Robert B. Vallandingham

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction — Columbus, OH

Felonious Veteran

End of Watch April 14, 1993

Age 40

Tour of Duty 2 yrs

The Vigil Panel 139 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 25

Incident

Correction Officer Robert Vallandingham was killed when he was strangled by inmates during a prison riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility that involved 450 inmates. He and several other officers had been taken hostage during the riot and had been held for four days before Officer Vallandingham was murdered and his body thrown into the prison yard. During the 11-day siege, nine inmates, alleged snitches, were executed. It was the longest prison riot in U.S. history that eventually settled into one of the longest sieges in U.S. prison history. More than 1000 National Guard members were activated, and more than 100 state troopers. Five inmates, 24, 26, 30, 36, and 47, were sentenced to death for Officer Vallandingham's murder. In 2021, four were awaiting their execution dates. The youngest of the five is to be executed on November 16, 2023. Officer Vallandingham was a United States Army Vietnam War veteran and had served with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction for two years. He was survived by his wife and son. He is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and son.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-OH-00911DFA
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Correction Officer Vallandingham gave the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction 2 years.
Thank you for your service to the Columbus community, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

Location Columbus, OH

Platform Identity odrc.franklin.oh.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch April 14, 1993

Tour of Duty 2 yrs

Age 40

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Person

Offender Sentenced to death

Military Service

Robert B. Vallandingham served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.

Correction Officer Robert B. Vallandingham is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In OH, 572 of 991 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 57.7% of this state's fallen. That is 3.5 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.

At Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, 18 of 26 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 69.2% of this agency's fallen.

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

of 26 officers

69.2% Felonious

OH — Statewide

572

of 991 officers

57.7% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious