Prison Closing This Year

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jail32434-5

The Ojibway Correctional Facility in the western Upper Peninsula will close in December. The Michigan Department of Corrections announced the closure today as the prisoner population continues to decline statewide. State Representative Scott Dianda, who represents the western Upper Peninsula, tells Michigan News Network it’s bad news.

“We have a lot of people that were reducing the prison population, and we’re doing that by allowing certain individuals to come out on a lot of good time,” Dianda said. “What happens is these folks are ending up in all of your communities because they’re ending up back in the county jail systems.”

Dianda says some of these workers drive from surrounding towns and counties. However, he notes the closest facility they might be able to transfer to would be more than 100 miles away.