Youthful Offender System (Pueblo, Colorado)

Youthful Offender System

Location	1300 W 13th Street Pueblo, Colorado
Status	open
Security class	mixed security, male & female youthful offenders (14-25)
Capacity	256
Opened	1994
Managed by	Colorado Department of Corrections

The Youthful Offender System (YOS) is a maximum security prison in Pueblo, Colorado. YOS houses male and female offenders between ages 14–25. Inmates at YOS have all been convicted of a felony and sentenced as adults through the state's Department of Corrections (DOC) system. They are not sentenced as juveniles or sentenced through the Department of Youth Services system. Offenders can only be sent to YOS if their sentencing judge recommends them for the YOS program. The judge makes this determination based on the offender's age and perceived amenability for rehabilitation. The maximum sentence a YOS inmate can serve is 7 years, no matter what their original charge was, and the minimum sentence a YOS inmate can serve is 2 years.

YOS has the lowest recidivism rate of any Colorado state prison. According to CDOC statistics, the recidivism rate of YOS offenders is around 20%. More than 80% of YOS offenders leave the facility with a high school diploma.