As ADP Falls, Michigan Closes Units
Michigan’s prison population is at a seven-year low and for the first time a limited number of maximum security prisoners are being double-bunked as a way to save money. Corrections officials say they are on track to reduce the population to 44,000 by Oct. 1. That should allow the state to close several prisons besides the two prisons and one prison camp that have ceased operations this year, according to the Detroit News.
The state has 47,706 inmates, down more than 7 percent from the record population of 51,454 in December 2006 …
With tax collections tanking, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and state lawmakers are eager to trim prison costs, which at $2 billion annually account for about one-fifth of all general fund spending. The governor’s budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1 calls for a $120 million cut in prison spending. “We have been paroling inmates at a rapid rate and the prison intake is down as well,” said Russ Marlan, spokesman for the Corrections Department. He said it looks like 1,070 people will be paroled from prison during May — up 30 percent from last year …
There are 1,400 empty beds in state prisons that were once filled to capacity. Last week, corrections officials closed three housing units at two Upper Peninsula facilities to save $1.3 million by Oct. 1. The 184 inmates at two closed units at Alger Maximum Correctional Facility in Munising were shipped to other state prisons. Another unit with 103 inmates was closed at Marquette Branch Prison in Marquette. More than 60 inmates were transferred, while 50 were moved to other units at the facility to share cells with other inmates, a first for the state.
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