SCI Laurel Highlands was accredited by the American Correctional Association in 2003 and has successfully achieved reaccreditation every 3 years since that time
The State Correctional Institution at Laurel Highlands is located in Somerset County, in Somerset Township, along Route 31, approximately one mile from the Borough of Somerset. The facility opened July 1, 1996, as a security level 2 facility for adult male inmates. The facility occupies the former Somerset State Hospital property which was owned by the Department of Public Welfare, and which officially closed June 1996. The property was transferred from the Department of Public Welfare to the Department of Corrections on July 1, 1996. SCI Laurel Highlands serves as the Commonwealth's provider to inmates with special needs; namely, long-term care, personal care, wheelchair, dialysis and geriatric inmates, as well as general population inmates.