From playing a little, I have found these tips help alot:

1) Sprinklers are important. At some point most, if not all, Prisons will have a fire. If you don't have sprinklers it will be VERY expensive to recover from a fire. Don't skimp on them and put them far away from eachother either. If a fire breaks out, you want that fire killed quick.

2) from Outer wall (one closest to road) and Inner wall you want at minimum 10 squares. That way contraband will not be thrown over your fence into your prison. Less contraband = Less trouble.

3) Anti-Drug and Anti-Alcohol programs are worth it. When you have them, you have less overdoses (deaths), less trouble/injuries, and more programs your prisoners can goto/pass. In the end this will save you money (deaths = lost money) and make you money (passed programs = better chance of getting paroled).

4) ANY location where your prisoners move thru alot (like cell blocks, canteens, reception, etc..), AND locations that have alot of contraband (kitchens, mail room, etc..) be sure to cover entrances/exits with Metal Detectors AND Dog Patrols. This will cut down contraband significantly! It will not completely get rid of contraband (no way to do that without mods), but less is better.

5) I only use Armed Guards around Gangs, SuperMAX, and Legendary Prisoners. Their CONS outweigh their PROS too much for me to use anywhere else. Snipers, when I use them, I only have near my roads/exit areas so prisoners attempting to escape are stopped. If you run an efficient prison, Armed Guards/Snipers will rarely be needed.

6) Even if you want to, avoid small walkways (in your cell blocks, outside, etc..). Smaller walkways will cause problems as you get more people. My suggestion is 4 WIDE for main walkways, 2 wide is the smallest you should go (between buildings) IF you need to.

7) Don't use prisoners in your Kitchen. Make it Staff only. This will cut down on contraband. Extra cooks always seem to be better than prisoners working in the kitchen. In my prisons I have only ONE main Kitchen that serves all my cell blocks except Death Row. Each Death Row cell block has their own small Kitchen.

8) Shops - The more Shop Fronts (the shop desk for people to buy things at) you have, the more prisoners can buy stuff at a time. Also remember to stagger different Regimes so that all Prison levels can have time to buy stuff. Example: While Medium Security is working in Store, Max and Min prisoners are free to shop/buy things.

9) Mail Room - Contraband city. Metal Detectors and Dogs.

10) Family need is taken care of by phones, visitation, and Mail. IF you have enough phones, you should not need any visitation or Mail rooms. But visitation takes care of family needs better than phones (not sure about Mail), but again...with enough Phones you don't 'need' the others.

11) Laundry - If you never have enough clean clothes getting to your prisoners it is because of one of the following: a) You don't have enough Washing Machines to keep up with cleaning clothes, b) You don't have enough Ironing boards to iron clothes, c) You don't have enough Baskets to deliver clean clothes to cells, or d) You don't have enough people (Janitors or prisoners) to deliver clothes to cells. I find Prisoners kind of useless in Laundry. They sometimes Iron and sometimes deliver, but Janitors will be your bread and butter here. Lots of Janitors will keep prisons clean and uniforms delivered.

12) Things by the Road - Delivery area (middle of map), Garbage/Export (Lower part of map, Near the road). Those will keep things coming in and leaving fast and efficiently.

13) Door Servos are your friend! They save time by automatically getting door opened (in case a guard is missing or too slow) and if guards are taken out, the prisoner have to break the door down (since no keys for it) which gives you a little more time to respond accordingly.

14) Starting point to know how nice to make Cell blocks, so prisoners will want to transfer, would be maximum points for Minimum cells (4 x 4), Medium cells (3 x 3) about 2-3 less points, and MAX cells (3 x 3 OR 3 x 2) about 2-3 points less than Medium cells. Also make the Canteens, for each security level, the same way. Minimum is nicest canteen, Medium slightly less nice, MAX slightly less nice than Medium.

This area is where you get items delivered to your prison, and where items leave your prison.
You only need one. Fight the temptation to make more, more just means more areas your prisoners can escape from and are not necessary.

It should be set to "Staff Only"
It should have 1 Guard (minimum) stationed here, to help stop any possible runaways. The West door, and East doors are setup to run remotely so as long as you have a guard on your Remote Door Control (in your security room) they will automatically open for anyone needing access.
If you want to put a zone in here, make a "Delivery" zone in here.
(NOTE: You can delete any zone you want by clicking on the "Room" tab, then Right Click-Holding and dragging over whatever zone you wish to delete).

Avoid the temptation to get too fancy with your entrance area. Create it so alot of foot traffice can go throught it without anything bottlenecking (something slowing everyone down). I suggest large cell doors (to let more traffic thru at the same time). Main walkways, around your prison, should be 4 wide, which means no matter how big your prison gets, your people always have room to move without bumping into eachother too much.

Helicopter zones are right next to Delivery, so when stuff comes in, it gets delivered fast. Make sure to turn incoming Civilians OFF on helicopters, so civilians will all come from the Roadway.

I suggest 10 spaces from outer wall (one closest to road) to inner wall to avoid people throwing contraband into your prison.

On lower right are some of my Offices. The ones that don't have prisoners coming to them, like Accountant, Foreman, Warden, Lawyer.

Most prisoners seem to come by Helicopters, so my Reception I put right under Helicopter zone (I use Snitch Sorter mod, so the Snitch sorter machine is right in the main Reception entrance to automatically put Snitches in Protective custody uniforms. Under Reception is a MAX Security Dorm area with their own Infirmary, Yard, Solitary, Canteen areas. While this is acceptable, I plan on making them their own cell blocks because Dorms do not really appeal to me (to many prisoners close to others tends to create more issues compared to normal cell blocks).

Whenever I receive new prisoners, I put all Snitches/Ex-Law Enforcement into Protective Custody.
All Volatile into SuperMAX.
Those help ALOT in my prisons.
Protective Custody has their own Infirmary and Canteen, with lots to do. Nice cells also.
They never leave unless they die, or reach the end of their terms. Phone keep them from needing Visitation.

I do not like, or use, Holding Cells. If you need/want something for prisoner overflow, build a Dorm. But if your doing things right, you should always have more prison cells than prisoners (since your Paroles should be spitting prisoners out at a decent speed).

This is a Minimum Seucurity Cell block. It is 4x4, filled with nice things. It has its own Canteen and Common room. All other security levels are less nice, so they will want to transfer to this one regularly. This in turn means less problems in your prison. ALL cell blocks should have at least areas that are at least 2 wide to walk thru. Example: To go from the canteen back to their cell. This means they get there a little faster and lessens the chance of running into others while leaving and entering their Cell. Metal Detectors when they leave the Canteen/Common Areas, so they smuggle less contraband back to their calls.
All Cells have a sprinkler above the toilet.



NOTE: Always...ALWAYS try to keep your jail cells near areas they will use often. Work areas, solitary, psychologist office, classrooms, yards, and Canteen! The longer they have to go in order to get somewhere, the less time they have to actually do things there which can have a severely negative effect on your prisoners needs. Easy way to work this is jail cells in middle area with canteen, all areas they goto are around the jail cells, and your regime setup so that they go from one area to the next which is close (example - if canteen is next to work areas, have EAT right before WORK so that they get from the canteen to their work area fast.

To create a Cell 'block' is simple. whatever 'block' you want to setup must have a door (I use the bigger jail cell doors). I also add metal detectors so that anytime prisoners are going out, or into, a cell block, they have to go thru metal detectors. I also like to have K9 Patrols round metal detector areas to sniff stuff out. This keeps contraband levels low, which in turn means less 'trouble'. I permanently lock-open my 'block' doors since they are only there so I can make a cell block, otherwise alot of time will be wasted waiting for guards to open them up for people. If you want another way to handle block doors, put door servos on them, so a Security room can open them when needed. (NOTE: When a prison goes into lockdown, doors that are locked open will also close).

This is a Medium Security cell block, with its own Canteen.
The rooms are 3x3, with some nice stuff.
The Cells, and Canteen, are not as nice as the Minimum Security ones so that prisoners will always want to transfer to your Minimum block. This means less troublemakers.
Metal Detectors between the cells, canteen, and outside. Add a few dog patrols and contraband is alot less likely to make it into their cells.
All cells have a Sprinkler above the toilet.

No picture for this because in my current prison I just use two mini-Dormitories for my Max prisoners.
But since I don't like Dorms, you can make same layout as the Medium security Cell Blocks BUT put less things in them (and in the canteen) so that your Maximum security prisoners want to transfer to Medium security.
(NOTE: No matter what security level they come into my prison as, if ANY Prisoners have Volatile trait, I automatically change them to SuperMAX! Does not matter what level they are (minimum, medium, etc...) all Volatile go to SuperMAX. The ONLY Volatile prisoners that don't get Max are Snitches/ex-law enforcement...those go into Protective custody, and Insane ones...those go into Insane cell blocks.

This is my SuperMAX block.
ALL my prisoners that are VOLATILE are put into SuperMAX. Unless they are Insane or Protective Custody (snitches or ex-law enforcement). They are happier, and cause less trouble, so that makes my prison run quieter.
They do not leave this area, until their time is up.
They have their own Psychologist, Canteen, Infirmary. There is a small Armory, with an Armed Guard inside to prevent possible issues, and it's own Staffroom (Your people don't have to travel far to rest, which means they get back to work faster).
With phones in their 4x4 cells, they do not need Visitation, and they do not get Paroles.

Here is the DEATH ROW Block.
It should always be self contained, and if possible separate from the rest of your prison area.
Mine has:
- nice 5x5 cells (so they don't get bored and annoyed)
- Visitation room
- Parole (IMPORTANT! This lets them try and get out of being executed and protects you from killing someone who is innocent.)
- Their own mini kitchen
- Canteen
- Room for 8 Death Rown inmates
- Armory (to help suppress any Death Row inmate explosions)
- Infirmary (so if someone gets injured, they get fixed there)
- Its own power and water
- Execution Room (this has a little room for the electric chair and room for 'observers-family' to watch.

The way I make this is I lay the foundation first, then I use 'Quick Build' and do the normal Insane prisoner cells. As you can see though I change around the inside of those cells alot, to make them more trouble free.
I also lay all the walls and sections.
They have their own Infirmary (because they are crazy and unpredictable)
They have two psychiatrists to keep them calm (be sure to start those programs otherwise they don't do anything).
I label it all as STAFF ONLY until it if fully built.
Once it is built, I label entrance and staff rooms as STAFF ONLY, the rest is all set to Insane only (so they can move around but not leave).

This is my Parole/Visitation area from a distance. I always have this in my upper right, near road, so people get in quick, and leave quick.

The second picture is a closer view showing how I break it up, in sections, so prisoners can get to their visitors quicker.


Regular doors for prisoners to get in to their Parole meetings and Visitation, but Double Jail doors for visitors to come in thru.
Doors, that visitors go thru, I try and have Door Servos to open them. That way if a Guard is late for duty, it can still get opened if needed.
These Parole areas are where most of my deaths/injuries occur, so I always ensure my Parole areas have lots of Guards to react fast.
I use Visitor Booths, not tables, to cut down on contraband.

Infirmary

Should be close to solitary so that injured prisoners (who usually end up in solitary) can be auto-healed by the doctors in the infirmary (see? told you they work together.).
Since scissors (contraband-weapons) can be obtained by prisoners from the infirmary, it is advised that you place metal detectors at any infirmary doorways to try and catch the contraband.
(NOTE: Do NOT put your infirmary close to areas where prisoners mass gather or get into fights alot like the canteen or yard! That is bad because your crazy-mad fighters will fight your guards, get auto healed, and can continue fighting indefinitely!)
Has a double jail door (always locked open) so anyone who needs medical attention, or anti-drug courses, can get in/out fast.
Hospital beds close to eachother (no spaces between them), and 2 squares in middle of room for doctors, patients, etc...to get thru faster.


Morgue

Only really need one.
I don't have one in my current prison, and things still move along well.
Put it near your Road (so less distance for body to be moved to exit vehicle).
I zone it as "Staff Only" since the only prisoners that should go in will be dead, and I don't want other prisoners getting contraband from here.
Morgue slabs right next to eachother, no spaces needed. I leave one space near door for quick entry/exit.
Staff only door to Morgue.


Solitary

Nothing fancy for troublemakers.
2 squares, 1 for toilet, one for prisoner. They can take care of bladder needs and that is it. Save your space for other things.
Close to infirmary so docs can auto-heal injuries.


While you only really need one morgue, feel free to build multiple infirmaries and/or solitary areas as you need them. Keep in mind if your prison is running well, you 'should' only need 1 solitary cell block, 1 infirmary, and 1 morgue.

I put these close to eachother.
Psychologist Offices are used for behaviour classes (for your violent psycho prisoners) and classes are for normal classes.
Offices also contain contraband (cigarettes - a luxury) so if you want to cut down on that luxury, have a dog patrolling outside any offices your prisoners go in, and out, of (like psychologist office). The Dog will sniff out the contraband.
Classrooms work better (in my opinion) when they are the recommended size (5x5) and just stuff class seats in them. Bigger classes are a waste of space to me. Some people use bigger classes, I do not.

Have a staff room close by the offices so your psychologists can quickly go get rest when needed, and get back to their classes fast.

WORKSHOPS

I prefer smaller workshops since they are more efficient.
Here is why.

A Large Workshop (has only 20 worker slots)



Smaller Workshops (each has 8 worker slots)



So as you can see, the bigger workshop has more things for prisoners to work on BUT does not have enough prisoner slots to have them all busy, but the smaller workshops have less things to work on with more prisoner slots which means the items will usually all be fully busy and worked on.
With trial and error I'm sure you can build Workshops just a little bigger than the ones I have for max efficiency, but these work well for me.


LAUNDRY (22 x 14 = 60 workers)

Keep this calculation in mind when building one. 2+4+8. For every 2 washing machines, have 4 ironing boards and 8 laundry baskets. As your prison grows sometimes you can tweak this with a few more (or less) of each, but those numbers are a good solid start point for all prisons.


KITCHENS (29 x 26 -BUT for more room you can go 29 x 29 or bigger)

A major area of deadly contraband! Most 'expert' prison builders keep trouble (and contraband) lower by just designating this area as "Staff Only" so that prisoners can never enter and get their hands on knives, etc... If possible do that.
My prisons always have ONE main Kitchen supplying all my canteens, except for Death Row cell block which always has it's own small kitchen.
My kitchens need alot of power. I usually have each section (top, bottom, left, right) have their own Power Generator.
NOTE: I have alot of Sinks in my kitchen, but I also ensure all of my Canteens, and some of my Staffrooms, have their own Sinks also. This way when my cooks are away from kitchen, cleaning up Canteens and Staffrooms, they can wash dishes while they are there. This is very efficient in my prison.
The ONLY reason to let prisoners work in the kitchen is if the only way into your cells is thru the kitchen area...which would make "Staff Only" useless, in which case have prisoners working in the kitchen and don't make it staff only.
Staff only doors, metal detectors on every door. I put mine on the outside doors only because my canteen, which is attached to my kitchen, has metal dectors on ALL entrances. (My canteen screenshot is in a different section and will show you what I mean)


CLEANING CUPBOARD (22 x 14 = 60 workers)

To avoid a filthy prison (which will cause prisoner trouble later) have alot of these. The benefits are:
1 - keeps otherwise unskilled-unemployed prisoners busy. (prisoners busy = prisoners not getting in trouble)
2 - keeps your prison clean (clean prison = happier prisoners)
3 - more prisoner janitors means you need to spend less money on normal janitors. Keep in mind you still need normal janitors since the prisoners ONLY work during work hours in the regime.


SHOP (22 x 14 = 13 workers)

More Shop counters means more prisoners can buy stuff at a time. Chairs means your workers don't get as tired.


MAILROOM (22 x 14 = 20 workers)

Lots of contrarband come thru here. Metal Detectors and Dogs cut down on them alot. If you have lots of Phones for prisoners to use, you don't really need a Mail room.


LIBRARY (22 x 14 = 20 workers)

Enough bookshelves for your prisoners to use means you don't need a library.


CHAPEL (23 x 14 = Two Chapels side by side!)

Good for Spiritual needs. Two is better than one.


Last few pictures are NEWER layouts.

SHOWER ROOMS (DO NOT USE!!)



** I HIGHLY recommend NOT using Shower Rooms! **
They are areas of alot of fights/problems! If you have areas that need showers (Cells, Dorms, Yards) then put either one (in each Cell), or a few (in Dorms and Yards) with grates under them. Once again Shower Rooms are not advised.
Make sure grates are all around. The only two things that stop water from flooding out are Walls and Grates. Nothing else.





DOG KENNEL

Dog Kennels, bigger is better. Start a big one so that if you start using dogs more later, you just have to add more dog crates. Dogs are a great backup for metal detectors. Metal detectors detect metallic contraband, Dogs sniff out non-metal contraband AND can find tunnels/tunnelers!
Put a few Dog bowls in the Kennel, this helps your dogs rest faster.


ARMORY (the room for Armed Guards)

I rarely need armed guards. They suppress your prisoners which means after awhile of having them around prisoners your prisoners will slowly stop going to classes, work, etc....which to me means less $$$.
The only exceptions to this are SuperMAX (has their own Armory/Armed Guard), and to control Gangs/Legendaries.
The main reason I have an Armory is so that my other guards can get stab vests and tazers! stab vests and tazers mean less guards can safely handle more prisoners.

YARD



Yard should be big enough for all your prisoners, and ready for alot more later.
It should have everything for a prisoners needs like toilets, tv's, showers, phones, fitness benches, and pool tables. I had read somewhere that someone put beds in their also, which I tried. Beds didn't work for me they just took up space and no one used them. But everything else is used by prisoners.


CANTEEN



(NOTE: OLD Information) Canteens do not need doors, but they do need doorways...BIG doorways.
All my canteen entrances are 2 squares wide. Bigger means your prisoners get in fast and get out fast, without getting stuck in the doorway and causing problems.
IF you have only ONE Canteen for all your Prisoners, then Canteens should be HUGE with room for prisoners to move around fast. I do NOT suggest this though.
(NOTE: NEW Information) Make each Cell block with their own Canteen, supplied by one BIG Kitchen. Things are alot more efficient, and less problems, that way.
2 benches+1 table actively feeds 8 prisoners
1 serving table has 40 trays, which means once 40 prisoners use those trays there are NO more until the trays get cleaned, which they don't until after the eat time. So always have enough serving tables (i.e. trays) and benches/tables for your prisoners to have food and eat on...or you will end up regretting it. (UPDATE: I have found that one Serving Table can handle up to 80 prisoners. Not sure how (since only 40 trays supposedly, but my testing has done so).
Notice the black areas next to my kitchen (bottom of screenshot) and the canteen (top of screenshot)? Those are so that as my prison grows I can build my canteen, and kitchen, bigger to support more prisoners and cooks.
I found out that 1 big kitchen/canteen is ALOT more efficient than several smaller ones. My last prison has several smaller ones but the cooks stopped picking up food for the smaller ones and never cooked in the smaller ones (all that after I had built a slightly bigger one).
Metal detectors on ALL entrances to the canteen.
I station 2 guards (minimum) in the canteen during EAT times. You don't need them in there when it is not EAT time.
I also put tv's, toilets, and phones in my kitchen so the prisoners that finish eating faster can take care of other needs while they are there. Do NOT forget grates around showers, if you add them, or else you will see alot of dead (electrocuted) prisoners.

The outer wall should usually be a perimeter wall. It is harder for prisoners to damage, and tunnel under.
Always keep 10 spaces between your outer wall, and anything inside that prisoners will be around because contraband can be thrown over the outer all up to 10 spaces inside your prison. So with the 10 spaces you setup, any contraband will never reach your prisoners from outside the prison (except via visitors).
A good way to use up this 10 space area is forestry, offices, staffrooms, kennels, armories, and security rooms.. Forestry areas build trees, which are planted by your gardeners, cut down (usually in two game days) by your workers, and then hauled into your workshops to be cut into planks (by the saws) or made into superior beds (by carpenter table workers). Any excess wood is sold. The profit, least to most, is excess wood-->planks-->superior beds. Basically if you have enough trained carpenters, carpenter tables, trees, you will always have a nice, steady supply of profit.

ANY outside areas of your prison buildings put paving stone down. This makes everyone who walks on it (prisoners, workers, etc...) move alot faster, which is always desired.
For inside your prison, the basic default flooring is good enough (default is concrete I believe). Anything else is a waste of money and just for looks.

Always try and have 4 square wide walkways everywhere, inside and outside your prison. This avoids areas where everyone bottlenecks and move slowly thru. The wider the area, the more people can move thru without slowing down (slowing down is bad).


Anti-Contraband tips

1 - Metal Detectors at any entrance/exit multiple prisoners will be going thru
2 - Dog Handlers at any entrance/exit multiple prisoners will be going thru (I limit mine to areas where non-metallic contraband is around)
3 - Shakedowns every 2-3 nights, usually right after everyone is asleep and in their cells. With enough guards you will be finished before prisoners get too angry and you will usually find anything that needs to be found. Finding things means less problems the next day...usually.

Basic Personnel to personnel ration (adjust for less, more, as needed)

Guards to prisoners: 1 guard per 4 prisoners
Cooks to prisoners: 4 cooks per 50 prisoners
Janitors to prisoners: Depends on size of prison. I start with 2 janitors, always have cleaning cupboards for prisoner janitors, and if/when I see prison gettiing dirtier I add 2 janitors till no more dirt.
Dog Handlers: Enough for patrols on all non-metallic contraband areas and then add equal amount of non-working ones as reserve.

Setup your deployment schedule so your guards are always in areas prisoners will be in, but not in areas without prisoners.
Example: during meal time you only need Guards in canteens, kitchens, and anywhere workers/janitors have to go into. During sleep time you want guards in cell 'blocks', but not in work areas, canteen, etc...
Setting up a good deployment schedule will mean you need less guards overall.

This is my current Regime.
I have some Freetime, which I would always prefer to avoid, but can't think of anything to change it to and so far it works very well with my prison.
3 Eating times (never a hungry prisoner)
Staggered schedules/Regimes for each Security level (means food is constantly being made/sent out but not in a way that will overpower the Kitchen and it keeps prisoners fed).
5 hours of Sleep is the MINIMUM needed, but I put 6 hours just in case one is missed.

With other prisons results may vary, sometimes badly.

No Visitation, Work, or Education for:

SuperMAX
Protective Custody
Insane

In my current prison, none for MAX either, but when I give them their own Cell block, instead of their own Dorm area, I may change that.

15% for everyone.
Works well for me.

Only differences:

4 days for Medium
6 days for MAX
10 days for SuperMAX (NOTE: I do NOT let SuperMAX transfer. They are all my Volatiles only, so they stay in their paradise cell blocks.)

ALL IN ONE MOD BY KACPER100

HIGH EFFICIENCY POWER STATION MOD

MONEY LAUNDERING MOD

SNITCH SORTER

AGC GRANTS


The ONLY Mod that I never play without is Snitch Sorter. I don't consider it cheaty because I would think prisons are smart enough to automatically know which incoming prisoners need to be put in Protective Custody.

Money Laundering is kind of cheaty. It will make you alot of money, in a short amount of time, once it is up and running.

Power Station mod is just a Generator that is bigger, produces a little more power than a normal Generator, and costs double compared to a normal Generator.

All in One mod is just a small bunch of tweaks/updates that makes base game a little better (not sure if newest PA updates have made it obsolete, but I still use it)

AGC Grants has a few cheaty type Grants to help you get off the ground faster (example of one, there are a few Grants that give you money just for having a Delivery Zone).

1. If you like my guide, and/or you find it helpful, please take a few seconds to Rate it, and possibly add it to your Favorites.

2. If you have any comments/suggestions, feel free to post them. Real life is always my priority, but I will try and keep an eye on this guide to respond to people.

3. IF you know anyone who makes mods that give the game more and different Quick Build layouts, please let them know that I am looking for someone who can take some of my Cells/Rooms and put them together so I don't have to make them all from scratch everytime I start a new Prison.

4. If you have Mods you use (and like), that work with the latest update, are updated regularly, AND are fully stable, please post them in the comments. Myself, and other players, are usually looking for good mods to add to our games.

Thank you for taking the time to read my GUIDE.