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Baldwin State Prison

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Coordinates: 33°01′41″N 83°13′10″W / 33.02806°N 83.21944°W / 33.02806; -83.21944
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Baldwin State Prison
Map
Location140 Laying Farm Road
Milledgeville, Georgia
(Hardwick postal address)
Statusopen
Security classmedium
Capacity925
Opened1976
Managed byGeorgia Department of Corrections

The Baldwin State Prison, previously the Baldwin Correctional Institution and the Georgia Women's Correctional Institution (GWCI), is a prison located in Milledgeville, Georgia, United States,[1] with a Hardwick postal address.[2] The prison has a capacity of 900.[3] 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 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.[citation needed] It is a part of the Georgia Department of Corrections.

History

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In 1984 several women at GWCI sued the prison, accusing employees of committing sexual abuse.[4] By September 1, 1992, 70 women at GWCI said that prison guards had sexually abused them.[5] By 1993 over 180 prisoners at GWCI stated that prison guards had sexually abused them.[6]

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 the department and several top employees at GWCI were relieved of their positions.[7] 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.[7] In 1992 Mary Esposito, a native of Waycross, Georgia and 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.[3]

Until 1992 the prison housed female death row inmates.[8][9] In 1992 the sentence of the state's only female death row inmate was commuted to life in prison.[10]

In 1993 Governor of Georgia Zell Miller announced that the women from 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.[6] 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 the prison to engage in sexual relationships with inmates."[7] The former GWCI was renamed as the Baldwin Correctional Institution and used to house male inmates.[11]

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.[12]

Baldwin was one of 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".[13]

Around 5:45 a.m. on June 13, 2017, 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.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Following an unsuccessful home invasion, the suspects were caught two days later in Shelbyville, Tennessee, and taken into custody.[23][24][25][26]

Location

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The prison is located in Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Georgia.[1] with a Hardwick postal address.[2] It is in proximity to Hardwick,[3] and south of the center of Milledgeville,[27] in the middle Georgia region.[11] The prison was in a wooded area off of a main road.[27] It is a part of the Middle Georgia Correctional Complex, which has five prisons.[12]

In 1992 Eric Harrison of the Los Angeles Times said that it "resembles nothing so much as a low-lying suburban office park or a modern middle school."[27]

References

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  • Siegel, Larry and Clemens Bartollas. Corrections Today. Cengage Learning, January 29, 2010. ISBN 049560240X, 9780495602408.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Milledgeville city, GA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 5 (PDF p. 6/6). Retrieved 2022-08-15. Baldwin State Prison (prison indicated on this map) - Also note: 2010 Census index map and page 5 of the 2010 census
  2. ^ a b "BALDWIN STATE PRISON". Georgia Department of Corrections. Retrieved 2022-08-15. 140 LAYING FARM ROAD HARDWICK GA 31034
  3. ^ a b c "Waycross Native Takes Over Troubled Women's Prison." Waycross Journal-Herald. Monday April 6, 1992. Volume 74, No. 8. P-1. Retrieved on November 18, 2012.
  4. ^ Siegel and Bartollas, p. 211.
  5. ^ "Georgia women's prison inmates claim sex abuse." Toledo Blade. Tuesday September 1, 1992. Page 3. Retrieved from Google News on November 18, 2012.
  6. ^ a b "ACROSS THE USA: NEWS FROM EVERY STATE." USA Today. January 22, 1993. News 6A. Retrieved on November 18, 2012.
  7. ^ a b c Cook, Rhonda. "State closed DeKalb County prison." Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Friday April 1, 2011. Retrieved on November 18, 2012.
  8. ^ "Over Dozen Women Inmates Graduate." Waycross Journal-Herald. Monday August 23, 1982. P-2. Retrieved from Google News (2 of 18) on November 18, 2012. "HARDWICK, Ga. (AP) — Convicted murderer Janice Buttram waits on Georgia's Death Row[...]of the Middle Georgia Correctional Institution Women's Unit."
  9. ^ "Convicted Murderer Awaits Resentence." Calhoun Times and Gordon County News. Saturday May 25, 1991. 10A. Retrieved on November 18, 2012. "Mrs. Buttram, now 28, has been at Georgia's maximum security prison for women at Hardwick."
  10. ^ "1999 Annual Report." (Archive) Georgia Department of Corrections. p. 21. Retrieved on November 18, 2012.
  11. ^ a b "Metro Correctional Institution Temporarily State's Only Co-ed Prison." Waycross Journal-Herald. Monday August 30, 1993. P-4. Retrieved from Google News on November 18, 2012.
  12. ^ a b "WOMEN INMATES MOVED OUT OF BALDWIN." Macon Telegraph. April 30, 1995. 4B.
  13. ^ "47 Georgia Correctional Officers Arrested in Drug Conspiracy". WSAV. 11 Feb 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  14. ^ "'Our hearts are heavy': Manhunt underway for two Georgia prison inmates police say killed two guards during escape". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  15. ^ "Putnam County, Georgia: Reward upped to $60G in hunt for escaped inmates accused of killing guards". Foxnews.com. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  16. ^ Stevens, Matt (13 June 2017). "2 Inmates Kill Georgia Guards and Escape From Prison Bus, Officials Say". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 June 2017 – via NYTimes.com.
  17. ^ "2 Inmates Kill 2 Prison Bus Guards And Escape, Georgia Sheriff Says". Npr.org. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  18. ^ Devon M. Sayers; Jason Hanna. "Police: 2 officers killed, 2 inmates on run in Georgia". CNN. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  19. ^ "CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS KILLED ATLANTA: Inmates shoot and kill 2 correctional officers then escape in Putnam County, Georgia". Wsbtv.com. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  20. ^ "TIMELINE - Manhunt for escaped Georgia inmates". 11alive.com. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  21. ^ Foreman, Lauren; Boone, Christian; Cook, Rhonda. "Sheriff says shooting of two Georgia corrections officers caught on video". ajc. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  22. ^ "Manhunt intensifies, reward raised for two Georgia escapees, accused guard killers". Cbsnews.com. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  23. ^ "UPDATE - Tennessee civilians to be recognized in Georgia escaped inmate capture". Wrdw.com. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  24. ^ "Escaped inmates caught in Tennessee". Fox5atlanta.com. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  25. ^ "Couple's dramatic 911 call after being held hostage by escaped inmates: 'Get the police out here'". ABC News. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  26. ^ "Georgia escapees captured in TN after being held at gunpoint by homeowner". Wsav.com. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  27. ^ a b c Harrison, Eric. "Nearly 200 Women Have Told of Being Raped, Abused in a Georgia Prison Scandal So Broad Even Officials Say It's . . . : A 13-Year Nightmare." Los Angeles Times. December 30, 1992. Retrieved on November 18, 2012. Also available at (Archive) The Baltimore Sun as "Women from Ga. prison relate stories of horror Officials finally acting to end years of abuse"
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33°01′41″N 83°13′10″W / 33.02806°N 83.21944°W / 33.02806; -83.21944

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