There are 148 penitentiary institutions under government control. Among these, the State Penitentiary Service[^service pénitentiaire] counts:

1. 29 pre-trial detention centres (SIZO): people detained during the judicial process (before the trial, after the verdict, before transfer to a correctional colony).

2. 113 correctional colonies: place of enforcement of prison sentences.

• Correctional colonies with a minimum level of security and indulgent conditions of detention: prisoners sentenced for the first time for offenses committed out of negligence and for minor or medium crimes.
• Correctional colonies with a minimum level of security and standard conditions of detention: men convicted for minor or medium offenses, women convicted of minor and medium offenses and serious and particularly serious crimes.
• Correctional colonies with an average level of security: prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, prisoners whose life sentence has been commuted, and imprisonment for a fixed term following a pardon or amnesty. Prisoners sentenced for the first time for serious and particularly serious crimes, prisoners who have already served prison terms, and prisoners convicted of intentional crimes of moderate severity.
• Correctional colonies with a maximum level of security: prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, prisoners whose life sentence has been commuted to a period of imprisonment determined by a pardon or amnesty, prisoners convicted of particularly serious intentional crimes, and prisoners convicted of premeditated or particularly serious crimes during their conviction.

3. 6 correctional colonies for minors

[^service pénitentiaire]: State Penitentiary Service.