Arizona State Prison Complex – Florence Explained

Prison Name:Arizona State Prison Complex – Florence
Location:Florence, Arizona
Coordinates:33.027°N -111.37°W
Status:open
Pushpin Map:USA Arizona
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Arizona
Classification:mixed
Capacity:Closed except for units transferred under other ASPC complexes (Gov Doug Ducey ordered shut down due to massive costs to operate in 2020)
Opened:1908
Closed:2022
Managed By:Arizona Department of Corrections

Arizona State Prison Complex – Florence also known as Florence State Prison (FSP) is a former facility operated by the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC). The main FSP prison was located in Florence, Arizona. The Florence complex used to include a unit in Picacho in unincorporated Pinal County however, the Picacho Unit was closed and destroyed in early 2013. The Globe Unit in Globe is now part of ASPC-Phoenix.[1]

The Central Unit of ASPC–Florence housed Arizona's one of two male death row cell blocks (the other at Eyman where they were both consolidated when ASPC-Florence closed down) and the State of Arizona execution chamber.[2] FSP is the judicial site in Arizona for state executions since 1910. The death house known on the Unit as Housing Unit 9 is located beside Housing Unit 8. Lethal injection and the gas chamber are the sole methods of execution.

In 1908 inmates finished building and opened the Arizona Prison at Florence. This new prison was to replace the territorial prison in Yuma. The convicts lived in tents while constructing the prison. The new prison featured a death chamber. The chamber was scaffolding above the death row cells that had a trap door for hanging inmates which opened to a room below. In 1934, hanging was replaced with the gas chamber following a botched hanging that took place in 1930. Convicts from Florence were a cheap source of labor and the state used them to build roads through the mountains between Bisbee and Tombstone in 1913. Convicts also built a bridge over the San Pedro River and improved the Douglas Highway. There is a concrete monument there commemorating the completion of the road.

The prison was designed in a mission-revival style architecture.[3]

FSP had an inmate capacity of 3,946 in 6 housing units, housed at level 2, 3 and 5 security levels. The ADC uses a score classification system to assess inmates appropriate custody and security level placement. The scores range from 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest risk or need.

Central Unit was recently changed from a split 3/5 level to a sole maximum security unit.

ASPC UnitCustody Level
Central Unit5
East Unit3
North Unit2
South Unit (now part of ASPC-Eyman)2
CB–Kasson5
Globe2
Tempe St. Lukes2–5

Notable People

Staff

Inmates

Current

Former

Executed

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. "Arizona State Prison Complex–Florence." Arizona Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 16, 2010.
  2. "Death Row Information and Frequently Asked Questions ." Arizona Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 16, 2010.
  3. Bui, Lynh. "Marking 100 years of incarceration." The Arizona Republic. July 12, 2008. Retrieved on September 20, 2010.
  4. [Fraternal Order of Police]
  5. Web site: Prisons . . Directions . June 1993 . September 15, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131012053700/http://www.azcorrections.gov/adc/history/History_Prison_article.aspx . October 12, 2013 . dead .
  6. Web site: Inmate Data Search | Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry .
  7. Web site: Arizona's Family | Phoenix News .
  8. News: Arizona serial killer died of anti-depressant overdose: Medical examiner . Reuters . 12 July 2013 .
  9. Web site: Cris Kirkwood sentenced to prison - Entertainment - Music - TODAYshow.com. November 16, 2010. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20101116143049/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/5593127 . 2010-11-16 .
  10. Web site: Extreme turnaround - the Boston Globe .
  11. News: 'Pied Piper of Tucson' Kidnaps 4, then Frees Them in Prison Break . The New York Times . 13 November 1972 .
  12. Sifakis, Carl. (1982). The Encyclopedia Of American Crime. Facts On File, Inc. pp. 641–642. .
  13. Book: Shelton, Richard . Richard Shelton (writer)

    . Crossing The Yard. Richard Shelton (writer) . 2007 . University of Arizona Press. 978-0-8165-2594-2 . registration. crossing the yard..

  14. Web site: Mining and Murder in Ruby, Arizona – Legends of America .
  15. Web site: Arizona on track, for now, for 1st execution since 2014 . . 19 April 2022 .
  16. Web site: Greenawalt executed for murders - Tucson Citizen Morgue, Part 2 (1993-2009) .
  17. Web site: Arizona inmates executed since 1992 .
  18. Web site: ExecutedToday.com » 1999: Walter LaGrand, a German gassed in America.
  19. Web site: Column No.
  20. Arizona Man Gasps and Snorts During Lethal Injection Execution That Took Nearly Two Hours . Slate . 23 July 2014 . Hannon . Elliot .