The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice this week notified staff at Brown Creek Correctional Institution of plans to convert the medium-custody prison facility to house approximately 350 minimum-custody inmates and operate it as a part of neighboring Lanesboro Correctional Institution.
After the changes are complete in approximately three months, the prison facilities in Anson County will all operate under the Lanesboro Correctional Institution name, housing approximately 1,000 inmates in close custody, 500 in medium custody and 350 in minimum-custody.
The total number of state prison inmates housed in Anson County will drop from about 2,300 to about 1,850 supervised by about 630 employees, down from about 880. This smaller number of prison employees in the county is more closely aligned with the available local workforce. Some Brown Creek employees will remain to operate the new minimum-security facility. Others will transfer or be eligible to compete for promotion into positions at Lanesboro’s medium or close custody operations or to state prisons in surrounding counties. No employees will be laid off. This week Brown Creek employees are completing surveys on their employment preferences.
The state prison system is currently re-missioning its facilities across the state in order to better provide for the treatment and rehabilitative needs of the inmate population and to align missions with prison facilities and local communities best suited to support those missions. Some staff positions no longer required in Anson County will be shifted to other prisons as part of the re-missioning process.
The minimum-custody unit at Lanesboro Correctional Institution will focus on housing long-term minimum-custody inmates. The separate portion of Brown Creek CI formerly known as Anson Correctional Center will be repurposed in the future.
Correction Enterprises will continue to operate its Metal Products plant onsite, providing jobs for 40-60 inmates and producing metal goods like stainless steel kitchen equipment, park benches, picnic tables and custom metal products. The minimum-security unit will also continue to operate a work release program, placing eligible inmates with local employers.
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