Mound prison in Detroit to close in January
By Dawson Bell, Lansing
Bureau
Sept. 28, 2011
Michigan prison officials announced this morning
a series of cost-cutting moves today that will
result in the closure of the Mound Correctional
Facility in Detroit, turning over all prison health
and mental health care to a private contractor and
the layoff of up to 2,000 employees.
The moves, aimed at saving more than $20 million
a year, will be implemented in stages, with the
Detroit prison set to close in by mid-January.
The prison, which opened in the late 1980s to
deal with rapidly rising prison populations, is no
longer needed as inmate numbers have gone into a
steady decline, Department of Corrections officials
said. Closing it will save about $1.3 million, MDOC
spokesman Russ Marlan said.
Turning over health care operations to a private
contractor is targeted to save about $18.8 million,
Marlan said. About 1,300 state employees, including
nurses, psychologists and support staff will be
affected by the move, he said.
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