In a rural town called Lukasville, in Southwest Ohio, there is a facility where some of the most dangerous criminals in Ohio are imprisoned. This facility, formerly named Southern Ohio Correctional Institute, is most commonly referred to as “Lukasville Prison.”
In hopes that Criminal Justice students will have a better understanding of institutional settings, Professor Marilyn Simon has set up a walk-through tour of this facility on Friday, May 18, 2012. Lukasville is one of the only maximum security prisons in Ohio, where many of the inmates, because of bad behavior in a less secure prison, have been transferred.
These violent offenders are rarely first time offenders doing less than a year of “time.” They are most often repeat, violent offenders. They are considered “the worst of the worst.”
There will be no interactions with the inmates during the tour. While under extremely strict surveillance, students will be able to see where Death Row inmates spend their final days before execution by lethal injection. This experience will leave little to the imagination when it comes to exactly how Ohio handles people who have committed the most heinous crimes.
There are a limited number of seats on the bus, so the number of students will be limited to a first come, first serve basis. The bus will leave promptly at 6:00 a.m. Friday, May 18 from our Blue Ash campus, so students must arrive no later than 5:45 a.m. The sign up list must be sent by Professor Simon to the prison Warden by noon on May 11th, so the deadline to sign up (or withdraw) is May 10.
Be certain that you are very familiar with the restrictions for touring this prison, such as a personal criminal background, appropriate dress, etc. All restrictions are on the information sheet provided by your Criminal Justice professors, or with the sign-in sheet at Ms. Thomayer’s desk in 324 Muntz.
For more information, you may email Professor Simon at marilyn.simon@uc.edu.