Goose Creek Correctional Center

A medium-security state prison for men at Point MacKenzie in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, near Wasilla — Alaska's largest prison. It opened in July 2012 and holds both pretrial and sentenced men, most of them sentenced.

Overview

Goose Creek Correctional Center is a state prison for men operated by the Alaska Department of Corrections. It is at Point MacKenzie, in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, across Knik Arm from Anchorage and reached by road from the Wasilla area. The facility houses men in medium custody and is the largest prison in Alaska, with a capacity of about 1,536. The separate Point MacKenzie Correctional Farm, a small minimum-security camp, is also in the Point MacKenzie area; Goose Creek is the large medium-security prison.

Because Alaska has a unified corrections system and no county jail system, Goose Creek holds both unsentenced (pretrial) and sentenced men, though most of the population is sentenced. Alaska DOC assigns one of four custody levels — Community, Minimum, Medium, or Close — based on factors that include risk and needs, and a person’s custody level can change during incarceration. The custody class and housing unit held at a given prison affect visiting arrangements, so families confirm the arrangement that applies to the specific person before a first visit.

What Makes Goose Creek Correctional Center Different

Goose Creek Correctional Center is the largest prison in Alaska. It opened in July 2012 at Point MacKenzie, and its opening was what allowed the state to bring prisoners back to Alaska. Before Goose Creek opened, Alaska sent a large share of its prisoners to private prisons in other states — first in Arizona and later in Colorado — because it lacked the in-state bed space. The added capacity at Goose Creek let the state return those people to Alaska, and the last out-of-state prisoners came back in 2012 and 2013; Alaska has housed its sentenced prisoners in state since then.

The facility holds both pretrial and sentenced men, a reflection of Alaska’s unified jail-and-prison system, in which the state DOC operates both functions because there are no county jails. In practice, most of the men at Goose Creek are serving sentences.

Visiting

The statewide AK DOC rules above — the approved visitor list, the dress code, ID, and item limits — apply at Goose Creek Correctional Center. The facility’s own arrangements:

Getting There and Parking

Goose Creek Correctional Center is at 22301 West Alsop Road, at Point MacKenzie in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, with a Wasilla mailing address. Point MacKenzie sits across Knik Arm from Anchorage; by road it is reached from the Wasilla area by way of the Point MacKenzie Road, and the drive from Anchorage is longer than the straight-line distance because the route goes around Knik Arm through the Mat-Su area. The nearest large commercial airport is in Anchorage.

Parking is on site. Visitors confirm current entry procedures, the visitor-processing location, and what may be brought onto the grounds with the facility before arriving, because electronic devices and personal items are generally not permitted inside.

Nearby Services

Point MacKenzie is a rural area with few services nearby; the closest concentration of lodging, dining, fuel, and shopping is in the Wasilla and Palmer area to the north and east. Emergency medical care is available in the Mat-Su area, with larger hospitals in the Anchorage area. Visitors traveling a long distance generally find the most options for food, fuel, and overnight stays in the Wasilla–Palmer corridor and in Anchorage.

Mail

Alaska DOC does not use an off-site mail vendor. Incoming personal mail goes directly to the facility, where mail staff open and inspect it for contraband before delivery. Address personal mail with the person’s full name and prisoner number, the facility name, and the facility’s mailing address:

[Prisoner’s full name and number] Goose Creek Correctional Center 22301 West Alsop Road Wasilla, AK 99654

Use a plain white envelope and white paper, and write only in blue or black ink or pencil. Mail without a complete return address that includes the sender’s name is destroyed. Greeting cards must be commercially produced, single-fold, on standard card stock, and no larger than 6 by 8 inches. Photographs must be printed on plain white or photographic paper and unaltered. Stickers, labels, glitter, tape, and anything attached with adhesive are not allowed (postal-service labels are an exception), and sexually explicit material is prohibited.

Legal and other privileged mail (for example, mail with an attorney) goes to the facility marked “Privileged” and is handled separately. Books, magazines, newspapers, and other publications must be ordered from an approved vendor and shipped directly to the facility — a family member can place the order, but the person must have funds to pay for it in advance. Packages are accepted only from approved vendors through the commissary; friends and family cannot send gift packages. Contact the facility for its current approved-vendor list.

Learn More

• Visiting an Alaska prison — Approved visitor lists, the per-facility scheduling and appointment norms, dress code, ID, and what to expect at remote facilities.
• Sending mail in Alaska — How to address personal mail to the facility, the white-envelope rules, and how to order books, publications, and packages from approved vendors.
• Phone calls and video in Alaska — Setting up a Securus AdvanceConnect account, how calls are billed, free monthly calls, and the rules on three-way and forwarded calls.
• Sending money in Alaska — How to put money on an Offender Trust Account in person or by mail, who is allowed to deposit, accepted forms, and the monthly limit.
• Medical care in Alaska prisons — How health, dental, and mental-health care work in DOC facilities, co-pay amounts, and how to request care.
• Intake, classification, and transfers in Alaska — The booking process, the four custody levels, and how people are housed in Alaska’s unified jail-and-prison system.