Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility
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Location | Cañon City, Colorado |
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Status | open |
Security class | mixed |
Capacity | 900 |
Opened | 1871 |
Managed by | Colorado Department of Corrections |
Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility (CTCF), colloquially known simply as "Territorial," is a medium security prison in Cañon City, Colorado. CTCF is the oldest prison in the Colorado DOC system. It was built in 1871 as a territorial prison and became a state prison in 1876. The Colorado DOC system only has two infirmaries, one of which is located in CTCF. The other is located in the Denver Reception & Diagnostic Center (DRDC).[citation needed]
From the 1890s until 1993, the Colorado death row and execution chamber was located at the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility,[1][2] but the last execution to take place there was in 1967.[3] In 1993, the Colorado State Penitentiary opened, and death row moved there. As of 2012, the Sterling Correctional Facility housed Colorado's death row prisoners.[1] Capital punishment was abolished in Colorado in 2020; although the law did not apply retroactively, the sentences of the three remaining inmates on death row were commuted to life in prison by governor Jared Polis.[4]
See also
- Canon City (film), a 1948 film about a 1947 prison break at the facility
References
- ^ a b Mitchell, Kirk (July 28, 2011). "Colorado moves death-row inmates so they can exercise outdoors". Denver Post. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
- ^ Kirby, Jen (May 16, 2014). "Photos: A Haunting Look at America's Execution Chambers". New York. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
- ^ "In 1997, Colorado's first execution in 30 years marked a watershed moment. But did it change the conversation about capital punishment?". The Colorado Sun. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- ^ "Gov. Polis Signs Death Penalty Repeal Bill, Commutes Death Row Sentences to Life in Prison Without Parole | Colorado Governor Jared Polis".