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| Mississippi to Close Delta Prison |
| By Clarion-Ledger |
| Published: 07/30/2002 |
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Mississippi prison officials will close Greenwood's Delta Correctional Facility by Sept. 20. Warden Don Grant told The Clarion-Ledger on July 25 that he received a letter from the Mississippi Department of Corrections this week detailing closure plans for the 1,000-bed facility. 'I have such a letter,' Grant said, confirming that MDOC will begin taking prisoners 200 at a time from the facility in mid-August. The letter has sent shock waves through Leflore County, beset by seven plant closings in the past two years, a 10.9 percent unemployment rate and the loss of of 200 jobs on the horizon. But Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson said recently that closing the facility, operated by Corrections Corporation of America, is part of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's efforts to save the state at least $6 million. Musgrove began renegotiating private prison management contracts after voiding the pacts June 28. He said he could do so because the Legislature failed to override his veto of a $54.7 million private prison appropriation. Closing Delta 'will address the excess of medium-security beds in the system,' said Johnson of the state's 2,600 empty prison beds. Johnson said the state may re-open Delta within a year, 'but it may have to be reconfigured based on what our future planning calls for.' Until then, however, the state will continue to pay the bonds on an empty facility. Johnson confirmed recently that prisoners from Delta would be sent to state-owned prisons and regional jails. |
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