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Greensville Correctional Center

Coordinates: 36°47′56″N 77°29′11″W / 36.7988°N 77.4864°W / 36.7988; -77.4864
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Greensville Correctional Center
1994 aerial photo of the prison
Map
Location901 Corrections Way
Jarratt, Virginia 23870-9614
StatusOperational
Security classLevel 3 (correctional center)
Level 1 (work center)
Population2,424 [1] (as of August 2023)
OpenedSeptember 1990
Managed byVirginia Department of Corrections
WardenKevin McCoy [2]

Greensville Correctional Center is a prison facility located in unincorporated Greensville County, Virginia,[3] near Jarratt. The prison, on a 1,105-acre (447 ha) plot of land, is operated by the Virginia Department of Corrections.[4] Greensville houses the execution chamber that was used to carry out capital punishment by the Commonwealth of Virginia until the death penalty in Virginia was abolished in 2021.[5]

History

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Opened in September 1990 in a ceremony presided over by Governor of Virginia L. Douglas Wilder, the $106 million facility was built to provide initial relief to the then overcrowded Virginia correctional system. The facility opening allowed for the subsequent closure of the Virginia State Penitentiary in downtown Richmond.[citation needed] The execution chamber moved from the former state penitentiary to Greensville in 1991.[6]

Initially, the center was classified as a maximum security facility. However, with the subsequent opening of other facilities intended for the most hardened violent criminals, the security classification at Greensville has been lowered to close security. There is a double perimeter fence topped with razor wire as well as six 52-foot (16 m) high guard towers to bolster perimeter security.

The facility consists of 4 pod-style buildings (three have a capacity for 516 inmates each; the fourth can handle 192 higher-risk inmates) arranged in a hexagon in a 125-acre (0.51 km2) campus-like setting. The tract of land upon which the Correctional Center is constructed measures 1,105 acres (4.47 km2). It is located one mile (1.6 km) from Interstate 95. The primary contractor for the project was Morrison-Knudsen.

In 1995, a minimum-security work camp for low-risk inmates was constructed adjacent to the main complex. Together, the two facilities have a capacity of 3,007 inmates.

The facility contains a dedicated health care unit and mental health center which serves inmates in the eastern region of the Virginia corrections system. It is also home to the state death chamber, which was completed in April 1991. There have been 111 executions by electrocution or lethal injection that have taken place in the L Building, located at the rear of the facility.[7]

Notable executions at Greensville Correctional Center

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Notable Inmates

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  • Ronald Rodan - Charged and found guilty for the disappearance and murder of Bethany Decker.
  • Percy Walton - convicted of the murder of three strangers in Danville, Virginia.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Parker, Samuel (November 20, 2023). "New Greensville Correctional Center leadership announced after drug deaths, shakedown". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  2. ^ Parker, Samuel (November 20, 2023). "New Greensville Correctional Center leadership announced after drug deaths, shakedown". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  3. ^ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Greensville County, VA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 2 (PDF p. 3/6). Retrieved August 14, 2022. Greensville Corr Facility
  4. ^ "Greensville Correctional Center / Greensville Work Center". Virginia Department of Corrections. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2010. "901 Corrections Way Jarratt, VA 23870-9614" and "Located on 1,105 acres near Jarratt in Greensville [County]."
  5. ^ "Virginia Death Row / Execution Facts". WTTG. November 10, 2009. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  6. ^ Richardson, Selden. The Tri-State Gang in Richmond: Murder and Robbery in the Great Depression (True Crime Series). The History Press, 2012. ISBN 1609495233, 9781609495237. p. 203[permanent dead link].
  7. ^ "Audit Report" (PDF). Virginia Department of Corrections.
  8. ^ "Child Murderer Executed in Virginia". AP NEWS. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  9. ^ Glod, M. & Weiss, E. "Kansi Executed For CIA Slayings Archived November 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Washington Post, November 15, 2002.
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36°47′56″N 77°29′11″W / 36.7988°N 77.4864°W / 36.7988; -77.4864