TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — The state expects to save millions by shutting down the prison on McNeil Island.
But, The News Tribune of Tacoma reports, that will increase costs at the Special Commitment Center for sex predators. That’s run by the state Department of Social and Health Services and also located on the south Puget Sound island.
About 150 minimum-security prison inmates from the McNeil Corrections Center performed work for the commitment center such as fire protection, water treatment and support duties for the island ferry.
Without the prison inmates who were paid 42 cents an hour the state will have to hire nearly three dozen employees at salaries and benefits set by union contracts.
