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Bladen Correctional
Center on lists to be closed Bladen
Correctional Center is on a list of facilities to be closed.
Gov. Pat McCrory' budget proposal and the NC Senate's
proposed budget, list the local center, along with others to
be closed. Under the heading of Justice and Pubic
Safety, the Bladen Center is listed along with others in
Duplin, Wayne, Buncombe and Orange counties. Other
related facilities include the Lenoir Youth Development
Center, the Richmond Detention Center and the Buncombe
Detention Center. The closure, according to the
budget proposals, indicate it is a part of reduction in
prison capacity reflecting the declining prison population.
The closure of the Bladen Correction Center is
effective October 1, 2013. According the the Bladen
Correctional Center website, there is an inmate capacity of
172 and a staff size of 52. The center was build in
the late 1930's. In recent years it has been
classified as a minimum custody level of males.
There is no indication of what employees can expect if the
unit is closed. The closure will have a direct
effect on the budget for the Town of Elizabethtown.
The town uses inmate labor on their maintenance staff.
Eddie Madden, Town Manager, has stated on several occasions
that the closure of the facility could cause in increase in
the proposed budget for the coming year. The town is
currently using 7 inmates on a full-time basis at a cost of
$1 per day per inmate. Madden says it will cost $90,000 to
$100,000 to hire just 3 full-time employees and that will
cause an increase in his proposed budget. The final
decision on closure could come down to the last minute
before the final budget is approved by conferees from the NC
House and Senate. Two years ago, the unit was given
new life in a similar situation, according to Rep. William
Brisson. There are no guarantees it can happen again.
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