Florida State Prison

Florida State Prison, otherwise known as Raiford Prison, is a correctional institution located in unincorporated Bradford County, Florida.. It was formerly known as the "Florida State Prison-East Unit" as it was originally part of Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida . The facility, a part of the Florida Department of Corrections, is located on State Road 16 right across the border from Union County. The institution opened in 1961, even though construction was not completed until 1968. With a maximum population of over 1,400 inmates, FSP is one of the largest prisons in the state. FSP houses one of the state's three death row cell blocks, and the state's execution chamber. Union Correctional Institution also houses male death row inmates while Lowell Annex houses female death row inmates.Lethal injection became the standard method of execution in 2000. The electric chair is still used, but only if the inmate requests it and was convicted during the time when the electric chair was the only execution method used.FSP sits in the center of several other prisons. It is surrounded by New River Correctional Institution, New River O-Unit, FSP West Unit, and sits across the river from Union Correctional Institution. Even though Union Correctional Institution is on the same property, immediately north-west of FSP, the county line runs in between the two, which makes Raiford the United States Postal Service address city of Union Correctional Institution, while Starke is the USPS address city of Florida State Prison.