Allen Correctional Institution, Correctional facility in Lima, Ohio
Allen Correctional Institution is a state prison in Lima, Ohio, operated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The facility consists of several buildings with housing units separated by security level.
The facility opened in 1987, when Ohio needed to expand its prison capacity to handle a rising number of incarcerated people. It was part of a broader state effort to add detention space in the northwest Ohio region.
The facility runs education programs in partnership with Sinclair College, where inmates can earn a GED certificate or an associate degree while serving their sentence. These programs are not standard across all Ohio state prisons, making this one of the few facilities where formal education is actively available.
Visitors must submit an application and receive approval before scheduling a visit to this facility. Visits are generally limited to weekends, so it is worth planning well in advance.
The facility runs a program where selected inmates care for abandoned kittens from a local animal shelter until the kittens are adopted. This connects animal rescue with rehabilitation in a way that is not common in state prisons.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
