History of the Prison

In May 1973, construction began on a new prison for juvenile offenders near the town of Sučany. The main contractor was Pozemné stavby, a state enterprise based in Žilina. Sentenced prisoners from the Correctional and Educational Institution Sučany played a significant role in the construction, with up to one hundred prisoners working on site daily. The first phase was completed in December 1975, with the handover of the administrative and operational facilities (the command building, guardhouse, staff accommodation, garages, wastewater treatment plant, transformer station, and access roads with parking areas), the accommodation and service area (prisoner dormitory, utility block, boiler room, utility networks, and sports fields), and the industrial area (a production hall covering 3,450 m²). Construction of the second phase (a training center with school, workshops, and gymnasium) began in 1976 and was opened in 1978.

In January 1976, all juvenile prisoners, along with some experiencedcase managers from Ružomberok, were transferred to the new institution. The former Correctional and Educational Institution in Sučany, which had operated in the premises of a psychiatric hospital since 1972, became a branch of the new prison until 31 December 1985. The prison had a capacity of 500 prisoners and was intended not only for juvenile prisoners but also for young adult prisoners sentenced to up to five years in the first correctional group. Adult prisoners were housed separately from juveniles. The opening of the new juvenile prison marked the end of years of provisional and short-term efforts to provide adequate conditions for the incarceration of juveniles. The prison complex covers an area of 8.5 hectares and consists of 21 buildings. The dominant feature is a five-storey accommodation facility for male prisoners.

One of the most important tasks of the new institution was to recruit and stabilize a professional staff capable of implementing a modern approach to correctional work with juvenile prisoners. Selected prison officers completed a three-week training course for educational staff in October 1975, focused on methods and approaches to working with juvenile prisoners, followed by a professional internship at the Ružomberok Prison. Case managers were primarily recruited from among university graduates with teaching experience. The institution also employed two psychologists, social workers, and teachers full-time. The institution received significant attention from the then Directorate of the Corps of Correctional Services, particularly the penological division, which developed the so-called “Temporary Guidelines for Correctional Work with Juveniles.” For the first time, internal differentiation of juvenile prisoners was tested in practice according to new priorities. Unlike the previous criteria based on criminal law, the new approach emphasized personal characteristics, allowing for the formation of more homogeneous groups based on intellectual and personality traits. The key criteria for internal differentiation were intelligence level, educational attainment, and sentence length. Based on these criteria, two differentiation subgroups were created. The first subgroup consisted of juveniles without significant intellectual impairments who had completed the equivalent of lower secondary education and had been sentenced to more than six months. The second subgroup included juveniles with below-average intellectual abilities or mental disorders, typically with only primary education, regardless of sentence length, as well as intellectually capable juveniles sentenced to six months or less. Two types of specialized resocialization programmes were implemented for each subgroup. The testing of the “Temporary Guidelines” lasted until 1986. The insights gained were incorporated into the “Basic Document on Work with Juvenile Prisoners” and later into the “Guidelines on the Specifics of Serving a Prison Sentence by Juveniles at the Juvenile Correctional Institution Martin,” both of which became effective in 1987. In the 1980s, the spatial and material conditions, along with the gradually expanding team of qualified staff, created favourable conditions for quality penitentiary work with juvenile offenders. A structured educational system was in place, along with various leisure, club, and sports activities. A strong motivational factor for good behaviour and work performance was the system of individual or group temporary leave.

Juveniles from the first subgroup worked in two shifts in a mechanical engineering workshop operated by ZŤS Martin, a heavy machinery plant in Martin, within the prison. Others worked outside the prison, mostly as unskilled labourers at state enterprises such as Drevina Turany, Stavoindustria Martin, Pozemné stavby Martin, Agrostav Martin, Železničné staviteľstvo Vrútky, Doprastav Martin, or on seasonal harvests for agricultural cooperatives. Adult prisoners worked mainly within the institution in positions such as kitchen staff and maintenance workers.

Since its opening, the institution has attracted significant interest from both professional and lay audiences, as demonstrated by numerous domestic and international visits, as well as expert seminars and conferences held on site. It is fair to say that during the 1980s, the institution served as a showcase of the Slovak prison system.

The Present

At present, the prison serves as a prison for the imprisonment of juvenile male prisoners as well as adult male prisoners classified under the minimum security level, without any age restriction. In March 2016, due to the reconstruction of the Chrenová prison, female prisoners classified under the minimum and medium security levels were transferred from the Nitra – Chrenová Prison to this prison.

The total capacity of the institution is 517 places, of which 24 are designated for juveniles, 117 for sentenced women in minimum and medium security levels, and 376 for sentenced men in the minimum security level.

Imprisonment is carried out in a differentiated manner—separately for male and female prisoners. The prison also operates specialized units/cells: an admission unit, a pre-release unit, a closed unit, a unit for protective and voluntary treatment, and a high-security regime cell.

Within the pre-release unit, the institution is actively involved in the long-term national project Chance for Return, financed by the European Social Fund under the Human Resources Operational Programme, Priority Axis Social Inclusion. The project primarily addresses the need to bridge the gap between penitentiary and post-penitentiary care policies, reduce the risk of reoffending, and minimize potential crisis situations upon release. The project’s main activity is focused on the resocialization and active reintegration of prisoners into society and the labour market, and on improving their access to social services.

Cultural and Educational Activities

Cultural and educational activities in the institution are primarily focused on: educational programmes, leisure and sports activities, use of the prison library, watching television and listening to radio broadcasts, access to newspapers and magazines, cultural, educational and entertainment events, performances by guest artists, and other activities that promote cultural awareness and general education of prisoners. A multipurpose room with a stage is available for education, cultural events, concerts, theatre performances, lectures, and talks with notable figures from sports, cultural, and public life. Numerous interest groups of various focus are available in the prison (gardening, computer, maintenance, creative workshops, table tennis, music, aquaristics, and more). The prison library holds a collection of both domestic and international literature and currently includes more than 8,327 titles across various genres.

Education

The prison provides educational programmes in cooperation with the Secondary Vocational School of St. Joseph the Worker in Žilina (for the three-year vocational programme “bricklayer”), the United School in Martin (vocational programmes “repair mechanic – machines and equipment” and “wood processing”), and the Vocational School in Martin (vocational programme “catering operations – food preparation”). Individual education based on personal learning plans is provided through a satellite classroom of the J. C. Hronský Grammar School in Vrútky. In fulfilling compulsory primary education, the institution cooperates with the SNP Primary School in Sučany and the Special Primary School in Martin.

Healthcare

Medical care for prisoners and staff is provided by qualified personnel in three medical clinics (general medicine, psychiatry, and dentistry). The inpatient section for ill prisoners has a capacity of 12 beds. The protective treatment ward, which provides institutional treatment for alcohol and drug addictions and pathological gambling, has a total of 27 beds (21 for adult male prisoners and 6 for juvenile male prisoners).

Religious Services

Regular Catholic spiritual services for sentenced prisoners are provided by a prison chaplain. Participation in spiritual care is voluntary and based on individual interest. The chaplain also offers spiritual support to staff, their family members, and prison officers. Spiritual services for non-Catholic believers are provided voluntarily by individuals authorized by the respective religious authorities or registered religious communities in Slovakia, in accordance with the list of officially registered churches and religious societies.

Employment

Work activities for prisoners are a consistently used and effective means of achieving resocialization. Currently, over 229 prisoners are employed within the prison’s secondary economy. Employment activities include various simple manual tasks such as sorting textile and rope waste, visual inspection and sorting of bearing components, bearing sleeves, and automotive parts. Other jobs involve auxiliary construction work, aluminium ladder production, printing tasks, and more complex production processes in mechanical engineering and furniture manufacturing. In the prison’s industry centren areas focused on furniture and engineering manufacturing, activities include the production of office furniture, kitchen and living room furniture, as well as metal structures, archival shelving, and other weldable products, components, and frames made from metallurgical materials for both legal and natural persons.

Within internal prison operations, prisoners are assigned to maintenance, the prison laundry, wastewater treatment, kitchen services, and the medical unit. The average employment rate of prisoners and remand prisoners in Sučany has long remained between 80–90% of those eligible to work. A laundry and repair centre located in one of the prison buildings provides laundry services not only for the prisoners housed in the institution but also for other designated prisons in the region.

Prison Personnel

State service in the institution is performed by qualified personnel—members and employees of the Corps of Prison and Court Guard. The prison has a staffing plan for 213 prison officers and 27 employees, all fully qualified to work in the prison environment.

As for educational attainment:
– 0.4% of the staff have completed tertiary education at the third level (doctoral),
– 37% have completed second-level tertiary education (master’s degree),
– 7% have completed first-level tertiary education (bachelor’s degree),
– 53% have completed secondary education, and
– 3% have completed secondary vocational education.
Women make up 24% of the total staff.

Social Programme

As part of its social programme, the prison operates official apartments. In the administrative building, a relaxation area is equipped with a whirlpool bath, sauna, infrared sauna, and rest room. A fitness romm and, during winter, a gymnasium are also available to the staff. The institution also operates a transit accommodation facility for the short-term housing needs of staff and prison officers from both the home institution and others.

International Cooperation

The prison has maintained long-term professional cooperation with the Všehrdy Prison of the Prison Service of the Czech Republic, which also specializes in the imprisonment of juvenile offenders.