Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility

Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility (WHV) is a prison for women located in Pittsfield Township, operated by the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC). The three-letter designation for this facility is WHV. It is the only prison in Michigan which houses women.[1]

Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility (WHV)
Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility
LocationPittsfield Township, Michigan
Coordinates42°10′17″N 83°41′42″W
StatusOpen
Security classLevels: I, II and IV
Capacity1100
Opened2005
Managed byMichigan Department of Corrections
DirectorWarden Shawn Brewer

General

The prison is in Region 3, Washtenaw County, and houses security levels I, II and IV. It has two perimeter fences with electronic detection devices and security cameras, both audio and video.[1] The facility is authorized 364 guards, but is rarely at full strength. Only female guards are used in the housing units for fear of sexual assault by male staff members.[2]

History

The prison opened in December 2005. It included thirteen housing units for 1,100 inmates in the general population and housing for specialized programs. The prison shared personnel, prisoner records, maintenance operations and business offices with the adjacent Huron Valley Men's Complex, until that complex was closed in 2009 so that women could be moved in from the Robert Scotts Correctional Facility. At this time the facility name was changed from Huron Valley Women's Complex.[3]

Capacity was increased by five hundred in 2010. Press reports in 2018 said the facility had a capacity of 2,400. At that time, the complex housed 2,100 people. The population reached a maximum of 2,257 in 2015.[4]

The prison was the center of lawsuit concerning forced overtime by the guards. Two years later the state paid $750,000 to settle the matter.[5]

Press reports in 2019 stated that the facility suffered from overcrowding and leaking roofs.[6] Storage areas had been converted to housing units in violation of building codes.[7]

Food Rescue

Women in the prison's horticulture program operate a half-acre organic garden inside the prison which contributes 40% of the produce donated to the Washtenaw County Food Gatherers food rescue program.[8]

Notable inmates

See also

References
  1. "Corrections - Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility (WHV)".
  2. Eagan, Paul (10 August 2018). "Union: Forced overtime at Michigan women's prison is a safety threat". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  3. "PM Press: and I thought moving was a hassle..."
  4. Egan, Paul (6 September 2018). "Women say conditions at crowded Michigan prison 'cruel and unusual". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  5. Egan, Paul (31 August 2018). "State of Michigan to pay $750K to settle women's prison federal lawsuit". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  6. Egan, Paul. "At least 24 cases of scabies found at Michigan's only women's prison". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  7. Danilewitz, Joel (17 January 2019). "How Michigan is failing Huron Valley". Michigan Daily. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  8. "Growing food and redemption at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility". AnnArbor.com.
  9. https://www.ibtimes.com/american-horror-story-season-6-spoilers-who-gwen-graham-cathy-wood-truth-about-2420546
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