SEPTEMBER 11, 1996

RALEIGH -- More state prisoners were moved into eastern North Carolina today to help clean up debris left by Hurricane Fran.

Prison managers moved 150 inmates mainly from western North Carolina prisons to areas of the state hardest hit by the hurricane.

"We're working with the Department of Transportation and communities to remove debris, clear roadways and clean up streets as quickly as possible," said State Correction Secretary Franklin Freeman. "Correction staff and inmates have been hard at work helping to clean up ever since Fran blew through here."

The inmates will be moved into five eastern North Carolina minimum security prisons. They will work during the day and sleep on mattresses on the floors in prison dormitories. Demand for inmate labor has increased in the last two days.

"We received a request in Wayne County for inmates to fill sandbags," said Boyd Bennett, Division of Prisons Geographic Command Manager. "We put inmates from Neuse Correctional Institution and Goldsboro Correctional Center to work on that project."

Ninety-four correctional officers supervised 703 inmates in 72 community work crews today. Other inmates worked in Department of Transportation road squads.

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