Planned Prison Fails to Meet Classification Needs

RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina Department of Corrections estimates indicate that the state will have an excess of room for maximum-security inmates when a new $90 million close-custody prison opens in 2008, but not enough space for its medium- and minimum-security inmates.

When the new 1,000-bed prison opens, the state will have a surplus of more than 700 close-custody beds, the most expensive to build. A 1,000-bed medium-custody facility costs about $15 million less to build, while a similar sized minimum-custody prison would cost roughly $45 million.

The DOC estimates that in 2008, the year the close-custody prison is supposed to open, medium-security prisons will have nearly 600 inmates over capacity, while minimum-security prisons will have in excess of 700 inmates. By 2013, those deficits are projected to climb to more than 3,000 inmates in medium-security prisons and 1,900 in minimum-security prisons.

The close-custody prisons are intended to house the state’s most dangerous criminals, serving long-term sentences. One corrections official said that inmates who had originally been assigned to medium- and minimum-security prisons take up two-thirds of the cells. They were transferred after causing trouble.

If the Columbus County prison isn't built, and the money were spent on medium- or minimum-custody prisons, the system would have a deficit of 300 close-custody beds in 2008. Some legislators say that the state can't risk having too few close-custody beds.

The Columbus County prison is the last of six close-custody prisons approved by lawmakers since 2001. They have paid for the prisons by using a lease-purchase method that doesn't require a public vote. A private company builds the prisons and then the state makes lease payments for the next 20 years, before assuming full ownership.

Three prisons for Alexander, Anson and Scotland counties were approved in 2001, and have all opened. See Correctional News, “Facility of the Month,” Mar/Apr 2004. Lawmakers authorized three more – for Bertie, Greene and Columbus counties – two years later.