Gov. Bill Walker’s $3.5 million cut to the Department of Corrections will cause the department to close at least one corrections facility and possibly some probation offices. Department spokesperson Corey Allen Young would not specific which ones.
The department is looking internally at possibilities. “It’s part of doing a study and researching which ones we can cut that doesn’t affect services and still provides security and safety for our community,” Allen Young said.
Allen Young emphasized that facilities will not close overnight. Inmates will be moved to other corrections centers and halfway houses or possibly put on ankle monitoring, depending on the situation.
Other possible cost savings measures include reassigning employees to other facilities to reduce overtime payments, and sending some inmates out of state again because it’s significantly less expensive. Allen-Young said the department will try to partner with more community agencies to provide treatment programs.
