Westville Correctional Facility
Westville Correctional Facility is a medium-security prison for male inmates located in Westville, Indiana. The current population is 3,200 inmates. WCC’s mission is to provide a safe, secure, and productive environment for both staff and offenders while protecting the public interests and safety. WCC will provide these services in an effective and accountable manner and will develop and implement programs that will assist the offenders with their re-entry into their communities.
The stated goals of Westville Correctional Facility are as follows:
- Provide and maintain a safe and secure correctional environment for the protection of the public, staff, and offenders.
- Deliver offender programs that provide opportunities for self-improvement and successful community re-entry.
- Adhere to standards of high performance to achieve correctional best practices.
- Recruit, develop, and retain a trained workforce of committed correctional professionals.
- Collaborate with the public, governmental, and civic organizations in support of crime prevention efforts and the development of community based correctional re-entry programs.
The campus, which is now Westville Correctional Facility, began in 1949. Beatty Memorial Hospital, a state run mental health facility, opened its doors to 135 mentally disabled Hoosiers in February of 1951.
The hospital was named in honor of Dr. Norman Beatty, an Indianapolis doctor who had dedicated his career to mental health services. In 1974, a lawsuit filed by Indiana prisoners in US District Court forced the state to reduce overcrowding in its prisons, creating the need for another prison.
Governor Otis Bowen and the Indiana legislature then transferred Beatty Memorial Hospital to the Department of Correction. In July of 1979, following renovations and additions, 1,200 offenders were transferred to the Westville Correctional Facility. With only 32 segregation cells for a population that had grown to 2,600 inmates, a 220-bed Maximum Control Segregation Unit was added in 1989-1991.
Offenders at the Westville Correctional Facility are provided secure, clean, and positive living conditions. This stable environment is supported by ancillary medical, dental, psychological, recreational, spiritual, and educational services. Exposing offenders to these services allows them to examine their mistakes, test their potential, and develop a new lifestyle that may lead to their positive re-entry into their communities.
Westville Correctional Facility recognizes an offender’s need for guided behavioral change. Westville’s ideal is to have individuals leave the facility with appropriate, stable life skills. The key to attaining this ideal is the development of relevant, well-organized, and dynamic programs.
Substance abuse treatment, parenting skills, anger and stress management, education, and job skill programs are just some of the main tools used to effect long-term change in an offender’s thinking and behavior.
R dorm (WCA) holds 381 minimum-security inmates. It provides the labor force used outside the secured perimeter and in the Lion’s Club Eyeglass Recycling Program. WCU also holds 110 maximum-security inmates assigned to long-term restricted housing plus 110 inmates in disciplinary segregation.
The General Services Complex (GSC) operates the Re-Entry Program, Admission & Orientation Unit, and Notre Dame/Holy Cross college program. The Education Complex (EC) provides literacy through vocational education, and houses over 360 offenders in the Therapeutic Community (TC) substance abuse program.
The Industrial Complex (IC) contains PEN Products which makes pallets and recycles surplus CDs/DVDs and operates PLUSーa faith and character based program. Inmates assigned to GSC, EC, and IC are primarily medium-security
Prison Insights
Westville Correctional Facility
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Visiting Hours and Rules
The visiting hours at Westville Correctional Facility are extremely hard to follow. We suggest printing out the calendar to help make sense of all the different times.
- On regular business days, Medium Security visits run 8:00 AM – 2:45 PM local time. Visitors may sign in between 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM. They will attempt to accommodate visits up to two hours.
- On weekends and major holidays only, general population visits run 7:00 AM until 2:45 PM local time. Visitors must sign in between 7:00 AM and 2:00 PM. Visits will last up to one hour only. Major holidays are New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, July Fourth, Labor Day, Thanksgiving (Thursday through Sunday), and Christmas Day.
- All general population, non-contact visitations will occur on the regular visitation day for the housing unit the offender is assigned to. The non-contact visitation will be conducted via video visit between the main gate and the visiting room. Non-contact visitation is limited to one hour.
- All WCU visits (non-contact) will be conducted via video visit between the main gate and WCU. Families will no longer need to pre-schedule their visits. Each offender will be responsible for notifying their visitors of their visit eligibility. All visits will be limited to one hour on a first come first serve basis. Video visit kiosks have one seatーadditional chairs will not be provided. Visits will be held on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays only. Registration will be from 8:00 AMto 2:00 PM on Tuesday and Friday and from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Sundays.
- Minimum Security (R Dorm) - Visits are allowed on weekends and state holidays from 7:00 AM to 2:45 PM local time.
- Medium Security (TC, EC, IC, and GSC) - Visitation rotates once every four days based on the offender's assigned area. See Visitation Calendar above.
- EC visitation will be divided into two visitation groups D and E on day one, and B and C Dorms on the second day. Offenders housed on N, O, and P dorms and in the A Building will visit on IC days. Offenders housed on 3 through 10 dorms will visit on GSC days.
GTL also provides a service for video visitation. Visitors may register online, and the inmate will need to communicate with his visitors the best and available times to receive video visits via GTL depending on his unit’s operation. All visitation rules apply. GTL video visits are monitored.
Visitors List
If you wish to visit an inmate at Westville Correctional Facility, you must be on their visitors’ list. If you are unsure about your status, please contact the inmate via mail. Do not call the facility for this information. It cannot be given over the phone.
Searches
Visitors are searched by staff using the walk-thru metal detector and hand-held wand. If the visitor does not pass either search successfully, both searches are conducted a second time. If the visitor does not pass the second set of searches, then the visitor will be allowed a non-contact visit, only.
Permanent or epidermal piercings are not considered to be a medical condition and visitors unable to pass the detectors successfully will be permitted non-contact visits, only.
The facility is also utilizing non-aggressive canines as part of the entrance shakedown procedures.
Registration
Visitors must register with staff prior to entering the visiting area. You will be required to sign the entry log and be approved for the visit before you are allowed to enter the visiting area.
Everyone 16 years old or older is required to show a picture identification. All visitors must present valid identification each time they visit. The only forms of identification accepted by the DOC are: valid driver’s license from the state of residence, valid state photo identification card from the state of residence, valid photo military identification card (active duty only), or a valid passport.
Children
Visitors under the age of 18 years of age must be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian at all times while on facility grounds.
Dress Code
Visitors must wear clothing that poses no threat to the security, custody, or maintenance of order at the facility. The following standards are to be met:
- Undergarments must be worn at all times
- Shoes must be worn, except for infants who are carried
- Tight fitting pants, such as stirrup, lycra pants, or leggings, aren’t allowed
- Dresses, skirts, or shorts must be no shorter than two inches above the knee and not have deep slits
- Halter or tank tops, tube tops, sheer, see-through, or low-cut clothing is not permitted
- All visitors must wear a shirt/blouse with sleeves
- No jewelry, except a wedding band or set, may be worn in the visitation area
- Hats or other head coverings are not permitted, except as required by religious beliefs
- No heavy coats, hooded sweatshirts, or sweaters will be permitted in the visiting area
What you can and can’t bring to a visit
Visitors are not permitted to possess or carry the following items into the visiting area:
Firearms, weapons, knives, ammunition, narcotics, medication (unless the medication is life-saving or life-sustaining), controlled substances, alcoholic beverages, marijuana, tobacco and tobacco related items, cameras, video, audio recording equipment, and electronic devices, including but not limited to: cameras, cellular telephones, pagers, blackberries, radios, tape recorders, etc.
Each adult visitor is allowed to bring up to $20.00 (coins only) into the visiting area to be used to purchase items from the vending machines. You are not allowed to give any money to an offender. This is considered trafficking and will cause the visit to be stopped, and you will be restricted from visiting the offender in the future.
All food items purchased in the visiting room will be removed by the visitor from its original container/wrapper and opened by the visitor at the Officers Desk. The food items will be placed on a provided paper plate.
The visitor will then throw the container / wrapper in the trash receptacle prior to the visitor leaving the Officers Desk. The items on the plate must remain in an unobstructed view of the Visiting Room Officer at all times.
Once the visitor returns to the seating area, the food item may then be passed to the offender. Offenders and visitors may not share the food item. Any deviation from this procedure and your visit may be cancelled, and a restriction may be imposed on your visitation. Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated.
Visitors with an infant may bring one clear, plastic baby bottle and/or pacifier and one diaper.
Physical Address
Westville Correctional Facility
5501 South 1100 West
Westville, IN 46391
Driving Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/zVajvuLRkp7RGKwp7
General Phone Number
(219)-785-2511
Inmate Mailing Address(es)
Inmate Name and DOC Number
Westville Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 473
Westville, IN 46391
To write to an offender at Westville Correctional Facility, you need the offender's name and DOC number. You can look up an offender's DOC number on the IDOC website by clicking here.
All incoming and outgoing mail is opened, examined, and read by designated facility staff.
Inmates may receive correspondence, legal mail, and publications from publishers only, which are reviewed to determine whether they are obscene or constitute a danger to safety and security.
You are allowed to send an inmate printed materials on any subject. However, they will be inspected and may be excluded if the matter is contraband or prohibited property. You must mail these items directly from the publisher, the distributor, or an accredited institution of higher learning.
Printed material must be new. The facility will not accept used materials, regardless of its origin. Soft back books only. Hardback books and coloring books are not allowed. Book companies, Amazon and Edward Hamilton, will be the only suppliers of newly printed matter allowed into the facility. With prior approval, accredited institutions of higher learning will be held to the same newly printed matter requirements noted previously.
The Indiana Department of Corrections also offers Debit Link and Messaging services through GTL.This allows you to email your inmate, and you can also buy them tablet-related features like music, games, and ebooks.
How to Call an Inmate
You can’t call an inmate at the Westville Correctional Facility. However, they do have access to a phone during assigned times, and they can make outgoing calls. For complete details on how to call an inmate in Indiana, please click here.
How to Send Money
The only way to send money to an inmate at Westville Correctional Facility is by using JPAY money orders.
Money orders must be sent with the lockbox deposit slip and must be complete with the inmate name, IDOC inmate number, sender’s name, and address.
You can find deposit slips by clicking here and selecting the JPay option. The money orders should be sent with a deposit slip, be made payable to JPay, and sent to the following address:
JPay
PO Box 531399,
Miami Shores, FL 33153
Programs For Inmates
The Indiana Department of Correction offers a wide selection of programming, courses, and activities based on both facility and offender need, as well as available resources. Listed below are a number of current programming opportunities available at the facility.
- Recovery While Incarcerated (RWI)
- Purposeful Living Units Serve
- Reformative Residential Re-Entry Program
- Behavioral Health Group Therapy
- Notre DameーRestorative Justice
- Notre Dame/Holy CrossーWestville Educational Initiative
- U.S. Department of Labor
- TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion)
- Life Skills
- Tutoring Program
- Vocational Classes
- Logistics
- Culinary Arts
- Business Technology
- Building Maintenance
- Auto Technology
- Thinking for a Change
- Standardized Pre-Release Orientation Program
- Modified Pre-Release Orientation Program
One of the most important programs is Westville’s educational program, Reintegration into Society through Education (RISE). The inmates have the opportunity to take programs on ELS, general literacy, GED, and vocational programs in auto body, building trades, culinary arts, electronics and many others.
Another program offered by Westville is Thinking for a Change, a course that attempts to teach inmates "an objective systematic approach to identifying thinking, beliefs, attitudes and values."
This course is an elective through a life changing program called Therapeutic Community at Westville Correctional Facility. "TC" is an intensive, peer driven, highly structured program that enforces cognitive thinking changes along with addiction education. This program aims to teach inmates positive social skills and to change the core thinking to more constructive and beneficial behaviors. In addition to these programs, other courses on substance abuse, transitioning from prison life back into society and many others are offered.
Since the DOC began giving time cuts for inmates that complete certain educational programs, many have obtained earlier releases. The facility focuses on keeping fathers connected with their children while in prison through programs such as Inside Out Dads, a program developed for prisons by the National Fatherhood Initiative, which tries to help offenders develop better parenting and fatherhood skills in order to become more involved with their children. The prison has a children's library for the fathers to use while visiting with their children.
TC also offers a program aimed at helping offenders learn to manage money, become debt free, and to save and spend wisely. Dave Ramsey's nationally known program, Financial Peace University is now being taught within the Therapeutic Community. FPU is a biblically based curriculum that teaches offenders how to handle money God's ways.
Westville also has many different industrial programs such as the Lions Club Eyeglass Recycling Program, Compost Recycling Program, and Prison Enterprise Network (PEN). The Lions Club Program has inmates sort through and clean donated glasses, which are then sorted by prescription. So far the program has processed over two million pairs of glasses.
The Compost Program allows inmates to develop skills for using machinery from "shovels and rakes to operation of heavy equipment" while processing the compost in the surrounding area of the prison. The PEN program offers inmates the opportunity to make a range of different products that are sold both within the prison and commercially.
Pictures of Westville Correctional Facility
Careers at Westville Correctional Facility
If you are interested in a career with the Indiana Department of Corrections at the Westville Correctional Facility, click here.
