Ohio state prisons will lose 701 positions by July 8 as part of a $71 million budget cut, and Nelsonville's Hocking Correctional Facility will lose five of these positions.
Due to an economic slump in Ohio, Gov. Ted Strickland asked the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections to cut $71 million from their budget, said spokeswoman Andrea Carson.
Of the 701 affected positions, 162 were already vacant, and 25 of the positions were deputy
wardens.
Only 5 percent of the workforce was affected by the eliminated positions, and there are no plans to eliminate correctional, teaching or medical positions, Carson said.
Hocking Correctional Facility was affected by the eliminations, and will lose five positions unknown at this time, said Warden Samuel Tambi. -
Tambi said. If we keep it at this rate I think we have enough officers to accommodate inmate population.
Other attempts by the state to save money include offering one-year early retirements for the 1,350 eligible correctional office employees. The state does not know how the eligible employees will respond because the program runs until March 2009, Carson said.-
17
Archives
Libby Cunningham
