Where will Alex Murdaugh go to jail? All about Kirkland Correctional Institution

Alex Murdaugh, a South Carolina attorney is now in the custody of the state prisons system to start spending the rest of his life behind the bars. He was sentenced to life in prison with parole on Friday, convicted of murdering his 42-year-old wife and a 22-year-old son. 

The convicted double murderer, Murdaugh is now in the custody of the State Carolina Department of Corrections. He will spend nearly two months with “some of the most violent and dangerous offenders in the state.”

Murdaugh was transferred to Columbia’s Kirkland Correctional Institution on Friday afternoon after being taken on the roughly 90-minute trip from Walterboro. In the next 45 days, he will be kept in Columbia’s Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Centre, one with the highest security. 

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As part of the process, he is expected to have evaluations including mental and physical health checks. The evaluation will also determine which of South Carolina’s 21 prisons Murdaugh will be sent to spend the duration of his sentence.

Kirkland Correctional Institution

Kirkland Correctional Institution is a state prison for men. It is located in the state’s capital city, Columbia, Richland County. The institution is owned and operated by the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

Kirkland has a special role in South Carolina’s prison system. There at the  point of intake makes an assessment for all male state prisoners. It has the site of the state’s Maximum Security Unit and a health care facility. 

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The first prison was started in 1975 and currently houses a maximum of 1707 inmates, plus another 50 in the Max unit and 24 in the infirmary. In September 2017, death row inmates were moved to Kirkland Correctional Institution. The state’s Broad River Correctional Institution is adjacent to the north.