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Oregon State Penitentiary
State prisonMaximumMaleClosed 2010Under capacity (96%)LowHigh
Verified
Fresh · 2mo ago
Sources last reviewed on
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit Oregon State Penitentiary
Step-by-step guidance using the United States system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Gallery
From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).
Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Uncredited prison photographer via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Joseph Kelley via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Joseph Kelley via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by M.O. Stevens via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Oregon State Penitentiary is a state prison located in Marion County, Oregon. Rated capacity: 2,194. Reported population: 2,109. Security level: Maximum. Data sourced from the HIFLD Prison Boundaries open dataset.
Background
Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), also known as Oregon State Prison, is a maximum security prison in the northwestern United States in Salem, Oregon. Originally opened in Portland 175 years ago in 1851, it relocated to Salem fifteen years later. The 2,242-capacity prison is the oldest in the state; the all-male facility is operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC). OSP contains an intensive management wing, which is being transformed into a psychiatric facility for mentally ill prisoners throughout Oregon.
Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.
Capacity
2,194
Current population
2,109
Occupancy
96%
Year opened
1851
Closed 2010
Figures from official sources · verified 2 Jun 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Operator
Oregon Department of CorrectionsPopulation held
Male
Opened
1851
Region
Oregon
Security level
Maximum
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
No conditions summary available yet.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
No mailing information available.
Practical info
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
Known issues
No major issues documented in our database.
Notable inmates
Diane Downs1955 · mail carrierElizabeth Diane Downs (née Frederickson, born August 7, 1955) is an American woman who murdered her daughter and attempted to murder her other two children on May 19, 1983, in Oregon.
- Christian Longo1974
Christian Michael Longo (born January 23, 1974) is an American convicted mass murderer who killed his wife and three children in Oregon in December 2001.
Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.
Contact & address
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
0/100
Low concern0/100
- Overcrowding
- 0/30
- Oversight reports
- 0/30
- Structural flags
- 0/15
- Death signals
- 0/15
- Conditions text
- 0/10
This facility scores 0. The national average across 7,437 scored United States facilities is 2 — 2 points below national average.
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Woodman State JailGatesvilleMaximumState prison720% occupancy
- Centinela State Prison (Cen)ImperialMaximumState prison150% occupancy
- Kern Valley State Prison (Kvsp)DelanoMaximumState prison152% occupancy
- Diagnostic And Evaluation CenterLincolnMaximumState prison178% occupancy
- High Desert State Prison (Hdsp)SusanvilleMaximumState prison152% occupancy
- Calipatria State Prison (Cal)CalipatriaMaximumState prison161% occupancy
Compared to other facilities in United States
7436 peersOccupancythis: 96% · peers avg: 93% (+4%)
Capacity (beds)this: 2194 · peers avg: 547 (+301%)
Data completeness
74%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- HIFLD Prison Boundaries
- HIFLD dataset query
- Wikipedia — Wikimedia Foundation
- HIFLD Prison Boundaries — US Department of Homeland Security â HIFLD Open Data
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap Contributors
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata (Q7101366)
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Commons
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
APA
World Prisons. (2026). Oregon State Penitentiary. Retrieved July 21, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/oregon-state-penitentiary
Chicago
"Oregon State Penitentiary." World Prisons. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/oregon-state-penitentiary.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-oregon-state-penitentiary,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Oregon State Penitentiary},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/oregon-state-penitentiary},
urldate = {2026-07-21}
}