CHESTERFIELD, N.J. — New Jersey leaders have officially broken ground on a $310 million state prison for women, marking one of the most significant correctional infrastructure overhauls in state history. The new 420-bed, mixed-custody facility will replace the 112-year-old Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, which has been plagued for years by abuse scandals and federal intervention.
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The first construction phase is expected to open in 2027, with full completion slated for 2028. The new facility will sit on 33 acres of state-owned land in Burlington County, a central location officials say will provide easier access for visiting families.
Gov. Phil Murphy acknowledged the facility’s troubled past just before joining officials to turn ceremonial shovels at the Chesterfield site.
“For decades, Edna Mahan has stood as a shameful symbol of a deeply flawed status quo,” Murphy said.
He emphasized that closing the “woefully outdated” facility is not just about modernizing buildings but redefining standards of safety and rehabilitation.
By relocating the prison and avoiding costly retrofits at the old site, Murphy said taxpayers will reap significant financial benefits.
“By closing Edna Mahan once and for all, we will save our state’s taxpayers more than $160 million in what would have been much-needed capital projects that would have been the ultimate good-money-after-bad story,” he noted. “So today, we’re beginning a new chapter for criminal justice in New Jersey.”
The 2021 scandal — in which more than a dozen officers were arrested for violent assaults during forced cell extractions — prompted federal scrutiny and calls for systemic change. While a judge dismissed the indictments of 14 officers earlier this month, officials vowed reforms would continue regardless of the legal outcome.
Victoria Kuhn, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Corrections, said the transformation is already underway.
“When the doors of this new facility open, the foundation for its success will have already been poured with the reforms that we have implemented,” Kuhn said, citing body camera requirements, trauma- and gender-informed training, and expanded vocational, educational, and addiction treatment programs.
Advocates are now pushing lawmakers to cement those policy changes through new legislation that strengthens oversight, sexual misconduct safeguards, and reentry services. Kuhn said she expects movement on the bill when legislators return to Trenton in November.
The groundbreaking comes as the political landscape prepares to shift with an upcoming gubernatorial transition. Some advocates fear that without codified reforms, progress could be rolled back.
Terry Schuster, the state’s corrections ombudsperson, urged lawmakers to act swiftly.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen with the election. We don’t know what’s going to happen with the leadership of the department,” Schuster said. “We want to make sure that the policy changes that have happened in the last few years really become harder to roll back.”
Murphy acknowledged that broader updates to correctional infrastructure remain stalled due to limited funds.
“With a limited budget, a limited amount of money, you’ve got to prioritize, like anything else in life,” he said. “And I feel very confident and comfortable that this was our top priority. And this is a big day, in that respect.”
The new facility will be situated near the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility — now vacant — and the active Garden State Youth Center, positioning the Chesterfield area as a major hub of New Jersey’s correctional network.
Originally reported by New Jersey Monitor.
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