Western Kentucky Correctional Complex
Location | Lyon County, Kentucky, US |
---|---|
Status | Operational |
Security class | Medium |
Population | 693 (as of October 2019) |
Opened | 1968 |
Former name | Western KY Farm Center |
Street address | 374 New Bethel Church Rd[1] Fredonia, KY 42411 |
Website | Official website |
Western Kentucky Correctional Complex (WKCC) is a segregated, dual-sex, medium-security prison in Lyon County, Kentucky, near the city of Fredonia. As of October 2019, the facility had 693 prisoners (493 men and 200 women).[1]
History[]
The facility was built in 1968 to support the Kentucky State Penitentiary (KSP). In 1977, it became its own separate institution, the Western Kentucky Farm Center (WKFC), a minimum-security prison. When WKFC became Western Kentucky Correctional Complex in 1989, medium-security infrastructure was added. The facility was converted from a men's prison to a women's prison in 2010. Five years later, [1] it was divided into two separate facilities: the current men's prison (WKCC) and a separate women's prison—the 200-bed —due to fewer female prisoners; this change was projected to save US$700,000 (equivalent to $764,271 in 2020) per year[2] and only require 90 days of work to accomplish. Ross-Cash was named for two Kentucky Department of Corrections staff members killed in the 1980s, Patricia Ross (died 1984 at KSP) and Fred Cash (died 1986 at WKFC).[3]
WKCC and Ross-Cash reunited under the WKCC name in 2016, and as of October 2019, was the "only state-level co-ed facility in Kentucky." Sixty-four percent of prisoners were white while the other thirty-six percent were black. Annual imprisonment cost $23,425.70 (equivalent to $23,712 in 2020) per person, while WKCC had an operating budget of $10.7 million.[1]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d "WKCC". Kentucky Department of Corrections. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- ^ "The Ross-Cash Center". Kentucky Department of Corrections. Archived from the original on April 30, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
Named in honor of two murdered staff members
- ^ "Western Kentucky Correctional Complex to change name, be separated into two facilities". . Fredonia, Kentucky. July 2, 2015. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
Separate facilities will house male and female inmates
- Prisons in Kentucky