The facility was converted from the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane to an adult correctional facility in 1977 at a cost of $2.47 million of general obligation bonds,[clarification needed] as authorized by Chapter 29 of the Laws of 1977.

The first two inmates were transferred from the nearby Waupun Correctional Institution to DCI on May 15, 1978.

On October 29, 1993, ground was broken for a $45 million expansion which more than doubled the size of the facility.

DCI served as the reception center for both male and female inmates until December 1, 2004, when the female reception center moved to the Taycheedah Correctional Institution.

DCI also serves as the central medical center for the division, providing both in-patient and out-patient care for male and female inmates.