By C1 Staff
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — While prison populations are dwindling in Colorado, the state looks to close between 2 and 10 facilities in the next 18 months.
Good news for the state, but what about small towns that rely on them for jobs?
According to the state’s chief public defender, Douglas Wilson, the result is going to be prison work-related job losses for small communities.
“Unfortunately, a lot of those smaller communities were sold a bill of goods about, this is going to be good for your community – and it did create an economic boom for them,” Wilson told KUNC. “But now with the populations going down, I think the legislature’s going to have to make some tough decisions about if they close, and if so, where do they close the prisons.”
Colorado is already at 7,500 fewer inmates than it once expected in 2013. It has closed three state prisons and stopped using two private prisons.
Sen. Kent Lambert compared the closures to the economic impact of a military base closure. Shutting down prisons can even affect local school distrcits, he said.
“We think that it is a really, really big deal,” said Roxane White, chif of staff to Gov. John Hickenlooper.
The choice is so tough that the prison has hired a consultant to sort out the issues and recommend closures and other changes, with a report due by June 30.