McNeil Island is located in western Puget Sound just west of Steilacoom. The island is best known for the United States Federal Penitentiary, a jail that existed from 1875 under different names until it was closed in 2011. It was the last island prison in the country. Since the closing of the prison, the island has remained the home of the state's main Special Commitment Center (SCC), which indefinitely holds sexually violent predators after they have completed their prison sentences. The island is government-owned.

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