© 2024 WOSU Public Media
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Indiana Women’s Prison Warden Retires Amid Review Of Operations

Jake Harper | Side Effects

Laurie Johnson, warden of the Indiana Women’s Prison, is leaving her post. The change comes after the state corrections department began a “comprehensive review of all IWP operations” last month. 

Johnson began her career at the Indiana Department of Correction in 1990, and became warden of the women’s prison in 2017. In January, she was on approved leave when the department internally announced plans to examine the Indianapolis facility’s “programs, treatment services, maintenance, and situational readiness,” according to an email sent to prison staff. Deputy warden Virginia Sampson became the acting head of the prison. 

Warden Laurie Johnson
Credit IDOC
Warden Laurie Johnson

A Department of Correction spokesperson declined to comment on the circumstances of Johnson’s departure. Information from the State Personnel Department shows Johnson’s last day will be Feb.19, and that she is eligible for retirement benefits. 

Last summer, Side Effects reported that women in the prison were locked in their cells in the summer heat, with limited access to toilets, running water and air conditioning. Several medical emergencies occurred during that time, according to internal emails, and some women had to resort to urinating in cups when they weren’t let out to use the bathroom. 

Current and former staff said the prison wasn’t doing enough to prevent COVID-19, and some said they felt pressured to treat the women harshly, hastening staff turnover.

Advocate Kelsey Kaufman, who worked in the prison from 2012 to 2017, noted Johnson’s leave in a public Facebook post last month, stating that the prison was in “terrible shape” compared to before Johnson’s tenure. “The big question now is whether the prison will revert to its former glory,” she wrote. 

Since Johnson went on leave, the prison’s new leadership has allowed inmates more freedom of movement and ordered doors unlocked in certain housing units. According to internal emails shared with Side Effects, staff said the changes made their jobs easier and that the inmates “seemed happier.”

This story was produced by , a news collaborative covering public health. Jake Harper can be reached at jharper@wfyi.org. He's on Twitter @jkhrpr.

Copyright 2021 Side Effects Public Media. To see more, visit .

Jake is a reporter with Side Effects and WFYI in Indianapolis. He decided to pursue radio journalism while volunteering at a community station in Madison, WI, and soon after began an internship with NPR's State of the Re:Union. Jake has received a first place award from the Milwaukee Press Club and he was a finalist in KCRW's 24-Hour Radio Race. In his spare time, he runs and tries to perfect his pizza crust recipe.