Lee Adjustment Center

A privately operated medium-security prison for men in Beattyville, run by CoreCivic under contract with the Kentucky Department of Corrections — the only currently active private prison holding Kentucky state inmates, with reentry, vocational, and substance-use programming.

Overview

Lee Adjustment Center is a medium-security prison for men in Beattyville, the seat of Lee County, in eastern Kentucky. It is operated by CoreCivic, a private corrections company, under contract with the Kentucky Department of Corrections (KY DOC), and it holds men in the custody of the state. The facility has about 866 beds.

Lee Adjustment Center is listed among the Kentucky Department of Corrections’ adult institutions, but the state does not staff or run it. CoreCivic operates the facility under contract, and the prison provides reentry, vocational, and substance-use programming, including a substance-abuse program housed within the institution.

Kentucky assigns custody level based on factors that include sentence length, time remaining, and conduct, and a person’s custody level can change during incarceration. Because the contracted facility manages its own day-to-day operations, families confirm the arrangements that apply to a specific person — including whether a visit is contact or non-contact — directly with the facility before a first visit.

What Makes the Lee Adjustment Center Different

Lee Adjustment Center is not a state-run prison. It is owned and operated by CoreCivic, a private company, which staffs and manages the facility under a contract with the Kentucky Department of Corrections. It is the only currently active private prison holding Kentucky state inmates; the state runs its other adult institutions directly.

Beyond holding general-population men, the facility’s mission emphasizes reentry preparation, vocational and educational programming, and substance-use treatment for men nearing release. A substance-abuse program operates inside the institution.

The practical effect for families is that Lee sets several of its own procedures rather than following the statewide KY DOC systems. As described in the sections below, the facility runs its own phone and visiting arrangements and receives incoming personal mail directly at the facility. A person must still be on the inmate’s approved visitor list, but the booking and the rules at the door are set by the facility. Confirm the current details with the facility before relying on them.

It is also worth distinguishing Lee Adjustment Center from the Southeast State Correctional Complex in Wheelwright. Both are connected to CoreCivic-built properties, but the Southeast State Correctional Complex is operated by the state as a public prison, while Lee Adjustment Center, in Beattyville, is the privately operated one.

Visiting

The Lee Adjustment Center is operated by CoreCivic under contract with the Kentucky DOC, and it sets its own visiting, phone, and mail arrangements rather than the statewide systems. Confirm the current details directly with the facility:

Getting There and Parking

Lee Adjustment Center is at 168 Lee Adjustment Center Drive in Beattyville, in Lee County in eastern Kentucky. Beattyville sits along the Kentucky River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, southeast of Lexington. The Mountain Parkway runs through the region to the north, connecting the area toward Lexington and Interstate 64 to the west; Kentucky Route 11 and Kentucky Route 52 serve Beattyville itself. The nearest larger city with a commercial airport is Lexington, to the northwest.

Visitors confirm current entry procedures, the visitor-processing location, parking, and what may be brought onto the grounds with the facility before arriving, because items such as phones, smartwatches, cameras, and recording devices are generally not permitted inside.

Nearby Services

Beattyville is a small town with limited lodging and dining, with a few local restaurants and a small number of motels in the surrounding area. Visitors generally find a wider range of hotels, restaurants, and other services in Lexington to the northwest, along the Mountain Parkway and Interstate 64 corridors. Emergency medical care is available regionally, with larger hospitals in Lexington. Visitors traveling a long distance generally find the most options for fuel, food, and overnight stays toward Lexington.

Mail

As a contracted facility, Lee Adjustment Center receives incoming personal mail directly at the facility, rather than through a statewide system. Address personal mail to the person by their committed name and Kentucky DOC inmate number, followed by the facility’s mailing address. Mail is opened and inspected for contraband before delivery.

Legal mail — from a licensed attorney, a court, a government official, or Corrections officials — goes directly to the facility, where it is handled under the rules for privileged correspondence and opened only in the person’s presence. Books and magazines must be shipped new, directly from a publisher or an approved retailer; items sent by individuals are generally refused.

Because the facility sets its own mail rules and the current mailing address and requirements can change, confirm the correct address, the addressing format, and what may be sent directly with the facility before mailing anything.

Learn More

• Visiting a Kentucky prison — approved visitor lists, scheduling, dress code, and what to expect at the gate.
• Sending mail in Kentucky — how to address mail, what is allowed, and how books and packages are handled.
• Phone calls and video visits — setting up calls, video visits, and messaging with someone in a Kentucky prison.
• Sending money — how to deposit funds to a person’s account and what the money can be used for.
• Medical care — how health care works in Kentucky prisons and how to raise a medical concern.
• Intake, classification, and transfers — where people enter the system, how they are classified, and why some state inmates are held in county jails.