How Many Prisons and Jails Does Alaska Have?

Alaska has 13 state-run correctional facilities, about 14 locally operated community jails, and six secure youth facilities, plus contracted halfway houses and a home electronic monitoring program. There is no federal prison in the state. Counting how many prisons and jails Alaska has is unusually simple compared with most states because the Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) runs the entire adult system itself, one of only a handful of unified state correctional systems in the country.1Alaska Office of Management and Budget. Alaska Department of Corrections – Key Performance Indicators

The 13 State Correctional Facilities

DOC’s 13 institutions handle everything from pretrial detention to long-term sentences for state crimes. They stretch from Ketchikan in the southeast panhandle to Bethel in the western delta:2Alaska Court System. Department of Corrections Facilities and Locally Run Community Jails

  • Anchorage Correctional Complex, the state’s primary intake and detention hub, which includes the Cook Inlet Pretrial unit
  • Anvil Mountain Correctional Center in Nome
  • Fairbanks Correctional Center
  • Goose Creek Correctional Center near Point MacKenzie, a medium-security facility with over 1,500 beds and one of the state’s largest institutions
  • Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River, which houses female inmates
  • Ketchikan Correctional Center
  • Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau
  • Mat-Su Pretrial in Palmer
  • Palmer Correctional Center in Sutton, which was temporarily closed in 2020 due to budget cuts and later reopened, adding roughly 300 beds back to the system
  • Point Mackenzie Correctional Farm, a working farm for minimum-security inmates
  • Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward, the state’s maximum-security institution
  • Wildwood Correctional Complex near Kenai
  • Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center in Bethel

As of the most recent available data, Alaska’s state prison population was approximately 4,480 people, with an incarceration rate of roughly 205 per 100,000 residents. Geography drives a lot of how the system operates. Moving an inmate between facilities often means a small plane, because no road connects many of these communities.

Community and Regional Jails

Beyond the 13 state facilities, DOC contracts with locally operated community and regional jails for pretrial services and short-term detention in areas too remote for a full state facility. These jails handle initial bookings, hold people awaiting court appearances, and sometimes supervise electronic monitoring locally.3Alaska Office of Management and Budget. State of Alaska FY2026 Governors Operating Budget – Department of Corrections

As of the FY2026 state budget, community jails operate in about 14 locations:

  • Southcentral: Cordova, Homer, Kodiak, and Valdez
  • Southeast: Craig, Haines, Petersburg, Sitka, and Wrangell
  • Southwest and western: Bristol Bay Borough (King Salmon), Dillingham, and Unalaska
  • Northern: Kotzebue and North Slope Borough (Utqiagvik)

The community jail in Seward officially closed during fiscal year 2024. These are not full-scale prisons. Most are small operations staffed by local employees and funded through DOC contracts, existing because Alaska’s geography makes it impractical to transport every arrested person hundreds of miles to a state facility for a first appearance.

No Federal Prison in Alaska

The Federal Bureau of Prisons does not operate any facility in Alaska.4Federal Bureau of Prisons. List of BOP Locations People charged with federal crimes in Alaska are typically held at state DOC facilities under intergovernmental agreements while awaiting trial or sentencing, then transferred to a federal prison outside the state once a federal sentence is imposed.

The Anchorage Correctional Complex also holds people in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody under a federal contract that pays the state a daily per-person fee.5U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Anchorage Correctional Complex So while there is no BOP institution in the state, federal detainees are held on Alaskan soil in state-run facilities.

Youth Facilities

The Alaska Division of Juvenile Justice, housed within the Department of Family and Community Services, maintains six secure youth facilities:6Alaska Department of Family and Community Services. Division of Juvenile Justice Facilities

  • Bethel Youth Facility
  • Fairbanks Youth Facility
  • Johnson Youth Center in Juneau
  • Kenai Peninsula Youth Facility
  • Mat-Su Youth Facility in Palmer
  • McLaughlin Youth Center in Anchorage

A seventh, the Nome Youth Facility, closed in July 2019. That closure left western Alaska without a local youth detention option, meaning young people from the region who need secure detention now face long-distance transfers.

Halfway Houses and Electronic Monitoring

Alaska’s correctional footprint extends past its locked facilities. DOC contracts with private operators to run community residential centers, commonly called halfway houses, where people nearing the end of a sentence transition back into daily life while leaving during the day for work or treatment. These contracted centers have operated in Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks, Nome, and Bethel, among other locations.7Alaska Court System. After Sentencing

DOC also operates an electronic monitoring program that lets qualifying inmates serve time at home. Participants pay $12 to $14 a day, must be within three years of their release date, cannot have current domestic violence convictions, and must live in one of the approved areas, which include Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, the Mat-Su Valley, and parts of the Kenai Peninsula.7Alaska Court System. After Sentencing Add all of it up and Alaska runs roughly three dozen correctional and detention facilities when state prisons, community jails, and youth centers are counted together.