The state prison system in Alaska, comprising both pre-trial booking and long-term incarceration for sentenced prisoners, is a unified system run by the Alaska Department of Corrections. Prior to the establishment of the department during the early 1980s, corrections was a division of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. That department still operates juvenile correctional facilities through its Division of Juvenile Justice.[citation needed]
There are no federal prisons located in the state of Alaska. Federal prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing are typically held in state facilities. Prisoners who have been sentenced are usually sent to FCI Sheridan, located in Sheridan, Oregon, to serve their sentences.[citation needed]