Ohio State Penitentiary
Interactive map of Ohio State Penitentiary | |
| Location | 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Road Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Status | Open |
| Security class | Security Level E (highest security designation for Ohio) |
| Capacity | 502 |
| Opened | 1998 |
| Managed by | Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction |
The Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) is a maximum-security prison in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. It opened in 1998 and is operated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. It shares its name with the former Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, which operated from 1834 to 1984.
Ohio State Penitentiary currently holds level E, 4, 3 and 1 inmates. Level 1 inmates are housed outside of the institutional fence in their own building. Inmates placed in restricted housing for disciplinary rules infractions are locked down with the exception of showers, restrooms, and one recreation period of one hour, 5 days per week.[1]
History
The state of Ohio opened the Ohio State Penitentiary as its supermax facility in 1998 after a riot in one of its maximum security prisons. In 2005, the United States Supreme Court heard the case of Wilkinson v. Austin, 545 U.S. 209 (2005), over the procedure for determining which inmates will be placed at the prison. The Court held that Ohio's procedures for determining which prisoners should be placed there satisfied the requirements of the Due Process Clause.[2]
In January 2011, three men on Ohio's death row, Keith LaMar, Jason Robb and Carlos Sanders, held a twelve-day long hunger strike. The reason for the strike was that they were not receiving equal treatment and privileges as the other death row prisoners, which LaMar, Robb and Sanders believed was because they were placed on death row due to their involvement in a 1993 prison riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.[3] The prisoners drew influence for their strike from the 1981 Irish hunger strike, which lasted for 53 days.
The prisoners' requests were that they wanted more time out of their cells, access to sunlight, access to more food and warm-weather clothing through commissary. They also requested semi-contact visits and access to news and legal databases in order to help their attorneys file appeals to their sentences, all privileges that were accessible to the other death row inmates.[4] Throughout the strike the three men met with the Warden to negotiate a signed agreement to their demands, which they received on January 14, 2011. Robb ended his hunger strike the same day they received the agreement; however, LaMar and Sanders did not end their strike until the following day, when they also received a letter of support for the strike containing 1,200 signatures from around the world.[4]
Formerly, the majority of Ohio's death row inmates were held at OSP. In January 2012, the majority of death row inmates were transferred to the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. OSP does retain death row cells for inmates who are considered the highest security risk. As of 2019, six high security death row inmates remain at OSP, four of whom were involved in the 1993 Lucasville prison riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.[5][6]
Notable inmates
| Inmate Name | Offender Number | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brian L. Golsby | A743409 | Serving a life sentence without parole. | Perpetrator of the 2017 Murder of Reagan Tokes in which Golsby kidnapped and raped an Ohio State University student before killing her.[7][8][9] |
| Thomas M. (T.J.) Lane, III | A640654 | Serving three consecutive life sentences without parole. | Perpetrator of the 2012 Chardon High School shooting. Transferred here after escaping from Allen Correctional Institution.[10] Has since been moved to Warren Correctional Institution. |
References
- ^ "Ohio State Penitentiary Inmate Handbook" (PDF). February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
- ^ Wilkinson v. Austin, 545 U.S. 209 (2005).
- ^ Powell, Lisa (April 13, 2017). "7 Things to Remember About the Lucasville Prison Riot, 24 Years Later". Dayton Daily News.
- ^ a b Sigmond, Carl E. (6 April 2011). "Three Ohio Death-Sentenced Prisoners Hunger Strike for Rights, 2011". Global Nonviolent Action Database.
- ^ "Death Row". Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20120127/NEWS01/201270308/CCI-death-row-receives-final-inmates?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7C%7Cs Archived 2015-07-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Police arrested a suspect for the murder of slain Ohio State student". NBC News. 2017-02-11. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- ^ "Reagan Tokes case: Brian Golsby gets life without parole for rape, murder of Ohio State student - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- ^ "Mother of Ohio State Student Who Was Raped and Murdered in Park Bursts Into Tears as Killer Is Convicted". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- ^ T.J. Lane and other two inmates who escaped transferred to Youngstown maximum security prison