Maryland's state prison system has experienced a violent spike that has drawn public alarm, legislative scrutiny, and calls for structural reform: 22 incarcerated people were killed in Maryland state prisons during 2024 and 2025 combined — representing approximately 48 percent of all prison homicides in the state since 2015. The number reached a decade high in 2025, with 13 homicides recorded that year alone, compared to 9 in 2024 and far fewer in prior years.
The Numbers in Context
The Baltimore Banner and the Daily Record both analyzed Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) data to document the trend. From 2015 through 2023, Maryland averaged roughly 2-3 prison homicides per year. That baseline was already concerning relative to the overall size of the prison population, but the jump to 9 in 2024 and 13 in 2025 represents a near-tripling in two years.
In total, Maryland state prisons recorded 46 inmate homicides between 2015 and April 2026. The concentration in the most recent two-year window is stark — and it tracks with a parallel collapse in correctional officer staffing levels that experts and officers themselves say has directly enabled the violence.
Three Facilities Account for 70 Percent of Killings
The violence is not evenly distributed. Approximately 70 percent of inmate homicides since 2015 occurred at three facilities: North Branch Correctional Institution, the Jessup complex, and Western Correctional Institution in Allegany County. Both North Branch and Western are maximum-security facilities; Jessup is one of the state's largest correctional campuses. For six of the past ten years, each of North Branch and Western had at least one recorded homicide.
The concentration at these facilities is not coincidental. They house the state's most challenging population — high-security inmates with longer sentences — and they have also been the sites of the most severe staffing shortfalls. When the ratio of officers to inmates falls too low, officers lose the ability to monitor inter-group tensions, respond quickly to altercations before they become lethal, and maintain the basic security presence that deters violence.
The Staffing Collapse
The violence spike tracks directly with a staffing crisis that has been building for years. From July 2019 to July 2025, Maryland reduced the number of allocated correctional officer positions across its 13 state prisons by 18 percent. Across the broader DPSCS system (including facilities beyond the 13 state prisons), the allocated position cut was approximately 27 percent.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) documented the consequences in a 2023 report: a statewide shortage of more than 3,400 correctional officers, vacancies approaching 500 at various facilities, chronic mandatory overtime, and staff running units with far fewer officers than security protocols require.
As one officer told WJLA: the situation "puts corrections officers, inmates' lives at risk." The union specifically highlighted Western Correctional Institution's staffing plan as a documented safety hazard.
DPSCS's Response: Record Hiring, But Vacancies Remain
DPSCS has acknowledged the crisis and pointed to recent hiring progress. By mid-2025, the department reported that its vacancy rate had fallen to 8.42 percent — described as the lowest in seven years. The department hired more correctional officers in 2025 than in any other year in the past decade.
However, hiring progress and the violence trajectory have not yet moved in the same direction. The 13 homicides in 2025 occurred against the backdrop of what DPSCS described as its best recruiting year. Critics argue that the staffing problem is structural — that decades of reduced allocations cannot be reversed quickly enough by hiring alone, and that the facilities most affected by violence require not just more officers but additional security measures, programming investments, and leadership accountability.
What Families Should Know
If your loved one is in a Maryland state prison — particularly at North Branch, Western Correctional, or a Jessup facility — the documented pattern of violence is relevant context for safety conversations:
- If your loved one reports feeling threatened: Encourage them to immediately report to their housing officer and put the concern in writing through the facility's grievance process. A written, dated record is the foundation of any protective housing request.
- Request protective custody formally: Incarcerated people who can document credible threats can request protective housing. The request can be made by the inmate directly or advocated for by family through the facility's administration.
- Contact DPSCS oversight: The Maryland Office of the Public Defender's Parole and Probation unit and advocacy organizations including the ACLU of Maryland (aclu-md.org) and Prisoners' Rights Information System of Maryland (PRISM) accept contacts about safety concerns.
DPSCS headquarters: 300 East Joppa Road, Suite 1000, Towson, MD 21286. Phone: (410) 339-5000. Website: dpscs.maryland.gov.