The Muskegon Correctional Facility has reopened and will employ 240 people.
That is freeing up space for inmates in other parts of the state.
Michigan began closing prisons in 2007 as part of budget cuts. The Muskegon Correctional Facility was shut down in 2009.
Now the 1,300 bed, medium-security facility is open again and the state has begun transferring inmates from other places—mostly from the Ryan Correction Facility in Detroit.
Russ Marlan is a Department of Corrections spokesman.
“We have a tremendous need for some custody beds in the metro Detroit area, and so by repurposing Ryan Correctional Facility, it will allow us to create some short-term custody beds in that area,” he said.
The Ryan prison was also slated to be closed, but Marlan said it will stay open to house parole and probation violators. The Ryan facility will also care for prisoners with special medical needs.
