By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-926604.mp3
LANSING, MI –
The Legislature has voted to keep open the state's "boot camp" for first-time, non-violent felons. As we hear from Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta, the facility would have been forced to close Thursday without legislative action.
AUDIO:
The Legislature voted to extend the program for another two years. It subjects first-time offenders to intense discipline and training as condition for avoiding a longer sentence. "Boot camp" inmates must serve 90 to 120 days before they are paroled.
Budget-cutters targeted the program in an effort to save about $10 million in one of the state's most-expensive budgets. But John Cordell of the Michigan Department of Corrections says the boot camp saves taxpayers' money.
"Closing this facility would have resulted in us having to re-open two prisons within the next two years," he says.
About 12 hundred first-time felons go through the Washtenaw County "boot camp" every year. The deal to continue the boot camp also ensures that money for county jails that house state prisoners won't be cut.