The State of Connecticut has been in the habit of closing prisons due to fewer inmates for nearly a decade.
On Wednesday, Gov. Dannel Malloy announced the partial closure of Corrigan Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville.
The facility once housed 250 inmates, though due to a decreasing prison inmate population, the Department of Correction took steps over the past several months to move prisoners out of part of the facility and into a different section.
“No one was released to allow this to happen," said Malloy during an event held at the prison. "There may have been people who were released because their sentences expired but no one was released to make this happen."
For the pass nine years, Connecticut has saved more than $42 million as a direct result of prison closures and Corrigan Radgowski is the latest of seven closures since 2008.
State officials said the closures have been a result of a reduction crime, where Connecticut has been among the leaders nationwide in recent years.
“The goal is not to close prisons, the goal is to reduce crime, because if you reduce crime because if there are few people coming in then the inmate count will go down and then you will be able to take facilities offline," said Mike Lawlor, who handles criminal justice issues for the Malloy Administration.
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“What we’re trying to do is focus on the high-risk more dangerous guys and for others find other ways to hold them accountable that’s more effective and less expensive,” Lawlor said.
