Problem Solvers: Wives of men incarcerated at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution speak out on visitiaton issues
Harley Coldiron
(Update: Adding video)
State prison near Madras tells KTVZ it has half the visitor space of others around Oregon
MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) — Long drives, limited hours and growing frustration. For months, the Problem Solvers have been digging into visitation issues at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution. Officials say the concerns boil down to them having half the visitation space as other state prisons, while dealing with a 30% vacancy rate.
Deer Ridge is a medium-security prison for men, located just east of Madras, and houses over 1,000 prisoners. Though the prison declined an on-camera interview, they did provide the Problem Solvers with exclusive access inside their visiting rooms.
The Problem Solvers also spoke with half a dozen women who have husbands incarcerated at the facility, though some of them declined to be on camera. We caught up with Sarah and her son, who traveled hundreds of miles and spent hundreds of dollars to visit her husband, who’s nearing the end of his sentence at Deer Ridge.
Sarah described the stressful travel: “Packing up the kids, getting in the car, traveling with kids – you know. It’s hard.”
She’s not the only one. The Problem Solvers spoke with Jennifer, who also has a loved one locked up at Deer Ridge, who told us: “I’ve had to rearrange four visits, and I’ve traveled for five, six hours away.”
Sarah and her son go into their motel after arriving in Madras.
Jennifer takes a selfie with her husband and their daughter.
Compared to many other Oregon state prisons, Deer Ridge has some of the shortest visiting availability, while being in one of the most remote locations.
Sarah said it’s normal to be able to visit multiple times at Oregon state prisons; however, this is not the case at Deer Ridge: “You can only visit one time a day, so if you want extra visits like Saturday morning, you have to request those.”
But getting that time confirmed can take weeks, according to the women we spoke to. Other prisons they visited their husbands in have been mostly first-come, first-served, with many more days and times.
Sarah said in an interview outside the prison, “In my experience, I’ve never had to call for an extra visit.” That was also reiterated by Jennifer: “You can’t put more than one time in a day. You have to call every time and figure it out.”
Sarah talks about her experiences at Deer Ridge.
All of the women we spoke to reiterated that the staff they have interacted with have been friendly, and try to be as helpful as they can.
During our visit inside Deer Ridge, officials stressed they are doing everything they can with the space they have. Not only is the prison working through a 30 percent vacancy rate, but its facilities are far behind other prisons.
When friends and family come to visit after being checked in, they are assigned one of 20 tables. While one might think the room is quite big, it’s about half the size of other facilities with around 1,000 prisoners. That means officials have fewer days and times to offer, and can only accommodate so many guests per prisoner.
View of Deer Ridge’s visitation room, which is about half the size of other state prisons.
Jennifer asked the Problem Solvers why the prison doesn’t move visitation to the original minimum-security facility, located right next door. The building has been used for training, but has been mostly vacant since they moved, due to its prisoner population getting too large.
Prison officials told us the facility can’t be used for visitation because it will eventually be utilized as another minimum-security prison. According to the official, “When this will occur is based on a variety of different variables.”
Deer Ridge says they help make the visits productive and family-friendly. The walls of all the visitation rooms are covered in murals that prisoners painted during their visits.
But until appointments become more available and easier to add onto, it’s not just the children left affected, according to Sarah: “A lot of times the kids don’t want to come because they don’t want to deal with the stress, or see me stressed.”
The inmates who are meant to be on the road to recovery suffer also: “Our visits, our family is what keeps them going; we don’t know what they go through behind these walls. People make mistakes, but they also turn their lives around.”