If you drive down Paddock Road near Smyrna, Delaware, you’ll eventually hit a massive sprawl of razor wire and concrete. That’s the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center. People around here just call it "Vaughn." It is the largest prison in the state. It’s also one of the most controversial.
Honestly, if you only know about this place from the 2017 headlines, you're missing the bigger picture. Most people remember the riot. They remember the tragedy of Sgt. Steven Floyd. But the story of James T. Vaughn Correctional Center didn't start or end with a building takeover. It's a complicated, messy, and often frustrating saga of a 50-year-old facility trying to exist in a modern world.
The Reality of James T. Vaughn Correctional Center
Opened in 1971, the prison was originally called the Delaware Correctional Center. It was later renamed for Senator James T. Vaughn, a guy who basically dedicated his career to the state's penal system.
It’s huge. We're talking about a capacity for around 2,600 inmates. It handles everything from minimum security to maximum security. It even houses the state’s most "difficult" cases in the Security Housing Unit (SHU).
Here is the thing: the place is old. Like, "no air conditioning in 100-degree heat" old. In the summer of 2025, inmates in the W Building were reportedly sweating through their clothes with nothing but tiny personal fans. It got so bad that some inmates, like Fenel Baine and Joshua Chattin, started speaking out publicly about the heat.
👉 See also: New York's 7th Congressional District: What Most People Get Wrong
The state says they provide ice and cool showers. Inmates say it's not enough. This kind of friction is basically the baseline for life at Vaughn. It's a constant tug-of-war between the Department of Correction (DOC) and the people living behind the walls.
What Happened in Building C?
You can't talk about James T. Vaughn Correctional Center without talking about February 1, 2017. It was a Wednesday morning. Just after 10:30 a.m., a radio call went out for "immediate assistance."
Inmates had seized Building C. They took several staff members hostage. For 19 hours, the state was in a total panic. The inmates called the local newspaper, the News Journal, to list their demands. They weren't just asking for better food; they wanted rehabilitation programs and a say in how the prison budget was spent.
It ended in a nightmare.
When the tactical teams finally breached the building the next morning, they found Sgt. Steven Floyd dead. He was a 16-year veteran. He’d actually warned supervisors about trouble brewing in that specific building just weeks before.
The aftermath was a legal mess. Dozens of inmates were charged, but only a couple were actually convicted of the murder. Dwayne Staats, who was already serving life, got another two life sentences. Most of the other charges were eventually dropped because the evidence was just too chaotic.
Life Inside the SHU and MHU
The prison is divided into sections that sound like alphabet soup. You have the SHU (Security Housing Unit) and the MHU (Medium-High Housing Unit).
In the SHU, it’s mostly single cells. Inmates are locked down for the vast majority of the day. They get about 17.5 hours of recreation a week. Think about that. That is roughly two and a half hours a day outside a tiny concrete box.
The MHU is supposed to be a "step down." It’s still intense, but there are slightly more privileges. The goal is theoretically to move people back into the general population, but critics argue the "quality of life" levels are arbitrary.
The 2025 Education Settlement
Lately, the news hasn't been about riots, but about lawsuits. In late 2025, Delaware settled a big federal case. Turns out, young inmates with disabilities at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center weren't getting the special education they were legally owed.
One student was reportedly being taught in a 3-by-3 foot plexiglass box for maybe an hour a day. That’s it. Under the new settlement, the state has to provide four hours of instruction a day. It's a massive shift in how the facility handles the 18-to-22-year-old population.
Staffing Shortages and Retaliation Claims
Ask any correctional officer at Vaughn, and they’ll tell you the same thing: they are tired. Staffing has been a chronic issue for years. When there aren't enough guards, the prison goes on lockdown. When the prison goes on lockdown, inmates get frustrated. It's a cycle that never seems to break.
Recently, Commissioner Terra Taylor has been pushing to close other smaller facilities to move staff and resources to places like Vaughn. They’re trying to reduce the reliance on mandatory overtime, which has burnt out the workforce.
But there is a darker side to the administration, according to some. A new lawsuit filed in December 2025 alleges that the DOC retaliated against inmates who complained about the heat. Fenel Baine claims he was "illegally" transferred to a different prison just for talking to the media. The DOC denies this, of course, saying transfers are for safety and security.
Managing the Future of Vaughn
So, what does the future look like for the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center? It’s not getting torn down anytime soon. The state has too much money invested in it.
Instead, they are trying to modernize from the inside out:
- Air Conditioning: After the 2025 heatwave drama, there is a $2 million push to finally get AC into the older cell blocks.
- Tablets: The DOC has started rolling out communication tablets. It sounds like a luxury, but it's actually a security tool. It keeps inmates connected to family and gives them access to educational materials without needing a physical classroom.
- Vocational Training: There is a new "Tattoo Artist Career Pathway" program. It sounds niche, but it’s designed to give people a real skill for when they get out. Plus, it cuts down on "basement" tattoos that cause infections and drive up healthcare costs.
If you are looking into the status of someone at Vaughn or just trying to understand the facility, you need to look past the "maximum security" label. It’s a city within a city. It has its own hospital, its own schools, and its own very distinct politics.
What you can do next:
If you have a loved one at JTVCC, download the new "Family and Friends Handbook" from the Delaware DOC website. It was updated in late 2025 to help people navigate the visitation and phone systems, which have changed significantly since the tablet rollout. You should also check the "Getting Out" app for the latest messaging protocols, as these are now the primary way to stay in contact during lockdowns.