[7] The new prison was designed to accommodate 1,200 inmates and incorporated a 78,000 sq ft (7,200 m2) medical facility on site to minimize the risk of escape.

[2] In December 1998, warden Patti Leigh Huffman refused to enforce a state order that banned cosmetics from the female prison population.

The Virginia Department of Corrections was concerned about drugs being smuggled in makeup containers, but the prison was already equipped for detection of such contraband.

"[8] In 1999, the American Civil Liberties Union investigated growing reports of sexual misconduct by the male prison staff upon the inmates.

[9] In June 2009, state senator Frank Ruff requested that the department investigate allegations that the correctional center denied access to religious services and profiled lesbian inmates for segregation.