FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky plans to reopen and operate a privately owned prison in a strategy aimed at shifting inmates from overcrowded county jails, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday.
The state will lease the Floyd County facility from Tennessee-based CoreCivic but will operate it as a state prison housing male inmates, Beshear said. The 656-bed facility will be called Southeast State Correctional Complex. It last held inmates in 2012, officials said.
Its opening will reduce the number of state inmates held in county jails, Beshear said.
“The state commits to safely and effectively running this state prison, while being able to bring new job opportunities to Floyd County and its surrounding counties,” he said.
Lawmakers passed a one-year state budget in April with funds for the state to open and operate the facility, Beshear’s office said. The prison will eventually employ more than 200 staff, and the hiring process will begin immediately, it said.
Inmates will be sent there once staff training is completed this summer, officials said.
“Southeast State Correctional Complex will be a state prison in every sense other than ownership and upkeep of the facility,” said Corrections Commissioner Cookie Crews.
Overcrowding at some county jails has created potentially dangerous conditions and deprived inmates of some services.
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