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| South Boston Town council gets bad prison news |
| By gazettevirginian.com - Doug Ford |
| Published: 12/14/2011 |
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South Boston, VA -- The axe appears to have fallen on Mecklenburg Correctional Center with the resulting loss of more than 300 jobs, State Senator Frank Ruff told South Boston Town Council during its December meeting Monday night. Council had invited Ruff and Delegate James Edmunds to the meeting to discuss issues pertaining to the upcoming General Assembly session in Richmond, and Ruff delivered the bad news at the beginning of a question and answer session. “As we speak right now the state is taking cuts, and about 350 of those cuts will be in Mecklenburg County,” Ruff told council. “They’re telling the board of supervisors down there right now they’re going to close Mecklenburg Correctional.” The governor’s Chief of Staff, Martin Kent, and Secretary of Public Safety, Maria Graff Decker, attended the Mecklenburg County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday night to inform the members personally of the closing, while Department of Corrections leadership informed prison employees. Ruff cited economic reasons for the state’s decision to close Mecklenburg. “The average cost I think is around $25,000 to keep a prisoner now. Mecklenburg is about $30,000 and newer facilities $20,000,” said Ruff. “The way it’s designed is not efficient, and it’s just basic economics.” A correctional facility in Brunswick County was closed about two years ago, and virtually everyone working at that facility that wanted another job within the system was offered one, according to Ruff. “There were only two to five jobs lost, but this time around people are scared of the economy and aren’t willing to retire in some cases. “There’s not the turnover you had before…some people may be losing their jobs. “They may get an opportunity in North Carolina at places at Butner or somewhere else.” In a press release issued on Tuesday, Ruff said he and Delegate Tommy Wright (R-Mecklenburg) would do all they can to reverse the state’s proposal to close Mecklenburg. “Other considerations should be evaluated before this drastic action is taken,” said Ruff in the press release. “As an example, currently Virginia is not taking state responsible inmates from the jails as quickly as they are expected and required by law,” he noted. There is a great deal of concern about jail overcrowding, according to Ruff, who added he and Wright will make the case that the prison is an important employer in the area and that the employees there have served the state well. “The employees who have served Mecklenburg better understand the operation than anyone else,” said Ruff. “I would ask any of those employees to tell us how they believe that the prison could be operated at less expense. We will take those thoughts to Richmond to try to reverse this decision.” Ruff provided background as to how the issue of Mecklenburg’s closing has arisen. “Mecklenburg was designed to house death row and the worst offenders in the prison system,” Ruff explained. “This design was for intensive supervision. After the prison break in the early 1980s, a consent decree was signed and worked out between the state and the ACLU by then Attorney General Jerry Baliles that allowed each prisoner time out of his cell. This agreement drove up the cost of maintaining prisons at Mecklenburg. That cost per inmate is higher than other prisons. Read More. |
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