SOMERS, Connecticut — Governor Ned Lamont announced on Monday the Connecticut Department of Correction (DOC) plans to close the Northern Institution by July 1.
The decision to close the facility was attributed to the drop in Connecticut's inmate population. Over the last ten months, the population has decreased by about 3,300 people. As of the time of this writing, 65 people housed at Northern. Governor Lamont says the facility has not had more than 100 people since July 10, 2020. At the institution's peak population in 2003, there were 510 people.
“New prison admissions in Connecticut have declined significantly over the last decade, and the incarcerated population is currently at a 32-year low. This is even as violent, high-risk inmates are serving more of their original sentences than ever before,” Governor Lamont said. “Spending millions of dollars annually to operate facilities for a population that continues to get smaller and smaller is not a good use of resources, especially as we work to reduce the cost structure of state government. I applaud the ongoing work of all the correctional professionals at the Department of Correction, who keep our facilities safe and secure.”
The Governor added that closing the facility will save Connecticut about $12.6 million in annual operating costs. About 175 people work at the Institution and the closure will not result in layoffs. The DOC said they will be working with the employees and their unions to employ them at other facilities.
“The significant reduction in the population at Northern speaks to our staff’s exceptional interpersonal skills, superior conflict resolution abilities, and overall understanding and application of criminal justice reform,” Commissioner Quiros said. “I can’t thank them enough for all their hard work.”
According to the DOC, Connecticut currently has an incarcerated population of around 9,100. This is the lowest population since 1989. Connecticut's inmate population peaked in 2008 at 19,894 people.
The Institution was opened in 1995 and will join other CT correctional facility that has closed over the last decade due to population decline.
The CT ACLU released their own statement on the closure:
“Northern is a monument to cruelty and systemic racism. In sum, it is a symbol of everything that is wrong with incarceration. Closing Northern would be a welcome, necessary, and important step toward moving Connecticut into a better future. It is critical that the state close Northern in a way that ensures it will never be opened again, and that the money saved from its closure goes toward programs and services to help people most harmed by mass incarceration. Since its founding, systemic racism means that Northern has disproportionately harmed Black and Latinx people, and the question of whether and how the state closes Northern is ultimately an issue of racial justice. While closing Northern would be a significant and vital step toward progress, made possible because of the bravery of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people and their loved ones, we also know that closing Northern alone is not the end of the work to stop the harms of Connecticut’s prison system. People are also still suffering in Northern today, and we will continue to fight for people incarcerated in Northern for as long as they remain there, including in our current lawsuit on behalf of Disability Rights Connecticut.”