Politics & Government
Winslow: State House Budget to Keep Norfolk Prison Open
State Rep. Dan Winslow said the state House of Representatives budget would keep Bay State Prison in Norfolk open.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives budget drafters have rejected a proposal to close the Bay State Prison in Norfolk, according to a release from State Rep. Dan Winslow's office.
Winslow said Gov. Deval Patrick had proposed the facility's closure.
Winslow had opposed the closing, citing the potential loss of local jobs and prison overcrowding.
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"With prisons in Massachusetts at 143 percent over capacity, it made no sense and posed a public safety risk to correctional officers, inmates and the public to close a prison," Winslow said in a statement. "We spend more than $42,000 annually per inmate and have a 60 percent rate of recidivism in Massachusetts."
"We need to put 'correction' back into the department of correction and use the space we have more wisely," he added.
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