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| Last of Connecticut prisoners back from Virginia |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/13/2004 |
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The last of Connecticut's inmates housed at a Virginia prison have been returned to Connecticut, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced last Tuesday. The final 57 prisoners returned last weekend from the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Va. Since October 1999, nearly 500 Connecticut inmates have been housed in Virginia to ease crowding. But this state's prison population has been declining, dropping by 500 inmates over the past year to a total number of 18,400 people. Rell said it made sense several years ago to ship out the prisoners. But given the state's efforts to reduce its population through alternative incarceration and community programs, it makes sense to bring the inmates back home, she said. "We had a space problem and we had no place to go and frankly we did not want to create a hazard here in the state by having individuals in lunch rooms, cafeterias and hallways and the like," Rell said. Rell said Department of Correction Commissioner Theresa C. Lantz has assured her there is now enough room for the inmates. "She believes we have the space right now to house those prisoners returning because of what we're doing in the community, and hopefully she is correct," Rell said. The legislature last session gave then-Gov. John G. Rowland the ability to ship more prisoners out of state. But Rell said Tuesday that she doesn't believe she'll need to use that power. Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the legislature's Judiciary Committee, said he would like to repeal the language allowing out-of-state transfers, but believes it might take some time to prove that recent efforts to reduce crowding are truly working. Virginia notified Connecticut earlier this year it would cancel its contract with the state. Connecticut officials ruled out seeking a contract elsewhere. Rell announced in August that Connecticut's prisoners would be returning home. The transfer process involved Connecticut correction officers transporting approximately 80 offenders at a time on trips this fall. The inmates were absorbed into various DOC facilities throughout Connecticut. |
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