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| Lawmaker wants Ft. Lyon as DOC training center |
| By chieftain.com - PATRICK MALONE |
| Published: 12/22/2011 |
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DENVER — State Rep. Jon Becker says he has a solution for Fort Lyon Correctional Facility near Las Animas, but it doesn’t appeal to the Colorado Department of Corrections. Becker, R-Fort Morgan, thinks the prison near Las Animas that is soon to close would be a good candidate for DOC to establish a training center for correctional officers. “It will help the local economy; it won’t open up a new building; it won’t require any new capital costs,” Becker said. DOC spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said Fort Lyon is ill-suited as a training site because it is a great distance from most of the other prisons in the state and costly to maintain — one reason the General Assembly chose to close it during this year’s budget wrangling. “The buildings are old,” she said. “Some of them were built back in the Civil War. The upkeep out there is very challenging and expensive.” Becker acknowledged that some travel costs would result, and that the prison’s cost-efficiency was suspect. But he questioned the accuracy of some facts presented to lawmakers earlier this year that influenced their decision to close Fort Lyon, which will be without inmates or correctional officers by March. It employed more than 200 people. On Wednesday, the DOC presented a $14 million request to the Joint Budget Committee for fiscal year 2012-13 to accommodate placement of offenders in private prisons, because as this year’s budget was being drafted, the number of inmates the state would need to house was underestimated. Read More. |
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