Utah State Prison

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Coordinates: 40°29.5′N 111°54′W / 40.4917°N 111.900°W / 40.4917; -111.900

Utah State Prison
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Location14425 Bitterbrush Lane Draper, Utah
Statusopen
Security classmixed
Capacityover 4000
Opened1951
Managed byUtah Department of Corrections
DirectorBrian Nielsen


Utah State Prison main complex, Draper, Utah.
Entrance to Wasatch facility
Promontory Unit

Utah State Prison (USP) is one of two prisons managed by the Utah Department of Corrections' Division of Institutional Operations.[1] It is located in Draper, Utah, United States, about 20 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.[2]

History[]

The prison was built to replace Sugar House Prison, which closed in 1951.[3] Its location was once remote and the nearby communities were rural. Since the prison's erection, business parks and residential neighborhoods have developed the once rural area into a suburban one. Seeking the ability to offer better treatment option state legislature initiated a process to build a new prison, deciding it was best to relocate elsewhere. Several sites are still under consideration.[4] An episode of Touched by an Angel was filmed here in 2001. A study was completed in 2005 by Wikstrom Economic & Planning Consultants, Inc., to determine if moving the prison would be feasible. The test of feasibility was whether or not the value of the real estate of the current location could support the cost of relocation. It was determined that the cost of relocating the prison far exceeded the value that could be realized from the sale of the Draper prison site.[5] However, on August 19, 2015, a special session of the state legislature voted to move the prison to the west side of Salt Lake City.[6]

Facility[]

The large prison complex houses both male and female prisoners in separate units. The prison has a capacity of over 4,000 inmates.[2] The Draper site is located near Point of the Mountain along the Traverse Ridge and consists of several units named after surrounding mountains and mountain ranges. These units range from minimum security to supermax. The Uintas house maximum security units for male inmates and include a supermax facility and execution chamber. Wasatch and Oquirrhs house the medium security male inmates. Promontory is a medium security therapeutic community designed to treat drug abusers. Timpanogos houses female inmates and Olympus is the mental health unit. Lone Peak is a minimum security unit.

Scott P. Evans Architect & Associates designed the five buildings of the evaluation facility. The same company performed a reroof and a seismic upgrade of the SSD building.[7]

Notable inmates[]

  • Ted Bundy, serial killer, was sentenced to 15 years in the Utah State Prison in 1976, but was extradited to Colorado to face other murder charges.
  • Nick Clatterbuck, convicted of the February 28, 1984 murders of his foster parents.
  • Ronnie Lee Gardner, convicted in 1985 of murder and executed by firing squad on June 18, 2010.
  • Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad at the Utah State Prison in 1977. He was the first prisoner legally put to death in the United States since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended a 1972 moratorium on capital punishment.[8]
  • Thomas Arthur Green, a convicted bigamist and noted practicing polygamist, served his sentences here. He was released in the summer of 2007.[9]
  • Mark Hofmann, convicted for murder and forgery, is currently incarcerated at the Central Utah Prison in Gunnison.[10]
  • Warren Jeffs, president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was incarcerated at the Utah State Prison.[11] However, he is now serving a life sentence for sex crimes in Texas.[12]
  • Wanda Barzee, one of Elizabeth Smart's kidnappers transferred from Federal Medical Center, Carswell in 2016, released in 2018.
  • Troy Kell, convicted for murder after stabbing an inmate 67 times in the Central Utah Correctional Facility and sentenced to the death penalty and has chosen to be executed by firing squad.
  • Barton Kay Kirkham, convicted for murder and the last inmate to be executed by hanging in the state of Utah in 1958.[13]
  • Nathan Martinez, convicted of the October 1994 murder of his stepmother and half-sister.[14]
  • James W. Rodgers, convicted for murder and the last inmate to be executed by firing squad in the United States in 1960, before a de facto national moratorium on capital punishment was enacted with the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Furman v. Georgia.[15]
  • Frances Schreuder, convicted in 1983 of first degree murder of her father in the Franklin Bradshaw murder in 1978 using her son, Marc.
  • Marc Schreuder, convicted in 1982 of second degree murder in the 1978 Franklin Bradshaw murder case that his mother, Frances Schreuder induced him to commit. Marc served 12 years until his release in 1994.
  • John Albert Taylor, executed by firing squad in 1996 for the 1988 rape and strangulation of an 11-year-old girl.[16]
  • Dale Selby Pierre and William Andrews, the Hi-Fi murderers.[17][18][19]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Utah Department of Corrections. (2006, December 19). Utah Department of Corrections Facilities. Retrieved March 31, 2007, from http://www.cr.ex.state.ut.us/corrections/facilities/ Archived 2007-07-05 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Utah Department of Corrections. (2006, December 19). Utah State Prison. Retrieved March 31, 2007, from http://www.cr.ex.state.ut.us/corrections/facilities/usp.html
  3. ^ Anissa O. Taylor (February 2003). "State Prison Agency History #790". Utah Department of Administrative Services, Division of Archives & Records Service. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  4. ^ Matt Canham (May 20, 2015 09:30PM).Utah prison relocation meeting comes back to, ‘Why leave Draper?’ Retrieved June 5, 2015, from http://www.sltrib.com/home/2536568-155/utah-prison-relocation-meeting-comes-back
  5. ^ Wikstrom Economic & Planning Consultants, Inc. (2005). Evaluation of the Feasibility of Relocating the Utah State Prison. Wikstrom Economic & Planning Consultants, Inc.
  6. ^ Winsolow, Ben (August 19, 2015). "Utah State Legislature votes to move prison to SLC". Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  7. ^ "Justice/Correctional." Scott P. Evans Architect & Associates. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.
  8. ^ "Organs donated, body cremated — Gary Gilmore saga over". Associated Press. Salt Lake City, Utah. January 18, 1977. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
  9. ^ Coalition for Religious Freedom and Tolerance. (2002, March 11). LATEST NEWS ON TOM GREEN AND FAMILY. Retrieved March 31, 2007, from http://www.religious-freedoms.org/latest_news_on_tom_green_and_fam.htm
  10. ^ Gurrister, T. (2005, October 9). Hofmann case revisited. Standard-Examiner.
  11. ^ Winslow, B. (2007, November 22). Jeffs has been an inmate at Utah State Prison. Deseret Morning News. Retrieved November 29, 2007, from http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695229917,00.html
  12. ^ "Texas, feds wait turns in polygamist leader cases". Associated Press. 2010-07-28. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
  13. ^ Metcalf Jr., Dan (2010-06-17). "History of Utah executions". KTVX. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  14. ^ "Bluffdale teen pleads guilty to '94 slayings". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. November 15, 1995.
  15. ^ Beecham, Bill (November 11, 1976). "Convicted Killer Gets His Wish: Firing Squad Monday". The Telegraph (Nashua). Associated Press. p. 22. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  16. ^ "Firing Squad Executes Killer". The New York Times. 1996-01-27. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  17. ^ Douglas, John E.; Olshaker, Mark (11 August 1999). The Anatomy of Motive: The Fbis Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Vi. ISBN 9780684857794.
  18. ^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19870828&id=8zJTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=94MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5833,5114789
  19. ^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=19920424&id=2b4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mUcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6816,5675737

External links[]

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