8 The Colonnade
News
February 13, 2009
Milledgeville: Land of lakes and land of prisons by Dana Landers Senior Reporter
The GCSU campus is in the midst of lake country, across the street from Georgia’s old capital building, and a short walk from Georgia Military College, but no one mentioned in the brochures that it was also 12 miles away from four state prisons. Baldwin County contains more state prisons than any other county in Georgia. Before October, there were five state prisons in Hardwick, Ga., a mere 12 miles away from campus. River’s State Prison closed in October due to budget cuts, leaving four state prisons in Hardwick and a youth detention center located off of Highway 22 in Milledgeville. The four remaining prisons are located behind Central State Hospital. Dating back to 1937, these prisons have had front seat tickets to much of Milledgeville’s history and continue to influence the area’s economic destiny. The prisons employ over 1,000 people and house around 4,000 inmates.
Without these prisons, 1,000 people would be out of jobs, but with those jobs also comes the price of paying for the 4,000 inmates to eat, live and be contained. The cost per inmate can range from around $42 to $50 per day depending on the security level of the prison; the higher the security, the higher the costs. State prisons have three levels of security, which are low, medium and close. Three of the prisons in Hardwick are medium security prisons, meaning the inmates are not considered extremely dangerous and many may even work in prison details around the county. One of the prisons is a close security, the highest level for state prisons. This means that the prisoners are either escape risks, have assault histories or are considered dangerous. These prisoners never leave the prison grounds and are under constant supervision. For complete profile for all five prisons visit online at www.GCSUnade.com
Baldwin State Prison
(Top) Baldwin State Prison was constructed in 1976. It was renovated in 1989 and has a capacity for 1,100 inmates. This adult male prison is a close security prison. There is speculation that a private prison will be built on the same ground, but the decision will be made sometime this month.
Bostick State Prison
(Left) Constructed in 1954 and operational by 1987, this prison for adult male felons is a medium security prison. One of Georgia’s oldest state prisoners, BJ Perry, is housed here. Perry is 81 years old and was originally serving a life sentence for murder in Dougherty County, but he escaped for ten years and is now serving sentences for two murder convictions and one voluntary manslaughter.
Frank Scott State Prison
It was constructed in 1937 and opened in 1975 for adult male felons. This medium security prison holds up to 1,223 inmates. An issue of putting three bunks in a cell has been going around Georgia state prisons. The facility is one of prisons affected by the addition of 103 extra bunks making more room for triple bunks.
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