Oakley Training School
Encyclopedia
The Oakley Training School (OTS) is a juvenile correctional facility of the Mississippi Department of Human Services
located in unincorporated
Hinds County
, Mississippi
, near Raymond
. It is Mississippi's sole juvenile correctional facility for children adjudicated into the juvenile correctional system.
Oakley has a capacity of 150 students. Oakley Training School, also known as the Mississippi Youth Correctional Complex (MYCC), is located on a 1068 acres (432.2 ha) plot of land surrounded by agricultural fields; the State of Mississippi states that the complex is about a 30 minute commute from Jackson
. Grantier Architecture designed a 6598 square foot building of the school.
(Parchman) in Sunflower County, Mississippi
. The Mississippi state prison hospital remained at Oakley. On July 21, 1913 a fire swept through the Oakley Prison Farm and killed 35 black prisoners. In 1925, after two white prison camps in the Mississippi penal system faced overcrowding, the state of Mississippi moved 75 white prisoners between the ages of 14 and 21 to the Oakley facility, turning it into a juvenile correctional facility. William B. Taylor and Tyler H. Fletcher, authors of "Profits from convict labor: Reality or myth observations in Mississippi: 1907–1934," said that Oakley was "a large and unjustifiable financial drain" until its repurposing as a juvenile facility; they said that Oakley was "a financial drain, though perhaps a more justifiable one."
Later Oakley became the Negro Juvenile Reformatory and the Black Juvenile Reformatory School. Before desegregation Oakley housed Black children of both sexes, while the Columbia Training School housed White children of both sexes; the desegregation plan around the 1970s required the state to house male children 15 and older of all races at Oakley, while males 14 and under and females were housed at Columbia.
In 1999 DYS spent $1,289,700 of U.S. Department of Justice grant money to build a 15 bed maximum security unit for girls at Oakley. Around 2008 the Mississippi Youth Justice Project advocated for the closure of Oakley. Officials from the school responded, saying that the school had made improvements since past scandals.
Mississippi Department of Human Services
The Mississippi Department of Human Services is a state agency of Mississippi, headquartered in Jackson. The department operates the state's family services.-Division of Youth Services:...
located in unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
Hinds County
Hinds County, Mississippi
As of the census of 2000, there were 250,800 people, 91,030 households, and 62,355 families residing in the county. The population density was 288 people per square mile . There were 100,287 housing units at an average density of 115 per square mile...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, near Raymond
Raymond, Mississippi
Raymond is a city in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,664. Raymond is one of the two county seats of Hinds County and is the home of the main campus of Hinds Community College....
. It is Mississippi's sole juvenile correctional facility for children adjudicated into the juvenile correctional system.
Oakley has a capacity of 150 students. Oakley Training School, also known as the Mississippi Youth Correctional Complex (MYCC), is located on a 1068 acres (432.2 ha) plot of land surrounded by agricultural fields; the State of Mississippi states that the complex is about a 30 minute commute from Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
. Grantier Architecture designed a 6598 square foot building of the school.
History
Originally Oakley was the Oakley Farm, a prison for women in the State of Mississippi prison system. In 1894 the State of Mississippi purchased a 2725 acres (1,102.8 ha) property that became the Oakley Farm, and the state housed all women in the Mississippi penal system in Oakley. A limestone crushing plant opened at Oakley; it became a financial failure. Oakley did not have very good soil, so its farming operations did not do very well. Early in the 20th century the women at Oakley were moved to the Mississippi State PenitentiaryMississippi State Penitentiary
Mississippi State Penitentiary , also known as Parchman Farm, is the oldest prison and the only maximum security prison for men in the state of Mississippi, USA....
(Parchman) in Sunflower County, Mississippi
Sunflower County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 34,369 people, 9,637 households, and 7,314 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile . There were 10,338 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile...
. The Mississippi state prison hospital remained at Oakley. On July 21, 1913 a fire swept through the Oakley Prison Farm and killed 35 black prisoners. In 1925, after two white prison camps in the Mississippi penal system faced overcrowding, the state of Mississippi moved 75 white prisoners between the ages of 14 and 21 to the Oakley facility, turning it into a juvenile correctional facility. William B. Taylor and Tyler H. Fletcher, authors of "Profits from convict labor: Reality or myth observations in Mississippi: 1907–1934," said that Oakley was "a large and unjustifiable financial drain" until its repurposing as a juvenile facility; they said that Oakley was "a financial drain, though perhaps a more justifiable one."
Later Oakley became the Negro Juvenile Reformatory and the Black Juvenile Reformatory School. Before desegregation Oakley housed Black children of both sexes, while the Columbia Training School housed White children of both sexes; the desegregation plan around the 1970s required the state to house male children 15 and older of all races at Oakley, while males 14 and under and females were housed at Columbia.
In 1999 DYS spent $1,289,700 of U.S. Department of Justice grant money to build a 15 bed maximum security unit for girls at Oakley. Around 2008 the Mississippi Youth Justice Project advocated for the closure of Oakley. Officials from the school responded, saying that the school had made improvements since past scandals.
External links
- Division of Youth Services." - Mississippi Department of Human ServicesMississippi Department of Human ServicesThe Mississippi Department of Human Services is a state agency of Mississippi, headquartered in Jackson. The department operates the state's family services.-Division of Youth Services:...
.