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| All Wyoming Inmates Are Returned to State |
| By Wyoming Department of Corrections |
| Published: 01/27/2010 |
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Date: January 26, 2010 For information contact: Melinda Brazzale, Public Information Officer, 307.777.6085, mbrazz@wdoc.state.wy.us All Wyoming Inmates Are Returned to State As of today, January 26, 2010, all Wyoming inmates who have been housed out-of-state due to lack of room in Wyoming prisons have been returned to the Wyoming Department of Corrections. A group of 100 male inmates were the first group to be housed out-of-state in late 1997 to address lack of room. In the intervening 13 years, Wyoming inmates have been housed in a number of states including Texas, Nevada, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Colorado. "We are very pleased that we've been able to move all Wyoming inmates back to Wyoming," said Deputy Administrator Dawn Sides. "This is an important day. We know that we can do a much better job in-state of providing inmates opportunities to change the behaviors that brought them to prison." She added that having inmates closer to families, so that they can visit more often, will also help inmates' successful rehabilitation. On Wednesday, January 20, 126 inmates arrived from Virginia by plane at the Cheyenne Airport and on Thursday, January 21, another 127 inmates arrived from Virginia by plane at the Casper Airport. Over the next few days the final 16 inmates arrived by vans from Virginia. Inmates were then delivered to the Wyoming State Penitentiary, the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution and the other facilities. "I think that the folks in Torrington, having never seen our prison business, were taken by surprise on Wednesday when our convoy arrived in town," said Ms. Sides. "Numerous vehicles with lights flashing, including two large buses from the Colorado Department of Corrections, our WDOC bus, and a number of vans and other accompanying vehicles came rolling into town and literally stopped traffic." She mentioned that the same scenario took place in Rawlins the following day, but due to the years of experience that the town has had with the Wyoming State Penitentiary, residents barely took notice. Sides thanked the numerous entities involved in the entire process that made sure safety was a primary consideration. Those involved with the transport process were Laramie County, Goshen County, Carbon County and Natrona County sheriffs' offices; Cheyenne Police Department and SWAT; Casper, Mills, Rawlins and Torrington police departments; Wyoming Department of Homeland Security; Justice Prison & Alien Transportation System (JPATS)/U.S. Marshals Service; Wyoming National Guard; Wyoming Highway Patrol; Cheyenne Airport Fixed Base Operator; Casper Airport Public Safety Officer; Laramie County and Natrona County detention centers; Burlington Northern Railroad; Virginia Department of Corrections; and Colorado Department of Corrections. "Everything went smoothly, which is a credit to all the correctional professionals involved," she said. On January 6, 2010, the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution was opened in Torrington. With the addition of over 700 beds with the addition of this facility, the WDOC now has room for all Wyoming inmates sentenced to the WDOC. Earlier the Wyoming Women's Center was expanded two-fold and all Wyoming female inmates were returned April 12, 2007. |
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