10-20-2025 12:50pm

State Breaks Ground on New Women’s Correctional Facility in Chesterfield

The 420-bed, trauma-informed facility will replace Edna Mahan with a focus on rehabilitation, family unification, and long-term cost savings.

CHESTERFIELD, NJ — New Jersey officials have officially broken ground on a new state-run correctional facility for women in Chesterfield Township, Burlington County, marking a pivotal step in the state’s effort to modernize its correctional system and improve conditions for incarcerated women.

Governor Phil Murphy, alongside Department of Corrections Commissioner Victoria Kuhn, State Treasurer Liz Muoio, and several other government, community, and advocacy leaders, participated in the ceremonial launch of the project on October 15, 2025, which aims to integrate safety with rehabilitative care and gender-responsive services.

“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."

Facility Overview

The planned facility will accommodate 420 beds on a 33-acre site formerly associated with the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility, which was closed in Fiscal Year 2020. The new development replaces the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, which was decommissioned in 2021 following long-standing reports of misconduct and inadequate conditions.

Designed as a multi-building “campus”, the facility aims to establish a normalized and rehabilitative environment rather than a conventional institutional one. The layout centralizes essential services — education, vocational training, addiction treatment, medical care, recreation, and social services — to streamline staffing and service delivery.

“This moment signifies a major step toward modernizing and establishing best practices for the incarceration of women in New Jersey,” said New Jersey Department of Corrections 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."

Rehabilitation-Focused Design

The architecture incorporates trauma-informed principles with specialized housing units that accommodate a variety of security levels and needs, including:

General Security Units: Minimum, medium, and maximum custody
Specialized Care Units: Orientation, stabilization, and substance use disorder treatment
Clinical and Restrictive Care Units: Rehabilitation treatment, protective custody, and chronic medical care

The goal is to promote rehabilitation, personal development, and family unification, with proximity and access to community resources seen as essential to successful reintegration.

“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. So today, as the plans for a new facility unfold and we break ground, we don’t just break earth — we break barriers, we break silence, and we break open the way to a more humane future,” said Dr. Pamela “Pastor Pam” Boykin Jones, Founder and CEO, Communities in Cooperation Inc.

Fiscal and Policy Implications

The new construction is expected to save the state more than $160 million in deferred maintenance and capital investments that would have been required to maintain and upgrade the aging infrastructure at Edna Mahan.

The project follows over two years of planning led by a multi-agency task force, reflecting the state’s broader policy shift toward more humane, rehabilitative corrections.

Governor Murphy previously committed to transforming women’s corrections in New Jersey by closing Edna Mahan and rebuilding the system on a foundation of dignity, stability, and support for reentry.

Strategic Location and Community Impact

The Chesterfield location was strategically chosen to support family visitation and unification efforts, which have been shown to reduce recidivism and improve post-incarceration outcomes. By integrating education, treatment, and supportive services, the facility seeks to provide a comprehensive environment conducive to recovery and societal reintegration.

Construction is underway, with further details on timelines and programming expected to be released in the coming months.

“As I look back, I am filled with gratitude, for the opportunities that shaped me, the people who believed in me, and even the challenges that tested me,” said Myrna Diaz, a commutation recipient formerly incarcerated at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility. “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. May this new facility provide an even bigger opportunity for incarcerated women to continue changing their lives for the better!"