Michigan Plans To Close Prison In Western Upper Peninsula
MARENISCO TOWNSHIP (AP) — The Michigan Department of Corrections plans to close the Ojibway Correctional Facility in the western Upper Peninsula.
The Detroit Free Press report the agency's director made the announcement Tuesday to meet a cut of more than $19 million in the prison budget.
Lawmakers had instructed the department to close an unspecified prison.
Ojibway is located in Gogebic County and originally opened as a prison camp in 1971. MDOC spokesman Chris Gautz says the department has been closing units there recently and it's now down to about 800 prisoners.
Gautz says the prison employs 203 people, including 116 corrections officers, and he said about 20 of the employees are Wisconsin residents.
The MDOC says there are no immediate plans for possible reuse of the facility.
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