Area Prison Information
Leavenworth and the word "prison" have been made
synonymous through the power of the silver screen throughout the years.
Leavenworth and Fort Leavenworth have four prisons located in the area.
None of the
facilities allow public tours.
United States Federal Penitentiary, 1300 Metropolitan Avenue, Leavenworth,
Kansas 66048. By a special act of Congress, the reservation for the U.S.
Penitentiary was deeded by the War Department to the Justice Department in
1897 to build the United States Federal Penitentiary (USP) in Leavenworth,
Kansas. The decision was made, at least in part, based on the labor available
from the US. Disciplinary Barracks at Ft. Leavenworth. They, in fact, were
used for the first phase of construction and were the first prisoners to be
incarcerated in 1903. The first cell house opened in 1906, and USP was
completed in the mid-1920's. This prison was the largest maximum security
prison in the United States until 2005. This
magnificent structure can be viewed and photographed only from a distance
(across the street). The walls are 40 feet high and 40 feet below ground. The USP facility includes the Federal Prison Camp for minimum security prisoners
outside the main prison.
The USDB, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 66027, originally designated the U.S. Military Prison, was established by Congress in 1874 and has been in operation at Fort Leavenworth since May 15, 1875. This military prison has the distinction of offering the first vocational training program established in this country for prisoners. The USDB is the only long term prison in the Department of Defense, incarcerating personnel from all branches of the service. The last hanging at the USDB was Pvt. John A. Bennett in April 1961.
The new Disciplinary Barracks was completed in 2002. The new 521-bed facility will be considerably smaller than the original one which at one time housed more than 1,000 inmates.
Fort Leavenworth retains no military personnel records. When a person
leaves the post, their records go with them or go to the National Personnel
Records Center (address below):
Military Personnel Records
9700 Page Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63172
To request information about a family member, you will need:
full name military serial number branch of service
date of birth (and place of birth, if possible)
date of entry into military service discharge from military service (DD Form
214)
social security number
Another source of information is:
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
8th Street & Pennsylvania Ave.
NW Washington DC 20408
(202)501-5400
Both the Leavenworth National Cemetery and the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery are administered by the National Cemetery Association. For information on veterans and family members buried in the national cemeteries, call their office at (913) 758-4105/06.
Community Relations Officer
Public Affairs Office
600 Thomas Ave., Unit 10
Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027
(913) 684-1724
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) Leavenworth Detention Center, 100 Highway Terrace, Leavenworth, Kansas 66048, is the only privately run correctional facility to have a direct contract with the U.S. Government--in this case the U.S. Marshals Service. It is the only exclusiverly maximum-security institution run by a private company. The majority of those incarcerated in this facility are federal prisoners from the Midwest, awaiting trial, and once sentenced, awaiting transfer to a Bureau of Prisons institution.
Corrections Corporation of America operates a 460 bed private prison (with 2000 addition) for the U.S. Marshal Service in Leavenworth, Kansas with maximum and minimum security prisoners.
U.S. Disciplinary Barracks This is a multi-level security Military Prison located on Fort Leavenworth. A new military prison is now under construction on Fort Leavenworth. For a picture of the new U.S.D.B. .
Lansing Correctional Facility The State of Kansas Prison for maximum, medium and minimum security prisoners.
Leavenworth Prison Facts Information on the four prisons in the Greater Leavenworth Area including prison population, payroll, budgets, and jobs.
Leavenworth
Convention & Visitors Bureau Home Page
Revised:
01/17/08.