The penitentiary houses Kentucky's male death row inmates and the commonwealth's execution facility.

[2] In most cases, inmates are not sent directly to the penitentiary after sentencing but are sent there because of violent or disruptive behavior committed in other less secure correctional facilities in the commonwealth.

Construction of the Kentucky State Branch Penitentiary began in 1884, using massive limestone blocks quarried from a site down the Cumberland.

In 1880, three Prison Commissioners appointed to find a location for a branch penitentiary: A part of the 1910 reform bill was to separate convicts by age and crime.

The main issue with the Kentucky State Penitentiary in this period was the correctional officer force, always low in numbers and low-paid.

The inmates sawed through cell bars, walked through the cell-house doors, and climbed approximately thirty feet to a window using an electrical extension cord.

Harold McQueen, 44 years old, was convicted in 1981 of murdering Rebecca O' Hearn, a convenience store clerk, during a robbery that netted him $1,500.

Harold McQueen was electrocuted at 12:07 a.m. Over one hundred death penalty opponents and twenty five supporters of capital punishment protested outside of the penitentiary.

In March, following inquiries by the Associated Press, Kentucky Corrections Commissioner LaDonna Thompson asked the state Attorney General's office to review Embry's death.

[9] In July 2016 author Steve E. Asher published Hauntings of the Kentucky State Penitentiary, a book of accounts of paranormal activity at KSP.

On July 1, 2018, DeEdra Hart was named the first female warden in the history of the Kentucky State Penitentiary.

Inmates in the minimum security unit are given additional privileges, including fishing in Lake Barkley during their spare time.