The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

But a Department of Correction spokesman said Thursday the Aug. 31 memo is not an indication that an expansion of the Cheshire prison is imminent.

"At this point, there are no plans to do it," said Brian Garnett, a spokesman for the department. "All we were trying to indicate is that if the prison population were to expand at some point in the future, these were the facilities that could be expanded."

The prisons listed in the memo from Lena Ferguson, a legislative liaison with the corrections department, to Chris Reinhart of the state Office of Legislative Research are: the Cheshire Correctional Institution's North Block, which could accommodate 504 beds; the J.B. Gates Correctional Institution in the Niantic section of East Lyme, which could accommodate 26 additional beds; and the Carl Robinson Correctional Institution in Enfield, which could accommodate 228 more beds.

Of the three prisons named in the memo, only the Carl Robinson Correctional Institution has improvements currently under way. Work to refurbish two sections of the prison started in June, with one 114-bed section scheduled to be occupied by Sept. 15 and the second section scheduled to opened by late October or early November.

The Cheshire prison North Block was closed in the early 1990s amid security concerns after several inmates escaped that section of the facility, which was originally built as a boys reformatory in 1910. Corrections officials closed the North Block after it was determined it would be too costly to update it.

The Cheshire Correctional Institution houses about 1,300 inmates. With two other correctional facilities in town, Manson Youth Institution and Webster Correctional Institution, Cheshire is home to almost 3,000 inmates, said Kathy Needham, chairwoman of the town's Prison Advisory Committee.

The Maloney Center for Training and Staff Development also is here, but no prisoners are housed there.

Having that many inmates places a heavy burden on the town, especially its wastewater treatment facilities and its roads when prisoners' friends and relatives visit, Town Manager Michael Milone said. For that reason, town officials are renegotiating the town's host agreement with the Department of Correction.

Milone said corrections officials have not contacted the town about any near term plans to house more inmates at Cheshire Correctional Institution. "Adding any more inmates would just put more stress on what is already a stressful situation," Milone said.

"I would hope that if there is a plan to create more space for prisoners that it would be fully vetted by the legislature and that the town would have ability to give some input. It shouldn't be something that the town hears about after it's done and is a fait accompli."

Needham said she understands public concern about what kind of people are being paroled from the state's prisons in light of the July slayings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley and Michaela in a neighborhood not far from the prison. Two parolees are charged in the case.

"But why take advantage of Cheshire? Why not build prison in every community where there are people who want tougher laws?" Needham said. "Cheshire is already overwhelmed with inmates and it's unfair to put any more here. Let me put it this way: since this (the Petit killings) happened, nobody has called me and said that Cheshire should advocate for housing more inmates."

The Cheshire prison North Block has already undergone renovations so some prisoners could be housed there in an emergency, Needham said. At least that's the way the Correction Department has characterized the move to her group.

"Can they break their word?" Needham said of the prospect of permanent use of the North Block. "Thats a real concern."

http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18793162&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dep
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