Indiana Department Of Correction Closing Indianapolis Re-entry Educational Facility

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Indianapolis, Indiana (June 14, 2017) – The Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) Commissioner Robert Carter today announced the agency will close its Indianapolis Re-Entry Educational Facility (IREF), located at the corner of New York and Randolph streets in Indianapolis. IREF is a minimum-custody level facility with a 420 bed capacity, but currently the facility holds 183 inmates. Previously IREF operated as the Indiana Women’s Prison, and has been operating continually as a correctional facility since 1873. The closure is expected to occur on or before July 31, 2017. This closure will allow other lower level prison facilities to operate closer to their optimal operating level, and would reduce overall cost of state prison operations.

The closure will affect 183 offenders and 107 staff members. Every employee at IREF will be provided an employment opportunity at one of IDOC’s other facilities in Central Indiana. Offenders will be relocated to Heritage Trails Correctional Facility, Edinburgh Correctional or Pendleton Correctional Facility. IREF has approximately 45 offender positions dedicated to providing groundskeeping and general maintenance labor at several state facilities in the Indianapolis area, including the Indiana War Memorial and the Indiana Government Center. This work will continue uninterrupted, with offenders assigned from other facilities.

IDOC currently is working with the Indiana Department of Administration to finalize the best use for the facility. In the interim, the facility will be maintained by assigned staff to ensure the safety and security of the facility.