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| Corrections cuts could close Avoyelles prison |
| By thetowntalk.com - Mike Hasten |
| Published: 05/22/2012 |
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BATON ROUGE -- If the Senate does not restore budget cuts imposed by the House of Representatives, Department of Corrections Secretary James Le Blanc says he would be forced to close the Avoyelles, Phelps and Rayburn state prison facilities. In testifying before the Senate Finance Committee Monday, Le Blanc said closing the prisons would save his department $25 million, by the time costs of closing the facilities -- employee separation costs, inmate transfer and other expenses -- are paid. But that would still leave a $2.5 million gap in his budget, he said, so 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. The House-passed budget eliminated almost $268 million in one-time funding that was to be used to patch holes in the Jindal administration budget. Senators are considering restoring the cuts with one-time money that was authorized in a separate House-passed bill. Read More. |
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