HCI History

Originally built in 1977, HCI was an all-male prison located deep in the Florida Everglades, surrounded by swamps and wildlife. Until 1994, the facility housed minimum-security, medium-security, and psychiatric inmates. In 1994, a maximum-security building was added to the compound, allowing HCI to house all security levels—except for death row inmates.

At its peak, HCI housed nearly 800 inmates and employed approximately 140 guards, with a maximum capacity of just over 1,200 inmates. The main prison compound sat on 50 acres, but the total HCI property spanned over 1,200 acres. This included:

• A barracks compound for inmate farm laborers
• A juvenile center
• Condo-style housing for guards and their families
• Over 1,000 acres of farmland used to generate revenue through inmate labor

The facility itself included:

• Four minimum-security buildings
• Two medium-security buildings
• One maximum-security building
• An administrative segregation unit
• A vocational building
• An activity center
• Laundry facilities
• A chapel
• A multi-purpose/theater building
• Mailrooms, barber shops, and a commissary
• A visitation center

The cafeteria was uniquely divided by a fence running through the yard to help deter gang violence by separating inmate groups. Outdoor recreational options included handball, baseball, and basketball courts.

For infrastructure, the site featured underground utility tunnels and a backup generator that could power the entire facility during outages. Perimeter security included four manned guard towers, an electrified interior fence topped with barbed wire, and a 10-foot-wide "no man's land" between the inner and outer fences filled with razor wire coils.

HCI officially closed its doors in 2011 due to ongoing staffing challenges and internal corruption. Its remote location made it difficult to consistently recruit and retain correctional officers.

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