Lea County Correctional Center
| Location | 6900 West Millen Drive, Hobbs, New Mexico |
|---|---|
| Status | Closed |
| Security class | medium security |
| Capacity | 1200 |
| Opened | 1998 |
| Closed | 2025 |
| Managed by | GEO Group |
The Lea County Correctional Facility (LCCF) was a medium-security prison for men located four miles north-west of Hobbs, New Mexico, opened in 1998 on 60 acres of the former Hobbs Army Airfield, now adjacent to the Lea County Regional Airport.[1]The facility housed 1200 state inmates of the New Mexico Corrections Department, and was operated by the private GEO Group under a contract administered through the county.[2]
In its first year, LCCF was "the site of three fatal inmate stabbings, six nonfatal stabbings, a 'near-riot' and allegations of guards using excessive force, according to reports in both the Albuquerque Journal and Albuquerque Tribune."[3]
In April 2002 the U.S. Department of Justice found three LCCF guards guilty of civil rights conspiracy and obstruction charges after assaulting a prisoner, then falsifying reports and lying to investigators.[4]
In November 2011 the state of New Mexico imposed fines of $1.1 million against GEO Group for failing to maintain adequate staffing levels at LCCF. In March 2012 the state imposed another fine of nearly $300,000 for the company's failure to properly staff guards and health care workers; some positions had remained vacant for two months or longer.
Notable inmates
- Joel Patrick Courtney (born 1966) - sentenced for kidnapping, rape, and murder of Brooke Wilberger (Corvallis, Oregon, USA) on May 25, 2004. Death sentence commuted to life, without parole (convicted Sept. 21, 2009).
- Nehemiah Griego (born 1997) - perpetrator of the 2013 South Valley homicides[5]
- Nathaniel Jouett (born 2001) - perpetrator of the Clovis library shooting[6]
- David Parker Ray (1939-2002) - abductor and possible serial killer; died at LCCF[7][8]
References
- ^ "LCCF". Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
- ^ "Lea County Correctional Facility - the GEO Group Inc". Archived from the original on 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
- ^ Smith, Jordan (July 5, 2002). ""A Record of Dishonesty"". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
- ^ "THREE FORMER WACKENHUT EMPLOYEES CONVICTED OF CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS" (PDF). WWW.USDOJ.GOV. April 12, 2002.
- ^ "Offender Search | NM Corrections Department". Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
- ^ "NMCD Offender Search". Archived from the original on 2020-02-19. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
- ^ Glatt, John (2002). Cries in the Desert. Macmillan. p. 276. ISBN 9780312977566. OCLC 49937160.
- ^ Fielder, Jim (2003). Slow Death. Kensington Pub. p. 315. ISBN 9780786011995. OCLC 51455524.
32°45′51″N 103°13′25″W / 32.76408°N 103.22368°W
| State prisons |
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| Private |
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