Mabel Bassett Correctional Center

= Mabel Bassett Correctional Center =

The facility was named for Mabel Bassett who served as the Commission of Charities and Corrections from 1923 to 1947. During her tenure, Bassett worked to establish and maintain standards for juvenile and adult corrections and the state's mental health institutions. She was responsible for establishing the State Pardon and Parole Board in 1944. The Pardon and Parole system was an effort to create a more equitable system for inmates to be reviewed for pardon, leave, or parole. Through her leadership funds were appropriated through legislative appropriations to build the first women's facility at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

"Old Mabel"

After the decision was made to discontinue housing women at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, OK, all of the female inmates housed there were transferred to the first Mabel Bassett Correctional Center (MBCC) located in Oklahoma City, OK. This facility initially held medium security inmates and housed minimum security inmates "outside the fence" in the Mabel Bassett Minimum Security Unit (MBMSU). In the 1980's the facility was upgraded to house maximum security and death row inmates. The total capacity of this facility was approximately 350 inmates. The facility remains in service for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections as the Hillside Community Corrections Center.

Mabel Bassett Correctional Center Today

In 2003 the Oklahoma Department of Corrections purchased Central Oklahoma Correctional Center from McLoud Correctional Services, operated by Dominion Correctional Services. The purchase price was just under $40 million. This new facility was built in 1998 and has a final capacity of 1144 inmates. Prior to being purchased by the State the facility housed only minimum and medium security inmates. Additional funds were allocated to upgrade portions of the facility to accommodate maximum security inmates. All of the female inmates housed at "Old Mabel" were transferred to this new facility. MBCC is currently the only facility for women that can house mental health patients and the Segregated Housing Unit is the only women's unit for inmates on Protective Custody or Death Row. The current capacity of death row is 2.