Murphy breaks ground on new women’s correctional facility focused on safety, dignity and rehabilitation
CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Burlington County) — Governor Phil Murphy joined Department of Corrections Commissioner Victoria Kuhn, State Treasurer Liz Muoio, formerly incarcerated women, and other officials Wednesday to break ground on a new state women’s correctional facility in Chesterfield Township designed with an emphasis on safety, dignity, and rehabilitation.
The new facility marks a major step in New Jersey’s ongoing efforts to modernize its correctional system and create an environment that promotes stability, gender-specific treatment, and successful reentry. The 420-bed correctional facility will be built on a 33-acre parcel of NJDOC property in Burlington County, featuring a trauma-informed, campus-style design that centralizes services such as education, medical care, vocational training, and recreation.
“Today’s groundbreaking represents a new chapter of criminal justice for New Jersey – one built on safety, dignity, and rehabilitation,” said Governor Murphy. “This new, state-of-the-art facility reflects our dedication to providing a safe, secure, and healthier environment for our state’s incarcerated women as they work toward rebuilding their lives for the better. Together with our partners, our Administration is building a more trustworthy and transparent criminal justice system focused on safety, recovery, and redemption.”
The facility’s design incorporates specialized housing to accommodate a range of needs, including general security levels, stabilization and substance use disorder treatment, as well as clinical and medical housing. It is intended to foster rehabilitation, family reunification, and community connection while improving working conditions for staff.
“This moment signifies a major step toward modernizing and establishing best practices for the incarceration of women in New Jersey,” said NJDOC Commissioner Victoria L. Kuhn, Esq. “By constructing a purpose-built facility, we are creating the normative conditions that are conducive to rehabilitation, successful reentry, and improved conditions for our staff, the women in our custody, and the broader public.”
The new construction follows the 2021 decision to close the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women and represents the Murphy Administration’s broader commitment to rebuilding women’s corrections in New Jersey on a foundation of dignity and rehabilitation. Officials said the project will save the state more than $160 million in deferred maintenance and capital costs that would have been required to maintain the previous site.
“Governor Murphy’s humanitarian responses to the unconscionable abuse to the women at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in January of 2021 stand as a model for departments of correction throughout the country,” said Bonnie Kerness, trustee of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility Board of Trustees. “Today marks more than just groundbreaking of a new women’s facility – it’s the foundation of second chances, growth, and empowerment.”
Dr. Pamela “Pastor Pam” Boykin Jones, founder and CEO of Communities in Cooperation Inc., praised the project as a symbol of progress.
“This groundbreaking marks the next step forward: the beginning of an even more progressive facility, one designed not just to house women, but to honor their humanity, their rehabilitation, and their return to community,” she said.
Former Edna Mahan resident Myrna Diaz, now a paralegal, shared her story of rehabilitation through education while incarcerated.
“While at Edna, I was able to graduate with a degree from Rutgers University and the NJ-Step program and flourish as a paralegal—skills and experiences that I currently use at my present job to help others,” Diaz said. “May this new facility provide an even bigger opportunity for incarcerated women to continue changing their lives for the better!”
Construction is expected to begin soon, with completion anticipated in several years.
