North Carolina Department of Correction DOC WEB release

The number of out-of-state inmates has been reduced

JANUARY 30, 1997

RALEIGH -- The number of North Carolina inmates housed out-of-state has been reduced with the return of 859 inmates from Texas and Oklahoma over the last three months.

"We have used private prisons out-of-state for several years as we've worked to provide the prison capacity our state needed," Correction Secretary Mack Jarvis said. "Out-of-state prisons have provided the capacity to keep violent offenders behind bars longer. As we open new prisons and begin to meet the demand for prison space, its time to return these inmates to North Carolina."

Additional prison space at Central Prison in Raleigh, Marion Correctional Institution near Marion and Pasquotank Correctional Institution near Elizabeth City allowed prison managers to bring all inmates back from Limestone, Texas and reduce the number of inmates at Hinton, Oklahoma.

North Carolina contracted to keep 639 prisoners at the Texas facility for $44.90 per offender per day. The Oklahoma contract is for 560 beds at $54.75 and the Mason, Tennessee contract is for 480 at $55.

"After extensive planning, prison managers arranged for the U.S. Marshal Service to fly the inmates back to Raleigh and move them to Central Prison," said Danny Thompson, assistant director of prisons. From there, inmates were assigned and transferred to prisons across the state.

The planned opening of the Dan River Prison Work Farm, Hyde Correctional Center, Warren Correctional Institution and additional prison expansion this year will allow prison managers to return the inmates from Oklahoma and Tennessee. There are now 566 North Carolina inmates in Oklahoma and 480 in Tennessee.

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