Governor Rell Announces DOC Recommendation

for Prison Closure: Webster CI in Cheshire

            Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that the Department of Correction has recommended closing the Level Two, minimum-security Webster Correctional Institution in Cheshire – a cost-cutting measure that will save taxpayers about $3.4 million a year while maintaining the safety and security of the public, the staff and inmates.

            The state prison population has been steadily declining, while the Department of Correction (DOC) has had success with a number of programs designed to reduce recidivism and prepare inmates for transition back into the community. These conditions, combined with the need to sharply reduce state spending in light of a growing budget deficit, prompted Governor Rell last month to direct the DOC to study whether one or more prisons could be closed without a detrimental effect on safety.

            “We face an extraordinarily difficult budget situation – a challenge unlike any we have known in modern memory,” Governor Rell said. “The state prison population is currently about 18,300, down from nearly 19,900 in February 2008. While other states – including states facing even more severe budget problems than our own – are being forced to build new prisons, we can make the most of our successes by building on these achievements.

            “Any decision such as this must always be made with public safety foremost in our minds,” the Governor said. “The recommendation from DOC notes that closing a minimum security facility is easier to accomplish because any inmates that need to be moved can be shifted to higher-security locations if necessary. The closure can also be accomplished without laying off any of the dedicated DOC staff, who perform one of the most dangerous – yet most necessary – tasks in state government.”

            Webster CI was opened in 1990. The closure will result in the transfer of approximately 220 inmates. Over the course of the past year, DOC has closed two of the four housing units at Webster; the plan recommended to the Governor calls for closing the remainder of the facility except for the stand-alone building known as the Webster Annex and redeploying the DOC staff.

            The Webster Annex would be operated as part of the Cheshire Correctional Institution to house the inmate workers needed for the complex.

            Governor Rell and Acting DOC Commissioner Brian K. Murphy have both said that any prison closure would be reversed should the need arise. Completing the closure of Webster CI would take eight to 10 weeks, Commissioner Murphy said.

            In his letter to Governor Rell, Commissioner Murphy noted that success in keeping the prison population low depends in large measure on the continuing collaboration between all elements of the judicial system, including the recently reconfigured Board of Pardons and Paroles, the Judicial Branch and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

            “I must also credit my staff for its professionalism and dedication,” he wrote. “On a daily basis our custody staff insures the safety and security of our facilities, while our parole offices provide oversight of offenders in the community. Together they fulfill our mission of protecting the public.”