Story by Alisa Nelson of Missourinet
The Crossroads Correctional Center in northwest Missouri’s Cameron could be closing. Governor Mike Parson’s state budget proposal includes shuttering the prison and moving the inmates and many of the workers to the other prison in town – the Western Missouri Correctional Center (WMCC).
The plan is projected to save the state $20 million. The money would be used to give Missouri corrections workers, minus executive staff, a one percent pay increase for every two years of service. That’s on top of the proposed three percent pay raise Parson wants for all state workers. According to Department of Corrections Director Anne Precythe, the pay boost would be the largest in the state agency’s history.
The department has been struggling to fill hundreds of correctional officer job vacancies and hopes the potential pay boost would help to close the gap.
WMCC, a medium security prison, has an inmate population of about 2,000. Crossroads, a maximum security facility, has roughly 900 offenders. According to Precythe, half of WMCC would convert to maximum security. If the consolidation is made, WMCC would operate at 100% capacity.
Crossroads would move to “caretaker status”, meaning a small number of workers would remain on the premises to run the power plant that provides electricity to both prisons.
Precythe would not elaborate on a timetable for the consolidation of the two prisons. She says there are no plans, at this time, for any other Missouri prisons to consolidate. The state has 21 prisons with about 32,000 offenders.
State Rep. Brandon Ellington, a Democrat from Kansas City, supports the governor’s plan.
Parson’s $29.8 billion budget outline heads to the legislature for consideration.