World Prisons
All prisons

United States · NM · Santa Fe

Penitentiary of New Mexico

MaximumClosed 1998Low
Verified
Aging · 4mo 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Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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 Penitentiary of New Mexico

Step-by-step guidance using the United States system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.

Open toolkit
Photograph of Penitentiary of New Mexico

Gallery

From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).

  • A typical cell (11501289775).jpg

    Photo by Ken Piorkowski via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

  • Gas chamber door (11501282065).jpg

    Photo by Ken Piorkowski via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

  • Lethal injection table (11501354666).jpg

    Photo by Ken Piorkowski via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

  • New Mexico's only electric chair (11501318174).jpg

    Photo by Ken Piorkowski via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

  • New Mexico's Only Electric Chair.jpg

    Photo by Ken Piorkowski via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

  • NM prison riot axe marks.jpg

    Photo by Shelka04 at English Wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

  • NM prison riot burn mark.jpg

    Photo by Shelka04 at en.wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

  • NM State Pen Unit 4.jpg

    Photo by Shelka04 at en.wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Penitentiary of New Mexico State-run maximum security prison in New Mexico Penitentiary of New Mexico The Penitentiary of New Mexico ( PNM) is a men's maximum-security prison located in unincorporated Santa Fe County,[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitentiary_of_New_Mexico#cite_note-1)15 miles (24km) south of central Santa Fe, on New Mexico State Road 14.[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitentiary_of_New_Mexico#cite_note-2)[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitentiary_of_New_Mexico#cite_note-3) It is operated by the New Mexico Corrections Department. The complex consists of three separate facilities: Level V (opened in 1985), Level VI (opened in 1985) and Level II (opened in 1990) for the minimum restrict facility, based on New Mexico adoption of the Federal Bureau of Prisons system for inmate classification and restriction.[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitentiary_of_New_Mexico#cite_note-4) The regular daily population is about 790 inmates, whose average age is 32.

Background

The Penitentiary of New Mexico (PNM) is a men's maximum-security prison located in unincorporated Santa Fe County, 15 miles (24 km) south of central Santa Fe, on New Mexico State Road 14. It is operated by the New Mexico Corrections Department. The complex consists of three separate facilities: Level V (opened in 1985), Level VI (opened in 1985) and Level II (opened in 1990) for the minimum restrict facility, based on New Mexico adoption of the Federal Bureau of Prisons system for inmate classification and restriction. The regular daily population is about 790 inmates, whose average age is 32. The Level VI Supermax site contained New Mexico's death row; convicted murderer Terry Clark was executed in 2001, becoming the only execution in the state between the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 and its repeal in 2009.

Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.

Capacity

—

Current population

—

Occupancy

—

Year opened

1885

Closed 1998

Figures from official sources · verified 3 Jul 2026 · methodology

Facility profile

Population held

Mixed/unknown

Opened

1885

Region

NM

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.

Contact & address

4331 State Highway 14, Santa Fe 87504

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

—
Insufficient data
We don't have enough public data on this facility to score it. Have something to add? Send us a correction.

Related facilities

All in United States →

Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.

Data completeness

54%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources

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). Penitentiary of New Mexico. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/penitentiary-of-new-mexico
Chicago
"Penitentiary of New Mexico." World Prisons. Accessed November 3, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/penitentiary-of-new-mexico.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-penitentiary-of-new-mexico,
  author = {{World Prisons}},
  title = {Penitentiary of New Mexico},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/penitentiary-of-new-mexico},
  urldate = {2026-11-03}
}