Burruss Correctional Training Center . Until 1992 the prison housed female death row inmates. In 1992 the sentence of the state's only female death row inmate was commuted to life in prison. In 1993 Governor of Georgia Zell Miller announced that the women from
176-477: The gender swap occurred because many female prisoners were from Greater Atlanta and the proximity would provide more opportunities for family members to visit them. In addition, the location allowed female prisoners to have more access to psychological and medical services available in Greater Atlanta. Lynn Cook of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said "[t]he swap also made [ sic ] to get
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#1732776034261192-641: The move had been completed, citing security concerns. The inmates and employees had been cleared out of the prison by April 30, 2011. Brian Owens, the Commissioner, stated in 2011 to members of the Georgia Legislature that the number of women coming into the Georgia DOC system had declined even though the overall prison population had increased. In January 2011 Owens said that a private prison company may have expressed an interest in buying
208-578: The prison to engage in sexual relationships with inmates." The former GWCI was renamed as the Baldwin Correctional Institution and used to house male inmates. On April 28, 1995, the remaining 30 women at the facility were transferred out. Most of the women were sent to Washington Correctional Institution . Others went to Metro and to the Pulaski Correctional Institution . Baldwin was one of
224-440: The prison, accusing employees of committing sexual abuse. By September 1, 1992, 70 women at GWCI said that prison guards had sexually abused them. By 1993 over 180 prisoners at GWCI stated that prison guards had sexually abused them. In the early 1990s, based on affidavits of almost 200 prisoners at GWCI who said they had been abused, more than 12 DOC employees were suspended, fired, and transferred. Several top administrators in
240-676: The prison. In April 2011 a spokesperson for the Georgia DOC said that the state had no plans for the facility. At the time of the closure the prison had 319 employees. The state offered them transfers to other prisons. After renovation, the facility reopened in 2018 as the Metro Reentry Facility. Non-death row Death row 33°41′13″N 84°20′07″W / 33.686886°N 84.335339°W / 33.686886; -84.335339 Georgia Women%27s Correctional Institution The Baldwin State Prison , previously
256-485: The women to other prison facilities for a total change in culture. This facility now houses only adult male felons, with a capacity of 992. Also on the prison grounds is a boot camp which houses 240. It was constructed and opened in 1979. It was renovated in 1989 and re-opened in 1990. It is a medium security prison. It is a part of the Georgia Department of Corrections . In 1984 several women at GWCI sued
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