Midlands Prison
The Midlands Prison is a medium security prison in Portlaoise, County Laois. It receives prisoners who are aged 17 years and over. It has a bed capacity of 870 and its daily average number of inmates resident in 2009 was 512.
History
The Midlands Prison was built adjacent to Portlaoise Prison with which it shares some facilities. It was built as a public-private partnership at a cost of £46 million. It opened in 2000 with an operational capacity of 875 inmates. It is a committal prison as all prisoners resident have been transferred from other prisons. A very small number of prisoners in the resident population are awaiting trial but the vast majority of prisoners have already been sentenced. It typically receives prisoners with home addresses in counties Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow. As of 2022, the daily average number in custody was 861 prisoners.