On October 3, 2022, the Utah Department of Corrections completed one of the most significant correctional infrastructure projects in state history: the closure of the Utah State Prison in Draper — which had operated for roughly 100 years — and the opening of the new Utah State Correctional Facility (USCF) in Salt Lake City's west side. The $1 billion project, years in planning and years in construction, replaced a sprawling, aging campus with a consolidated, modern institution designed to house the entire Utah state sentenced population in one location.
Why Utah Built a New Prison
The old Utah State Prison in Draper sat on valuable real estate in a rapidly developing suburban corridor — land that developers, the state legislature, and city planners had long viewed as better suited for housing, commerce, and transit-oriented development than a prison. The prison's aging infrastructure had accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance, and the state determined it was more cost-effective to build new than to rehabilitate the century-old campus.
The decision was also an opportunity to design a correctional facility from the ground up around current best practices — rather than trying to retrofit 1920s-era buildings for modern classification, mental health programming, and rehabilitation services. USCF's design included dedicated mental health housing units, more programming space per inmate, improved sight-line security design that reduces blind spots, and updated medical facilities.
The New USCF: What It Is
The Utah State Correctional Facility occupies a site in the Oxbow area of Salt Lake City — the same city as the state capitol, significantly reducing the distance families in the Salt Lake Valley must travel to visit a loved one compared to the Draper location. Key features:
- Capacity: More than 4,000 beds across multiple housing units serving different security levels and program needs
- Mental health housing: Dedicated units for people with serious mental illness — a significant improvement over the previous fragmented approach at Draper
- Programming space: More classroom space, vocational workshop space, and group meeting rooms than existed in Draper's older buildings
- Women's facility: The Utah State Correctional Facility includes the women's section of the state system, previously housed at the Utah State Prison's Timpanogos facility
The Transition Challenges
Moving the entire Utah state sentenced population — thousands of people — from one facility to another in a single operational transition is enormously complex. The October 2022 transfer was conducted in phases over several days and involved coordinating transportation, intake processing, and cell assignment for thousands of people simultaneously. Reports from the transition period noted some initial difficulties with systems and orientation for both staff and inmates.
Beyond the logistics, the transition required staff — some of whom had worked at Draper for their entire careers — to adapt to a new facility, new operational procedures, and new technology systems. The learning curve for a new facility is real, and the first months of USCF's operation involved the inevitable challenges of running a new institution.
What the New Location Means for Families
USCF's location on the west side of Salt Lake City — at approximately 1000 West and 1600 South — is more accessible for families using public transportation than the old Draper location. The Salt Lake Valley's TRAX light rail system and UTA bus network serve the area. For families who previously drove 30-40 minutes from central Salt Lake to Draper, the new location is meaningfully more accessible.
Utah DOC headquarters: 14717 South Minuteman Drive, Draper, UT 84020 (administrative). USCF address: 1000 W Minuteman Dr, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. Phone: (801) 545-5500. Website: corrections.utah.gov.