New Mexican State Penitentiary
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| Location | Santa Fe, New Mexico |
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| Coordinates | 35°33′43″N 106°03′37″W / 35.56194°N 106.06028°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Maximum Security |
| Population | 790 |
| Opened | 1885 |
| Managed by | New Mexico Corrections Department |
| Warden | German Franco |
| Notable prisoners | |
| Terry D. Clark | |
The Penitentiary of New Mexico (PNM) is a men's maximum-security prison located in unincorporated Santa Fe County, 15 miles (24 km) south of central Santa Fe, on New Mexico State Road 14. It is operated by the New Mexico Corrections Department.
The complex consists of three separate facilities. The facilities are now referred to as Level V (opened 1985), Level VI (opened 1985) and Level II (opened 1990) for the minimum restrict facility, based upon the New Mexico adaptation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons system for inmate classification and restriction. The regular daily population is about 790 inmates, whose average age is 32.
The Level VI Supermax site contains New Mexico's Death Row. This is where Terry Clark was executed in 2001. He remains, as of 2014, the only execution in New Mexico since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
The death penalty was repealed in New Mexico in 2009, and therefore no further executions have taken place. As of August 2016, the current governor, Susana Martinez is seeking to reinstate it.
Opened in 1885, the New Mexico Penitentiary had been authorized by Congress since 1853. The design of the original facility on Cerrillos Road was based on the same plans used for Sing Sing and Joliet.
The first prison industry produced bricks. Beginning in 1903, New Mexico became the first western state to employ prisoners in building highways.
On 19 July 1922, prisoners at the penitentiary rioted against overcrowding, the poor food, and the use of excessive force by the prison authorities. When the inmates refused to return to their cells, the tower guards opened fire, killing one inmate and injuring five others. In the report following the riot, the prison authorities were blamed for lack of experience, and failure to understand how to control a prison population.
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