Which prison will Derek Chauvin go to? Inside Oak Park Heights City Jail from where no inmate has escaped
With bail being revoked after the conviction in George Floyd's death, former police officer Derek Chauvin will spend his next eight weeks in one of Minnesota's most secure prisons. Chauvin was previously out on bail, but after the verdict, Judge Peter Cahill revoked the bail. Late on Tuesday, Chauvin was transferred to Oak Park Heights, on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The prison, about 25 miles east of downtown Minneapolis, will house Chauvin until the judge rules how long he will face for each charge.
Minnesota Department of Corrections spokesperson Sarah Fitzgerald confirmed to CNN that Chauvin was being taken to Oak Park Heights. She said that decision was reached through an agreement between the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Chauvin will be closely watched and is reportedly considered a suicide risk. He is also at extra risk because of his employment as a police officer.
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Which prison will Derek Chauvin go to?
Oak Park Heights may not be the prison Chauvin is incarcerated at. Since he has been convicted at the state level, he can be sent to Faribault, Lino Lakes, Oak Park Heights, Red Wing, Rush City, St. Cloud, Stillwater, Togo, or the facility at Moose Lake. It's unclear where he will be sent as of now. We will most likely know only at his sentencing.
Chauvin's current prison's name may evoke a cushy or comfortable feeling, Oak Park Heights is anything but that. Here's everything we know about the facility that Chauvin now calls home.
What we know about Oak Park Heights
Officially called Minnesota Correctional Facility – Oak Park Heights (MCF-OPH), the facility is Minnesota's only level five prison. Located near the city of Stillwater, it is home to some of Minnesota's most notorious criminals. It was opened in 1982 at a cost of $31.5 million to house 473 inmates.
Prison Insights described the facility as composing of "of nine self-sustaining living units, referred to as complexes. The first six complexes each house 52 offenders and include shower facilities and a common area used for recreation and meals". Two other units reportedly house medical facilities and the ninth is an administrative unit. Reportedly, "each cell also has one tall and thin rectangular window. It is too narrow to escape through if the inmate could break the reinforced glass, and tests have proven it would take approximately twelve thousand hacksaw blades to cut through the steel bars of the prison."
The facility, and its crew, are designed and trained to hand the most high-risk inmates, not just from Minnesota, but often from other states as well. Its reputation is also well known - no inmate has ever escaped from Oak Park Heights and only one has been murdered inside its walls. In 2013, Shane Lawrence Cooper was found dead in his cell. Surveillance footage showed inmate Benjamin Heath Beck enter Cooper's cell shortly before his death. Health later pleaded guilty to strangling Cooper and was sentenced to an additional 40 years. Beyond that incident, Oak Park Heights has enjoyed a spotless reputation.
What are the facilities at Oak Park Heights?
The Minnesota Department of Corrections also lists multiple programs at the facility. According to the website, "Educational programming includes Adult Basic Education (ABE), including literacy, digital literacy, and General Educational Development (GED) State Adult and High School diploma programs". It also has its own newspaper, 'The New Perspective', which has been in production since the 1980s.
The facility also has a federal contract to house inmates with serious, violent histories. Oak Park Heights has also been featured in the media. In 2006, it featured in an episode of 'Lockdown' on Discovery Channel. It also made an appearance in the 2011 National Geographic series 'America's Hardest Prisons'. According to the inmate profile published on April 21, the facility has 149 White inmates. It is unclear if Chauvin is added to that figure.