Department of Corrections
Blackburn Correctional Complex Receives Near-Perfect Score in Re-Accreditation Audit

Blackburn Correctional Complex (BCC) received a near perfect score of 99.8 percent during its re-accreditation audit with the American Correctional Association (ACA). The audit took place July 18-20. The facility only missed one non-mandatory standard which can be easily resolved.

In announcing the scores, the auditors were very impressed with the facility, stating that it was very clean and they could tell that the staff and inmates take pride in the facility. “The grounds were immaculate,” said audit chairperson Diane Lee. “This is one of the best landscaped facilities I have ever visited.” The auditors also singled out the vocational schools as extremely efficient, clean and well run.

“I am very proud of my staff,” said Warden Don Bottom. “All their hard work was reflected in this audit.”

Commissioner LaDonna Thompson also congratulated the BCC employees. “This score depicts the highest level of commitment by the staff at Blackburn,” said Thompson. “This isn’t something that you prepare for at the last minute – it takes a great deal of time and effort to meet the high standards set forth by the ACA. It requires a lot of hard work on a daily basis to consistently maintain this level of performance.”

BCC will now go before the ACA commission panel in Phoenix, Arizona in January 2012.

ACA audits consist of approximately 525 national standards that cover security, operational and programming aspects of a prison, and require constant monitoring and quality control checks. Each prison is audited by the ACA every three years and has an inter-departmental audit (Program Security Review) every year. Kentucky has been a member of ACA since the early 1980s.