Budget would transfer prisoners

Gov. Beverly Perdue would cut prison spending, but keep the same number of beds.

At a presentation this morning, Budget Director Charlie Perusse said that proposed cuts would mainly be in closing older, less efficient prisons.

He singled out McCain Correctional Hospital, a minimum custody health care center for adult male inmates that was built in 1908.

"Is it worth putting repair and renovation money into facilities that are 80 or 90 years old?" he said. "It's going to cost more to repair them ... then to transition (prisoners) to a new site somewhere else."

He said that the per-day costs at older prisons are often much greater than at newer facilities. Recent prison designs in Pamlico, Nash and Warren counties have also allowed for double-celling of inmates. 

Perusse said that the state would still have the number of beds projected to be needed by the state Sentencing Commission projections.