Jeff Schmit Appointed Director of New Sanem Prison

Jeff Schmit has been appointed the designated director of the new Uerschterhaff penitentiary centre (or Sanem prison) in Luxembourg; he will assume the role on 1 June 2020.

On the proposal of Luxembourg's Minister of Justice Sam Tanson, the Government Cabinet decided yesterday to propose the appointment of Jeff Schmit as the future director of Sanem prison to His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

After completing a bachelor's degree in commercial and financial sciences at ICHEC Brussels Management School, Jeff Schmit began working in the private sector. In 2001, he became economic advisor to the Federation of Luxembourg Hospitals and member of the board of directors of GIE-Buanderie centrale.

Four years later, Jeff Schmit joined the management of Schrassig Prison, of which he has been deputy director since June 2006. After administrative management, he was responsible for the detention and integration component at the prison for seven years. From 2012, he was involved in the planning of the future prison in Sanem and has been in charge of site coordination since 2015. 

The Uerschterhaff penitentiary centre, located in the municipality of Sanem, will be the second closed prison in Luxembourg and is currently under construction; the opening is planned for the beginning of 2023. The prison is intended to accommodate up to 400 people in preventive detention. It is one of the three penitentiary centres managed by Luxembourg's Prison Administration, which is in charge of the management of centres intended for the execution of custodial sentences.