State might take inmates from Brush prison - Brush News-Tribune

State might take inmates from Brush prison - Brush News-Tribune
Due to a decline in the number of female prisoners throughout Colorado, the state might remove inmates from High Plains Correctional Facility in Brush this summer.
“The state has talked about the fact that they may not need the facility now, that they may not need the capacity that High Plains provides,” said Charles Seigel, spokesman for Houston, Texas-based Cornell Companies, Inc., which owns the Brush prison.
The medium-security prison can house up to 272 female inmates, who are placed at the facility through a contract with the Colorado Department of Corrections. The prison had a total inmate population of 252 in February 2009 and 218 in February 2010, according to the CDOC.
In an attempt to keep the Brush prison operational, Cornell is now working with corrections officials in Colorado and several other states to identify alternate ways to use the facility.
Seigel said the local prison might have the opportunity to replace any departing inmates with prisoners from other states, which is allowed in Colorado. He said he did not know whether the local facility could be converted into a prison for men.
“We’re not sure yet what the future holds,” he said. “There are different options and different ways this may work out.”
Researchers estimated in 2006 that Colorado prisons would be holding nearly 30,000 inmates by 2013, but a new study estimates there will be about 8,000 fewer inmates by then, according to the Associated Press.
The female prison population has dropped much more quickly than the men’s, which prompted the state to close the Colorado Women’s Correctional Facility in Canon City in 2009.
Since each Colorado prisoner costs the state about $20,000 per year, the decline in prison populations is good news for the state budget. The lower population could save the state at least $160 million in 2013 alone.
But the decline could be detrimental to the livelihood of Colorado prison workers, including the many employed by High Plains Correctional Facility.
“We know that the facility is an economic engine for Brush,” Seigel said. “Obviously, people have jobs there. We want to keep the facility going.”