Division of Correction

The correctional side of DPSCS operations includes all Maryland State prisons. Dedicated professionals oversee 18 prisons and pre-release centers whose mission is to protect the public by incarcerating sentenced criminals.

Institutional security is a key priority of the Department for both staff and the incarcerated individual population. Increased gang identification, intelligence-coordination, and contraband interdiction efforts throughout correctional institutions has reduced violence against both staff and incarcerated individuals over the past few years dramatically. A large part of this decline in assaults is due to DPSCS' war on cell phones. Increased staff training and intelligence gathering efforts combined with one-of-a-kind K-9 efforts have netted illegal cell phones well above previous find rates.

A commitment to returning offenders to society with the tools necessary to keep them from their former life of crime is evident in the vast array of job skill opportunities, educational programming, psychological and health sessions, and drug treatment. Maryland Correctional Enterprises (MCE), the prison industry arm of corrections and one of the largest prison industries in the nation by sales, also offers an employment setting that mirrors the private sector.

Public Safety Works, a new initiative of the Department, gives incarcerated individuals the chance to pay society back, while simultaneously learning valuable employment skills and intangible but important traits such as a patience, compassion, and community appreciation.

The Department also provides crucial victim services to those whose lives have been impacted by offenders under correctional supervision.