History of the Kinmen Prison, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice

In 1734, the Magistrate Assistant of Tongan County, Fujian Province was transferred to Kinmen. Since he was in charge of the local administrative affairs and lawsuits, a detention center was built inside the government office (site of the Kinmen Church of Christ at present). This was the very first face of the Kinmen Prison.  In 1915, Kinmen was formally made into a county. Zuo Shu-xie, the first Kinmen county governor, founded a new prison and detention center in the west wing of the Kinmen government office, aiming to improve the original custody environments.  In Oct 1937, Kinmen was invaded and occupied by the Japanese military, and the county government office was moved to Dadeng, where the government buildings were taken over by false administrative officials.  Eventually, Kinmen was retrieved by the R.O.C authority in Oct 1945 and the County Juridical Office resumed operations. In 1949, the Juridical Office halted operations once due to the implementation of military control, but control was recovered in 1950. During this time, civilian housing in Dongmen Village was leased to be used as the detention center (later, the center moved again to the civilian housing in Nanmen Village). In Mar 1956, the County Juridical Office was reorganized as the Fukien Kinmen District Court. The detention center was re-subordinated to the District Court and it also functioned as the prison.  In April 1958, it was moved to the current site, Xinshi Village, Jinhu Township (re-built using the original evacuation housing of the District Court). In the same year, the Kinmen 823 War took place and the prisoners were released as an emergency measure. After the offenders were mitigated, all of the prisoners were returned to custody the following April 1 and the operations resumed again.  In 1963, the detention center was reformed to the “Fukien Kinmen Prison” based on the orders of the former Ministry of Justice and Administration to concurrently be responsible for the detention center operations.  Because of the simplicity and decency of local inhabitants, the number of criminals committing each crime was relatively low. As a result, this prison is an organization of comprehensive corrections, concurrently dealing with various operations regarding juvenile probation and reformatory education. Moreover, rehabilitation, rehab institutionalization as well as military detention have been integrated into the relational system.  The rehab institution was removed following orders on Jan 1, 2008 and the Fukien Kinmen Detention Center was founded the next Jul 1.  On Jan 1, 2011, the Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice was founded and the prison was re-subordinated, so its full title was changed to the “Kinmen Prison, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice”. The original organizations “Fukien Kinmen Juvenile Probation House”, “Fukien Kinmen Detention Center” and “Fukien Lianjiang Detention Center” of the prison were also re-grouped and renamed as the “Kinmen Juvenile Probation House, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice”, “Kinmen Detention Center, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice” and “Lianjiang Detention Center, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice”, respectively. Each center is handled by the Warden thereof.

History of the Lianjiang Detention Center, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice (Lianjiang Branch Prison)

Before 1953, there was no formal county administrative formation in Lianjiang County. Until 1956, when the “Battlefield Council of Government of Matsu” was founded and the Court-Martial was established by the Matsu Defense Command to concurrently handle the local juridical affairs.  After the abolishment of Martial Law on Jul 15, 1987, the “Fukien Kinmen Detention Center Lianjiang Branch” was established on Oct 10, 1987 according to the instructions from the Ministry of Justice. Whereas there was no hardware facilities or equipment at the time, the Military Detention Center of the Matsu Defense Command was thereupon authorized to assist in the custody operations.  As of 1988, the Juridical Yuan coordinated with the Ministry of Justice to plan out the establishment of the Lianjiang Joint Justice Building, which was completely constructed in Jun 1991.  The detention capacity was only 11 due to its smaller initial scale.  Afterwards, the Ministry of Justice reorganized the Lianjiang Detention Branch to the “Fukien Kinmen Prison Lianjiang Branch” on May 2, 1994 due to the increasing need for juridical operations, so the detention center was also included. In 1995, approximately NT$12 million was distributed in order to build a two-floor prison housing in the left side of the main structure, the construction of which was completed in Jun 1997. The life management of both male and female inmates has become more and more accomplished ever since.  On May 21, 1998, after the implementation of Statute for Narcotics Hazard Control, the Lianjiang Prison Branch concurrently commenced operations regarding rehabilitation and rehab institutionalization at the same time as the Kinmen Prison.  Since the battlefield administration was abolished in both the Kinmen and Matsu areas in 1992, dealing with the policies of sightseeing and “Mini Three Links”.  and taking into consideration all the juridical issues which might come along with the frequent contact with tourists as well as the people from China, the Juridical Yuan and Ministry of Justice founded the Fukien Lianjiang District Court and Fukien Lianjiang District Prosecutors Office on Dec 31, 2003, respectively. The Fukien Lianjiang Detention Center was also built the following Jan 1, 2004 along with the Kinmen Prison Lianjiang Branch, where the Warden of the Kinmen Prison is also the Superintendent.  Furthermore, the center has also concurrently taken the martial inmates of the defense line in Matsu since Oct 1, 2003. On Apr 1, 2008, the “Fukien Kinmen Juvenile Probation House Lianjiang Branch” was founded in accordance with the authority, making this center an agency of corrections with multiple functions in the nation.  On Jan 1, 2011, the Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice was founded, and this center was re-subordinated and the full title thereof was changed to the “Lianjiang Detention Center, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice”. Also, the attached “Fukien Kinmen Juvenile Probation House Lianjiang Branch” was simultaneously renamed as the “Kinmen Juvenile Probation House Lianjiang Branch, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice”.