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| Ohio's Orient Prison To Close |
| By Columbus Dispatch |
| Published: 12/17/2001 |
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Orient Correctional Institution, a 17 year-old prison with 533 employees and more than 1,700 inmates, is expected to close because of state budget cuts. State prisons chief Reginald A. Wilkinson scheduled a news conference recently to announce a prison closing -- the first in Ohio history because of money problems. The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction would not confirm that Orient, a medium-security facility, would be shuttered. However, sources told The Dispatch that it is the only prison slated to close to meet a $19 million shortfall in the agency budget through June 30, the end of the fiscal year. The prison has a $41.9 million annual operating budget. The complex is the site of a former state mental hospital and a small Civil War graveyard. Inmates from Orient Correctional are expected to be transferred to other institutions; some employees will be able to 'bump'' workers at other prisons. However, layoffs are expected. Wilkinson previously had said he would consider closing one of the two state-owned, privately operated prisons, possibly the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in Grafton in Lorain County. The advantage for the state was that the private prison does not employ state workers and could be closed on shorter notice. State officials apparently changed direction, however, when the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association -- the union representing prison workers -- refused to make any money-saving concessions. |
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