SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Department of Corrections leaders are pushing for a new state prison, asking state lawmakers to add it to the top of their priority list and see how much it would cost to repair or replace the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem.
The big request — in the hundreds of millions of dollars — could both reshape the state's budget plans and its criminal justice system.
DOC Director Mike Reese said the Oregon State Penitentiary is "oppressive" and aging past the point of repair.
Reese, the former Multnomah County Sheriff, toured all 12 DOC institutions when he assumed directorship in the fall of 2023. For him, OSP stood out as the worst of the bunch.
“I think this is the top priority for me, in terms of looking at that replacement or remodel," Reese said. "Is this the right place for us to house adults in custody and is it also helping lead to better outcomes, or is the institution itself a barrier to a progressive correctional facility?"
The DOC estimates it would cost $624 million to replace OSP with a new state prison, which could take about 5-10 years to build.
The alternative, Reese said, is a backlog of more than $110 million in deferred maintenance requests at the current facility and tens of millions more in needed improvements and upgrades.
"We do that work and then what breaks next?" he said. "This institution has a vibe to it that makes it challenging to talk about rehabilitation and restoration of people's humanity and dignity."
The department is asking lawmakers to approve a feasibility study in the upcoming legislative session to evaluate the cost-benefit of a new or repaired state penitentiary.
State Senator Janeen Sollman, who co-chairs the Oregon Legislature's Ways and Means subcommittee on public safety, said she visited the state prison and she supports the idea of building a one.
"It can't be something we continue to ignore because it will go away, it only get more expensive," Sollman said. "How much money do you continue putting into an aging facility?"
Reese, in a letter to all DOC staff members, acknowledged that building a new state prison could be a fairly unpopular political proposition.
"The last major prison project in Oregon was the Snake River Correctional Institution expansion in 1994, its $175 million price tag was the largest public works project in the state's history at the time, inviting a great deal of scrutiny," Reese wrote. "The OSP replacement/rebuild will have an even larger price tag and will likely cause similar conversations with taxpayers and their representatives."
KGW toured the Oregon State Penitentiary in late August.
The ground floor of one cell block was lined with walkers and wheelchairs outside of inmates' cells — most of the state penitentiary lacks elevators access (the one elevator in the institution travels up to the infirmary).
Five floors up, it was considerably warmer while a guard walked her rounds. The Echo block doesn't have air conditioning, and a corrections official said AC isn't an option for this part of the prison that was built in the 1930s.
"Earlier this summer when it was over 100 degrees, I walked up to the top floor, it's oppressive," Reese said.
The Oregon State Penitentiary houses about 1,800 adults in custody. It's the only maximum-security prison in the state, and about 460 DOC staff members work there.
KGW sat in on religion and language classes at OSP and toured the legal library, counseling, job training, and other restorative programming spaces. None of these areas are accessible by elevator, which DOC officials said is a facility flaw.
Part of the prison was closed for plumbing repairs. DOC lists ventilation, sanitation and security as growing concerns.
Outside past the yard, there are special housing buildings for prisoners with behavioral and mental health needs.
In its issue brief to lawmakers, DOC said these spaces are not suited for current treatment standards, as modern correctional facilities have space, lighting and other advantages designed to stabilize adults in custody and help them reconnect with the general population.
"It just feels like a place that's more punitive than restorative," Reese said. "We've got an aging population in custody, I think now is the time to address it, not wait until it becomes dire circumstances or we're in litigation over ADA issues or something of that nature."
DOC data shows the average age of an OSP prisoner was 38 years old in 2001. It has risen consistently since then. In 2023, the average age of an OSP prisoner was 44 years old.
Other states — Nebraska, Alabama, Georgia and New Hampshire — are all in the process of building new state prisons.
Reese has a proposal of his own: move the state prison to land that DOC already owns on the eastern edge of Salem, near other public safety buildings.
"That would open up about 200 acres here in the city of Salem for maybe something remarkable here in terms of housing and mixed-use development," he said.
However, will lawmakers agree with Reese and his department that a new state prison is a pressing need, taking priority over other large requests? Or should such a sizable investment be used elsewhere to improve public safety in a different manner?
Sollman told KGW that the timing may be right to build a new penitentiary, as the OSP population is lower now than it was in the 2010s, when it hovered around 2,100 adults in custody. That would make it easier to relocate the prisoners and repair or replace parts of OSP.
"When you look at the full picture, that's why we could stand by this decision," she said. "I believe the feasibility study, at least, is something that should be considered."