MichiganRadio

Pennsylvania Prison Officials Touring Michigan Facilities For Possible Inmate Transfer GRAND RAPIDS, MI (Michigan Radio) - Prison officials from Pennsylvania are in Michigan today to tour the Standish Correctional Facility. Pennsylvania is looking for a place to house inmates, and Michigan officials are hoping to save jobs.

The Pennsylvania officials toured the Muskegon Correctional Facility yesterday. They're looking to transfer up to two thousand inmates. Michigan officials say that could save hundreds of jobs for prison workers at the two facilities. Standish has already closed, Muskegon is scheduled to close soon.

But this isn't the first time out-of-state officials have thought about bringing prisoners to Michigan. California sent a group earlier this year, but no deal was reached.

Mel Grieshaber is director of the Michigan correctional officer's union.

"California was a different situation where it was looking all around," he says. "And in fact I think it got the cart before the horse a little bit out there."

Grieshaber says he's heard Pennsylvania has narrowed its search to two states: Michigan and Virginia.

Contact Dustin Dwyer at dtdwyer@umich.edu.

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