ATLANTA - Rutledge State Prison in Columbus will have to close its doors if additional budget cuts are necessary, joining another prison and two diversion centers already forced to close, a prison official said Monday.
The Corrections Department has ordered Putnam State Prison in Eatonton and the centers in Cobb County and Savannah to shut down in order to meet budget targets, said Brian Owens, assistant to the commissioner.
The Gainesville Diversion Center had been listed last week as a possible casualty of budget cuts that have been mandated by Governor Perdue.
Rutledge, with 582 beds, has survived the initial cuts that trimmed $110 million from the state Corrections budgets during the last 18 months. It employs 164 prison workers and about 30 medical and mental health workers.
The Putnam County facility, with about 100 beds, was the state's smallest, and the two diversion centers each accommodated about 50 probationers on work-release.
Owens said the prison and diversion centers were casualties of the economy that has forced major cuts since the $957 million departmental budget was set for the 2003 fiscal year. The 2004 budget of $916 million now has been ordered cut by 2.5 percent, with the 2005 budget to be slashed another 5 percent.
Proposals meeting those required cuts were submitted to the governor last week, with the proposed 2005 budget seeking $847 million, he said.
If more cuts are required, Columbus' Rutledge and Milledgeville's Bostick State Prison will be closed, along with 10 diversion centers, detention centers and boot camps, Owens said.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
Tuesday
April 8th, 2025
3:27AM
