COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Colorado Department of Corrections officials said Thursday they’re implementing recommended strategies to improve their solitary confinement policies and procedures following an analysis requested by the department.
Corrections Executive Director Tom Clements asked the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Corrections this summer to conduct an objective review of solitary confinement, known as administrative segregation, at the state’s prisons.
Inmates deemed a security risk are placed in administrative segregation and kept away from the general inmate population.
Officials announced that a report based on the review that began in August has been turned over to the Department of Corrections.
Details contained in the report were not immediately available.
Legislation passed this year requires that the executive director of the Corrections Department provide annual reports to lawmakers about inmates with mental illnesses or developmental disabilities who are placed in solitary confinement, including how long they’re there, and the reasons for placement. The legislation asked the department to provide information on any internal reform efforts since July 1.
The bill sought bigger changes to solitary confinement practices in Colorado but was scaled back. Originally, the bill would have required state prisons to have a doctor examine inmates with mental illness before they’re placed in solitary confinement. It would have also limited solitary confinement to no more than 30 consecutive days and require that inmates get a chance to integrate with the general prison population before being released from prison.
Democratic Sen. Morgan Carroll said she introduced the legislation over concerns that the percentage of Colorado inmates with mental health problems who were placed in solitary confinement more than doubled between 1999 and 2008.
The legislation requires that the Department of Corrections present its first report to the Legislature by Jan. 1.
