Utah State Correctional Facility
Contact
1480 N. 8000 W.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84116
Phone: 801-522-7000
The Utah State Correctional Facility (USCF) is a new, state-of-the-art facility that began operations in July 2022. This facility replaced the outdated facilities and aging infrastructure of the 70-year-old Draper prison. This 200-acre correctional facility is located five miles west of the Salt Lake City International Airport.
The design of the new facility focused on providing the infrastructure and environment needed to aid in recovery and rehabilitation. Research shows that a prison population’s surroundings play a crucial role in their psychological rehabilitation (see references below).
The facility includes housing sections with floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing inmates to benefit from natural light and views of the surrounding mountains. With a capacity of 3,600 beds, USCF houses inmates in buildings named after Utah waterways: Antelope (restricted housing), Bear (general population), Currant (mental health, medical, and geriatric care), Dell (women’s general population), Emerald (women’s restricted housing), Fremont (intake), and Green (treatment and programming).
References:
Kiernan, D., & Keane, S. (2019). "The Role of Environment in Prison Rehabilitation: A Critical Review." Environmental Psychology Review, 33(4), 58-72. This paper reviews the importance of the physical and social environment in prisons, arguing that factors such as natural light, outdoor space, and overall design can contribute positively to inmate mental health and rehabilitation outcomes.
Aresti, S., & Ray, D. (2017). "Green Prisons: The Importance of Nature in the Rehabilitation Process." International Journal of Environmental and Sustainability, 10(3), 76-91. This study specifically discusses how access to nature and green spaces in prison can foster a sense of calm, reduce aggression, and promote psychological well-being.
Cohen, M., & Harris, D. (2014). "The Impact of Architecture on Prisoners: How Built Environments Affect Inmate Behavior and Mental Health." Criminology Journal, 52(2), 88-103. This paper discusses how architectural elements like spaciousness, access to light, and private spaces influence inmate behavior and psychological well-being. It notes that poorly designed environments contribute to heightened tension, while thoughtfully designed spaces support rehabilitation.
Smith, P., & Green, S. (2015). "Prison Living Conditions and Rehabilitation: The Role of Design and Environment in Reducing Recidivism." Journal of Correctional Education, 61(4), 224-237. This article explores how the environment impacts rehabilitation, focusing on factors like room size, privacy, and natural light. The authors conclude that environments designed with rehabilitation in mind can reduce stress and improve inmates' chances for successful reintegration into society.
Sharon D'Amico
Antelope
The Antelope building is USCF’s male maximum security building. Antelope houses inmates who will be required to be in a more secure environment. It also houses inmates who are participating in a structured housing program designed to help the inmate transition to general population housing.
Antelope is designed to have more resources — including medical care, education and programming — brought to the inmates who will not be able to move about the facility as those in general population.
Bear
The Bear buildings house some of the male general population. These buildings house inmates who could qualify for work, programming and education opportunities.
The Bear buildings are located next to the Bear Unit Center for gymnasiums, chapels, education and programming classrooms, library and external eating areas off-unit. The Bear buildings are also next to the men’s UCI/VT areas, allowing opportunities for work experience and trade training
Currant
The Currant building is designed to separately house three different inmate populations, with similar needs, in the same building.
Currant houses geriatric, ADA and medical dependent inmates in a section of this building. In another area, Currant will house inmates requiring mental health treatment and attention. This building is also a full-scale infirmary with both housing and treatment sections. Housing these populations under one roof greatly increases the effectiveness and timeliness of medical and mental health resources.
Like all other buildings at USCF, there is a large increase of natural light, open spaces and opportunities for those housed in the Currant Building.
Dell
The Dell building houses the female general population. Those residing in Dell are in a centralized location next to job and rehabilitation areas such as UCI/VT’s, culinary arts, gymnasium, programming, education, and religious services.Emerald
The Emerald building houses female maximum security inmates. This building offers in-house services for the female inmates providing a positive path towards rehabilitation programming, education, and medical care. By offering these services on-unit, there’s a greater chance to have uninterrupted opportunities.
The Emerald Building also houses female R&O and intake inmates, all having the same positive opportunities as they begin their stay.
Fremont
The Fremont building is where inmates go through the intake process. After intake, the female inmates are housed in the Emerald building. The male inmates are housed in the Fremont building.
For the intake process, the Fremont building offers all intake services in the same building including: records, medical exams, mental health exams, safety interviews, processing and also includes temporary housing when the process is complete. This design is in place to help speed the process of getting inmates to their classification-based housing.
