United States Disciplinary Barracks facts for kids
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 Location in Kansas
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| Location | Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S. |
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| Coordinates | 39°22′42″N 94°56′07″W / 39.37833°N 94.93528°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Minimum-maximum security, Level III (Maximum Security) |
| Capacity | 515 |
| Population | 440 |
| Opened | 1874, rebuilt in 2002 |
| Managed by | United States Army Corrections Command |
| Director | Commandant: Colonel Caroline Horton |
The United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB), often called Leavenworth, is a special military prison. It is located at Fort Leavenworth, a U.S. Army base in Kansas.
It is one of three main prisons on Fort Leavenworth land. The others are a civilian federal prison, the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, and a military prison called the Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility.
The USDB is managed by the United States Army Corrections Command. The person in charge, called the Commandant, is usually a colonel.
This prison is the only maximum-security facility for male service members in the U.S. military. These members have been found guilty at a court-martial (a military trial). Only prisoners with long sentences (over ten years), officers, and those involved in national security cases are held here. Other prisoners with shorter sentences go to smaller facilities.
Army Corrections Specialists work at the USDB. They are trained at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Marine and Air Force corrections staff also work there. Female prisoners from all parts of the U.S. Department of Defense usually go to the Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar.
Contents
Exploring the First Prison Building
The USDB was first known as the United States Military Prison. It was created by a law in 1874. Prisoners helped build most of it, starting in 1875 and finishing in 1921. This first prison could hold up to 1,500 prisoners. From 1895 to 1903, USDB prisoners also helped build the nearby civilian prison.
The first USDB was designed like the Eastern State Penitentiary. Its cell blocks spread out from a central area. Individual cells were quite separate. The civilian prison, however, was built differently. It had a large rectangular building where prisoners lived more communally. The USDB site covered about 12 acres. Its walls were 16 to 41 feet high.
The original USDB was the largest and tallest building at Fort Leavenworth. It was located on high ground overlooking the Missouri River. People nicknamed the old domed building "Little Top." This was because the domed federal prison nearby was called the "Big Top."
During World War I, two brothers, Joseph and Michael Hofer, died at Fort Leavenworth in 1918. They were Christian Hutterites and refused to join the army or wear uniforms. They were kept alone, beaten, and starved.
In 1988, the prison held 1,450 prisoners, including 21 women. By 2014, all female prisoners had moved to NAVCONBRIG Miramar. In 1995, over 300 inmates refused to go into lockdown. About 150 officers stopped the uprising.
In 2002, a writer named Gail Dillon described the old prison. She said it felt "medieval" with its old stone walls. She also said entering it was "like stepping back in time."
In the late 1990s, work began on a new military prison. The largest parts of the old barracks were torn down in 2004. The walls and ten buildings from the original site are now used for other purposes at Fort Leavenworth. The prison's first commandant's house is still there.
Discovering the Current Prison Building
The new prison is very modern and cost about $67.8 million. It opened in September 2002. It is located about a mile north of the old USDB at Fort Leavenworth. The new site covers 51 acres and has two 14-foot high fences around it.
There are three housing units, each holding up to 142 prisoners. These units are called "pods." They are two-story, triangular-shaped buildings. The cells have solid doors and windows, not bars. The new prison is much quieter and inmates prefer it. Colonel Colleen L. McGuire, the first female commandant, said in 2002 that the new facility is "much more efficient" and "much brighter and lighter."
In 2009, the USDB was considered for holding prisoners from Guantanamo Bay detention camp. However, officials in Kansas did not want this transfer to happen.
The new prison design uses smaller, separate buildings. This makes it easier to keep prisoners isolated if needed. In 2012, the prison received a perfect score from the American Correctional Association (ACA). They check on things like mental health services and safety. The USDB got top ratings in all areas.
The USDB is staffed by the 15th Military Police Brigade. Many soldiers working there are corrections specialists. They are part of the Army Corrections Command.
In August 2010, two inmates took control of a guard in a special housing unit. Eleven others joined them. A special team freed the guard and took back control. This was the first such event in the new prison.
The Prison Cemetery
Prisoners who die and are not claimed by their families are buried near the original USDB. There are 300 graves from about 1894 to 1957. Fifty-six of these graves have no names. Fourteen graves belong to German prisoners of war who were executed in 1945. They were executed for killing other prisoners of war.
Capital Punishment at USDB
The USDB holds military death row inmates. These are service members found guilty of serious crimes and sentenced to death by a military court. Currently, four inmates are on death row for murder.
Since 1945, there have been 21 executions at the USDB. This includes the 14 German prisoners of war in 1945. The last execution by the U.S. Military was in 1961. It was the hanging of Army PFC John A. Bennett. He was executed for attempted murder.
All executions at the USDB so far have been by hanging. However, lethal injection is now the military's chosen method. As of 2018, there are four inmates on death row at the USDB. Nidal Hasan is the most recent addition.
Within the prison, death row is in a separate area away from other inmates.
Well-Known Inmates
Currently Held
On Death Row
- Hasan Akbar – He killed two officers and hurt 14 others in Kuwait in 2003.
Not on Death Row
- John Russell – He killed five fellow soldiers in 2010. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
- William Kreutzer Jr. – He killed an officer and hurt 18 soldiers at Fort Bragg. He was first sentenced to death, but this was changed to life in prison.
Formerly Held
- Clint Lorance – In 2012, while on patrol in Afghanistan, he ordered a soldier to shoot three Afghan men. Two of them died. He was sentenced to 20 years. President Donald Trump released him in 2019.
- Jonathan Wells – An author who refused to report for Army Reserve duty during the Vietnam War. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
See also
In Spanish: Cuartel disciplinario de Estados Unidos en Fort Leavenworth para niños
