ADX Florence

United States Penitentiary,
Administrative Maximum Facility
ADX Florence is located in Colorado
ADX Florence
Location in Colorado
ADX Florence is located in the United States
ADX Florence
ADX Florence (the United States)
Map
LocationFremont County, near Florence, Colorado
Coordinates38°21′23″N 105°05′43″W / 38.35639°N 105.09528°W / 38.35639; -105.09528
StatusOperational
Security classAdministrative Maximum; colloquially Supermax
Population344 inmates (September 2024)[1]

United States Penitentiary Florence Administrative Maximum Facility (abbreviated as USP Florence ADMAX; commonly known as ADX Florence or the Florence Supermax) is a United States federal prison in Fremont County, Colorado, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

ADX Florence, constructed in 1994 and opened one year later, is classed as a supermax or "control unit" prison, that provides a higher, more controlled level of custody than a regular maximum security prison (or "high security", as it is called in the federal prison system).[2] ADX Florence forms part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Florence (FCC Florence), which is situated on 49 acres (20 hectares) of land and houses different facilities with varying degrees of security, including the adjacent United States Penitentiary, Florence High.

ADX Florence was commissioned when the Federal Bureau of Prisons needed a unit designed specifically for the secure housing of those prisoners most capable of extreme violence toward staff or other inmates, as well as inmates deemed too high-profile or too great a security risk for even a maximum security prison. The inmates are confined for the most part of the day in single cells with facilities made of poured, reinforced concrete to deter self-harm, and are under 24-hour supervision, carried out intensively with high staff–inmate ratios.

  1. ^ "BOP: Inmate Population Reports". Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  2. ^ Tietjen, Grant (August 1, 2017), "ADX Florence Facility", in Kerley, Kent R. (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Corrections, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 1–4, doi:10.1002/9781118845387.wbeoc167, ISBN 978-1-118-84538-7, retrieved June 23, 2023