Penitentiary of New Mexico

The Penitentiary of New Mexico is a men's maximum-security prison located in unincorporated Santa Fe County, 15mi south of central Santa Fe, on New Mexico State Road 14. It is operated by the New Mexico Corrections Department.The complex consists of three separate facilities. The facilities are now referred to as Level V, Level VI and Level II for the minimum restrict facility, based upon the New Mexico adaptation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons system for inmate classification and restriction. The regular daily population is about 790 inmates, whose average age is 32.The Level VI Supermax site contains New Mexico's Death Row. This is where Terry Clark was executed in 2001. He remains, as of 2014, the only execution in New Mexico since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.The death penalty was repealed in New Mexico in 2009, and therefore no further executions have taken place. As of August 2016, the current governor, Susana Martinez is seeking to reinstate it.HistoryOpened in 1885, the New Mexico Penitentiary had been authorized by Congress since 1853. The design of the original facility on Cerrillos Road was based on the same plans used for Sing Sing and Joliet.