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| Monroe prison dodges closure |
| By heraldnet.com |
| Published: 10/15/2009 |
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OLYMPIA — The Washington State Reformatory in Monroe dodged a bullet Wednesday when a much-anticipated study did not recommend closing the nearly 100-year-old facility to save money. Instead, it suggests about 100 inmates could be moved into the Monroe Correctional Complex from a Yakima facility targeted for closure in the report. “I'm happy because shutting the reformatory down would have had a significant economic impact on the community,” said Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe. His legislative colleagues from Pierce, Clark and Walla Walla counties may feel less exuberant because of recommended prison closures in their areas. Two options sketched out in the 37-page draft report would let legislators reach their goal of eliminating 1,580 prison beds and paring $12 million in Department of Corrections costs by mid-2011. Lawmakers counted on those savings in enacting the current state budget. One proposal involves closing the main institution of the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, closing half the Larch Corrections Center in Clark County for two years and permanently closing Ahtanum View Corrections Center in Yakima. All together, 1,653 prison beds could be eliminated. The other option, which would ax 1,618 beds, centers on shrinking the size of the McNeil Island Corrections Center and boarding up Larch and Ahtanum View facilities. Both scenarios call for moving the 100 elderly and infirm inmates at Ahtanum View into minimum security housing at the Monroe complex. Read More. |
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