Prison Service Day in Poland Date in the current year: February 8, 2024

The prison service is a state executive agency responsible for managing prisons and executing criminal penalties and pre-trial restrictions, including imprisonment and detention. The Polish Prison Service in its modern form was established in February 1919 according to a decree signed by the head of the Polish state Józef Piłsudski.

The Prison Service of Poland is a uniformed and armed formation subordinate to the Ministry of Justice that has its own organizational structure. As of 2007 there were 85 prisons in Poland with the official capacity of almost 80,000. The largest prison in Poland is Wronky Prison. Its official capacity is more than 1,400 inmates.

According to a law adopted in 2010, the official professional holiday of Polish corrections officers is celebrated on February 8 to commemorate the anniversary of the public announcement of Piłsudski’s decree in 1919. From 1996 to 2010, it was celebrated unofficially on April 26. On this day in 1926, the government of Poland issued the Provision on the Prison Administration and Its Official Duties.