RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina agency says it will temporarily suspend operations at three minimum custody facilities and move correctional officers and other staff to neighboring prisons to address what it calls staffing challenges.
The N.C. Department of Public Safety says in a news release on Tuesday that it's making the move with the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice to better utilize available staff and make state prisons and communities safer.
The news release says operations will be suspended at Hoke Correctional Institution, Tyrrell Prison Work Farm and Odom Correctional Institution to deploy staff to prisons with high officer vacancy rates.
Information provided to The Associated Press in April 2018 showed North Carolina's understaffed prisons remained dangerous for employees just months after four workers were killed in an escape attempt.
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Other changes that will take place over the next few months include:
- Designating Anson CI’s male minimum custody facility as the South Central region’s reentry facility, replacing Hoke CI.
- Returning Neuse CI from a female facility to a male medium custody facility, housing primarily offenders with chronic health conditions. The facility was used to house female offenders during the remissioning of Anson CI from a male to a female facility.
- Remissioning Hyde CI from a male medium/minimum custody prison to house only male minimum custody offenders.
“Employees will be temporarily reassigned to help their colleagues at facilities with high vacancy issues,” said Commissioner of Prisons Todd Ishee. “We value our employees and our goal is to reassign staff such that the temporary reassignments are accomplished with minimal disruption to families.”
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- Pasquotank Escape Attempt Survivors Describe 'Horror Scene' Inside Prison
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- Top Leaders At Prison Where 4 Died Demoted
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- Four Charged In Deaths Connected To NC Attempted Prison Escape
- Correctional Facilities Understaffed Across North Carolina
- Attempted Pasquotank prison escape one year later
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