The Oregon State Penitentiary’s aging facility is contributing to potentially life-threatening conditions, an audit by the Oregon Secretary of State found. The audit, published Wednesday, investigated failing facilities, staffing shortages and obsolete information technology systems that ar e working to undermine reform efforts in Oregon’s prison system. It found that Oregon’s oldest prison is on a path to become “functionally obsolete” in the near future regardless of maintenance efforts as outdated infrastructure poses health and safety issues for the over 1,700 incarcerated people it houses. After identifying issues in each key point of its investigation, the audit made eight recommendations for Department of Corrections management to address safety risks that interfere with rehabilitation efforts. The Oregon State Penitentiary was originally built in 1866, and many parts of the facility are not compliant with modern standards of living and accessibility. Oregon Secretary of State and Chief Auditor Tobias Read said in a statement that the state needs to plan to move adults in custody out of facilities that could harm their health, and that the state penitentiary is of particular concern. SIGN UP: Independent reporting gives Salem a stronger voice and holds those in power accountable on issues ranging from homelessness to health care. Become part of that work by becoming a subscriber. Subscribe today “It’s a century old, and nearing the end of its useful life,” Read said. Aging facilities With $861 million in backlog maintenance across the DOC and its 12 prisons, the audit found that several outdated facilities are failing to meet basic living standards.  At the Oregon State Penitentiary located in Salem, temperatures can be so high inside the facility that individuals in custody throw items from their cells at windows to improve airflow, staff told auditors.  Due to water quality, safety issues and a substandard infirmary, the audit indicated that the facility is no longer suitable for modern correctional, medical or rehabilitative needs.  The Oregon State Penitentiary ramp to the shower area (left) is steep, creating accessibility issues. A sign stating that water must be run for five minutes before use (right) is photographed during an auditor’s site visit. (Courtesy of the Oregon Secretary of State) “The age and condition of Oregon’s facilities have led to living conditions that are, at best, uncomfortable – at worst, deadly,” the audit said. Frequent emergency failures at the state penitentiary, including boiler outages and sewer line breaks, have pushed regular maintenance costs to $200 million, the audit found. However, no preventative maintenance has occurred as the facility continues to operate at capacity and only performs repairs as needed. The audit found asbestos, lead paint, mold and water damage throughout the facility. The infirmary was found to be suffering from leaky roofs and inadequate heating and cooling, hindering care. A temporary boiler costs $100,000 a month to operate. Asbestos tiles, chipped lead paint, mold, mildew and water damage appeared throughout the Oregon State Penitentiary. (Courtesy of the Oregon Secretary of State) Additionally, many areas were found to have accessibility issues. Its single elevator does not serve all floors, creating a lack of access to services like the chapel and library for individuals with accessibility needs. Some cell doorways do not fit walkers or wheelchairs, and an accessibility ramp outside of the showers is so steep it is difficult to navigate.  Deferred facility maintenance significantly affects the adults in custody — poor air quality, structural hazards and accessibility limitations could result in a “catastrophic emergency systems failure” at the penitentiary, the audit found.  The DOC previously contracted with outside engineering firms in 2023 to assess the cost to fix some of the facilities. With that assessment, engineers assigned each facility a rating of good, fair or poor. Ten of DOC’s 12 facilities were rated poor, including the state penitentiary. Poor condition meant that the cost to repair the building would cost anywhere from 10-50% of the cost to fully replace it. Staffing shortages Staffing shortages are also undermining reform across Oregon’s prisons, with consistent vacancies in security staff that results in overtime and stress for remaining employees. At this time, the DOC said in the audit it does not have a comprehensive strategy to address retention.  Security staff at the penitentiary worked over 400 hours of overtime during 2024, the third highest across DOC facilities. Prison leadership and staff attributed high employee vacancy rates to low pay and poor working conditions. Because the application process is lengthy, almost half of applicants drop out during the recruitment process, the audit found. Staffing shortages are impacting the family of incarcerated individuals as well. The audit found that fewer staff could contribute to shorter visitation times, affecting successful rehabilitation and reintegration.  The audit also discussed the importance of reforms in prison culture, including fostering trust-based relationships between incarcerated individuals and correctional officers. It also advised staff to establish teams with specialized roles, such as those who work more out-of-cell time, to provide more structured engagement. Based on facility capacity levels from August 2024, DOC indicates it needs to employ 261 additional security staff across institutions to eliminate the need to operate without mandatory overtime.  Obsolete IT Ability to work toward reform is hindered by outdated and obsolete IT systems, the audit found. Many facilities still use manual and paper processes that limit data sharing. The DOC’s Corrections Information System and Offender Management System supports information about individuals in custody including what facility they are in, court attendance, schedules and dietary needs — but the software is largely outdated and has few developers fluent in its programming language. IT management staff said to auditors that, eventually, the systems will become too complex to enhance or will become completely unusable. DOC is the only agency in Oregon still using the platform, and its ability to maintain and upgrade the system is diminishing. The risk of a failure is only increasing, according to the audit.  Due to its obsolete nature, researchers can’t really tell if programming at prisons is helping to reduce the number of reoffenders. DOC’s system only notes if an incarcerated person started a program, not how long they were in it or whether they completed it, the audit found. “If not modernized, the system might stop working for the thousands of justice professionals who rely on it every day, resulting in the system not being able to meet its mission or help support statewide public safety initiatives,” the audit reads. If this outdated system were to completely fail, it would likely cause all institutions to be locked down until alternatives are found, DOC management told auditors. Recommendations Recommendations from the audit suggest a focus on facility safety risks that interfere with rehabilitation efforts because available resources are limited.  For the Oregon State Penitentiary, deemed an unsafe facility, recommendations to DOC include developing a strategy for moving adults in custody to a safer facility. If people continue to stay, the audit recommends regular reporting to the Legislature on the risk to human life and safety. The audit also recommends unused or low-use spaces be converted into areas that better support rehabilitation and education, and standardize reforms across the DOC’s operations.  Remaining recommendations would ensure these conditions are met by mitigating IT security and operational risks and developing an exercise to simulate what would happen if a systems failure were to occur.  “We have carefully reviewed the Secretary of State’s audit and agree with its findings and recommendations. Work is already underway to address these issues, and many of the identified improvements were already incorporated into DOC’s 3-year Strategic Plan,” DOC Communications Manager Betty Bernt said in an emailed statement to Salem Reporter. “We look forward to identifying the resources we’ll need to address the serious safety, health and accessibility issues highlighted in the report.” In DOC Director Mike Reese’s response to the recommendations, included in the audit, he indicated a site feasibility study is currently underway for replacing the Oregon State Penitentiary. “We will continue to emphasize the risks involved with not funding a replacement plan for OSP during the quarterly Legislative Days hearings and during the 2027 Legislative Session,” Reese said in his response. The DOC agreed with all eight of the recommendations and has provided target dates for completion of the suggested actions.Contact reporter Reilly Norgren: [email protected] The post “Functionally obsolete” Oregon State Penitentiary poses health and safety risks to the incarcerated, audit finds appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less