State prison system plans staffing cuts


October 15, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS (AP) — State officials have informed union members that Ohio’s prison system plans to lay off 41 employees and eliminate 118 vacant positions.

The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction also plans to close Camp Reams, Ohio’s first prisoner “boot camp.” Officers now working at the facility located at the Southeastern Correctional Institution in Lancaster will be reassigned.

Additionally, one inmate unit will be closed at the Pickaway Correctional Institution in Orient in central Ohio.

The cuts, taking effect Feb. 27, are expected to save $16 million as the prison system works to cut its two-year budget by $87.2 million.

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