History of the Prison

Originally a fortress built in 1669 to defend against the Ottoman Turks, designed in the shape of a regular hexagon. After losing its military significance, the fortress was repurposed and, from 1856, began functioning as a prison facility. It has continuously served this purpose to the present day.

From December 1989 to 28 March 1990, the prison witnessed the largest prison riot in the history of Czechoslovak corrections. Parts of the facility were damaged or completely destroyed during the riot, with the total damage to state property amounting to 23 million Czechoslovak crowns.

A tragic day in the history of the prison occurred on 23 November 1991, marked as the bloodiest prison escape in Czechoslovak history. During the escape of seven sentenced prisoners, five members of the former Corps of Correctional Services (predecessor ofthe Corps of Prison and Court Guard) were murdered and two others were seriously injured.

The Present

The Leopoldov Prison, which also serves as a remand prison, is one of the oldest and—by area, the size of the facility complex, staff numbers, and prisoner capacity—one of the largest correctional institutions in Slovakia. It is designated for holding both remand prisoners and sentenced male prisoners classified by court for placement in facilities with a medium security level (formerly second correctional group) and maximum security level (formerly third correctional group), including those sentenced to life imprisonment.

The prison grounds are divided into administrative, residential, and industrial sections, covering an area of 263,739 square metres. Some of the buildings within the complex are listed as historical monuments. The total capacity of the prison is 1,408 persons (336 remand prisoners and 1,072 sentenced prisoners).

Remand custody has been carried out at the prison since 1991. Remand prisoners are held either in standard-regime or mitigated regime units. Their rights, as defined by legal regulations, are strictly respected, and psychological or social worker intervention is provided when necessary.

In addition to standard units, the prison operates specialised units for sentenced prisoners: a unit for life-sentenced prisoners, a unit for prisoners with serious psychological issues or adaptation problems, and a high-security unit. For sentenced prisoners classified under the medium security level, differentiation group "A", who are employed in internal operations, there is a self-governed unit under the supervision of a case manager.

Prison Personnel

The prison staff consists of members of the Corps of Prison and Court Guard and employees. Employees represent 12% of the total personnel (calculated from the established number of both staff categories).

Social Programme

The facility includes a shooting range, which serves not only for live and training fire exercises, but also for sports, defence training, and social events.

As part of the social programme, the prison also operates service apartments, a fitness centre, sauna, football and tennis courts.

In addition, the prison manages an accommodation facility located within the Administrative Building, used for short-term lodging of staff from Leopoldov Prison as well as staff from other facilities, participants of training and seminars organised by the Corps, and guests arriving within the framework of international cooperation.

International Cooperation

For several years, the prison has maintained professional contact with Valdice Prison in the Czech Republic, particularly in the field of information and experience exchange regarding the treatment of prisoners.