Columbia Correctional Institution

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Columbia Correctional Institution, (CCI), is an adult male maximum-security correctional facility operated by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections Division of Adult Institutions and located in Portage, Wisconsin. The facility was constructed on 110 acres with 27 acres inside the perimeter fence. Columbia Correctional Institution opened in May 1986 and cost $38.6 million dollars. The original design capacity was 450 inmates housed in single bed cells. In 1997, a 150 bed barracks was constructed for minimum security inmates and over time many of the single bed cells have been converted to double bed cells. Current operating capacity, the design capacity plus modifications and expansions, is 541. Average population for 2007 was 839.

Current warden, Gregory D. Grams is the 5th warden of Columbia Correctional Institution and has been the facility's warden since March 2005.

In 1988, a sculpture called Chromatic Fragments - Vortex to the Sky by artist and University of Illinois Professor of Art Christiane Martens was installed in the parking area of the prison. The 20 foot tall painted steel sculpture cost $50,000.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal and the Portage Daily Register, in 2007 and 2008 two female staff members were accused of having sex with inmates at the prison. A 42 year old cafeteria worker was accused of sex with an inmate in the prison freezer, but pleaded no contest to a lesser charge in 2007. In 2008, a 45 year old female corrections officer was charged with multiple counts of second degree sexual assault. The use of force was not alleged in either situation, but Wisconsin State law does not allow prisoners to consent to sex with prison staff.

Quick Facts

Opened in 1986, $38.6 million
Originally designed and built to house 450 inmates, one per cell, 541 design capacity plus modifications and expansions
Count as of June 27, 2008 - 828
Overcrowding has some inmates sleeping on the floor
Overcrowding forced the construction of a 150 bed barracks in 1997 for minimum security inmates and conversion of many single bed cells into double bed cells.
12 total housing units - 6 general population, 2 SMU (Special Management Unit [psych]), 2 segregation, 1x 150 bed barracks, 1x 13 cell R&O (Reception & Orientation). The facility is stated to have ten living areas with 50 cells each and a 150 bed barracks.
110 acres

High-Profile Residents

Some locally notorious individuals who have been incarcerated at CCI include:

Filemon Amaro Jr., Waukesha County courtroom shootout in 1978 that killed two sheriff's deputies
Jesse Anderson - Deceased
Kim Brown
Jeffrey Dahmer - Deceased
James Oswald, convicted of a crime spree in the mid 1990s that included, kidnap, bank robberies, wounding two officers and killing Waukesha police Captain James Lutz
Christopher Scarver

References

External Links

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Last updated on Saturday July 26, 2008 at 02:58:51 PDT (GMT -0700)
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