|
|
| DOC cuts could force prison closures |
| By shreveporttimes.com - Mike Hasten |
| Published: 05/24/2012 |
|
BATON ROUGE – Budget cuts imposed by the House of Representatives could force the closure of the Avoyelles, Phelps and Rayburn prison facilities, Corrections Secretary James LeBlanc said today. In testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, Le Blanc said closing the prisons would save his department $25 million, by the time costs of closing a facility – employee benefits, inmate transfer and other expenses – are paid. But that would still leave a $2.5 million gap in his budget, so he said he would have to eliminate 57 probation and parole employees, which would increase caseloads on agents, and eliminate GPS tracking of sex offenders. Le Blanc described having to make the cuts as “a step backwards in our prison system.” “We can’t do across-the-board cuts,” said DOC Undersecretary Thomas Bickham. “We have to shut down facilities” to achieve savings. Read More. |
Comments:
Login to let us know what you think
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Not a good move! I don't recommend closing down the jails in order to save money. The jails in Louisiana are already overcrowded and elimatinating housing for these offenders is only going to create a bigger problem. The facility I work in now depends on other facilities to house our inmates due to the overcrowding. This move will not help eliminate spending cost but will only make the situation worse.