(BOP) - On June 5, 2014, the United States Penitentiary (USP) at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) in Yazoo City, Mississippi, held a Staff Recognition Event and Dedication Ceremony. Charles E. Samuels, Jr., Director of the Bureau of Prisons, along with Complex Warden Marcus Martin, Southeast Regional Director Helen Marberry, Yazoo City Mayor Diane Delaware and U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves cut the ceremonial ribbon.
Bureau of Prisons executive staff; and local, state, and federal officials attended the event along with institution staff and others. The FCC Yazoo City Honor Guard posted the colors and staff member Galen Evans sang the National Anthem.
Director Samuels thanked the staff for their hard work in preparing for the activation of the facility. He also thanked the mayor, congressional representatives, and law enforcement partners for their support. The project began in fiscal year 2009, when the agency was appropriating funding for the facility, and construction crews broke ground on October 31, 2009.
FCC Yazoo City is located on approximately 1000 acres in Yazoo County, Mississippi, and consists of four facilities: a Federal Prison Camp, two Federal Correctional Institutions, and the new United States Penitentiary. The USP has a rated capacity of 960 beds. FCC Yazoo City is one of the largest employers in Yazoo County, Mississippi, and the estimated staff compliment will total approximately 900 staff with the addition of the USP.
The federal prison camp that is adjacent to the USP has inmates already and the first inmates are expected to arrive at the USP this autumn.
(Pictured from left to right: U. S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves; Yazoo City Mayor Diane Delaware; FCC Yazoo City Warden Marcus Martin; Bureau of Prisons Director Charles E. Samuels, Jr.; and Southeast Regional Director Helen Marberry.)