HARTFORD, Conn. — The state's Willard Correctional Institution in Enfield has officially closed its doors as of Saturday, Gov. Ned Lamont announced.
This closure was initially announced back in January, citing a decrease in the state's correction population and a decrease in crime. There are around 10,000 individuals in state correctional facilities, compared to 19,894 in February 2008, which was an all-time high.
"The closing of the Willard facility fulfills the promise our administration made to close three correctional facilities as part of our larger commitment to reduce the cost structure of state government,” Lamont said. “As both crime and the prison population have significantly decreased over the past decade, this just makes good fiscal sense.”
When closure plans were announced, there were around 260 individuals housed in Willard. They were all transferred prior to Willard's closure. A majority of them, around 66%, were relocated to Cybulski Community Reintegration Center in Somers.
Willard opened in 1990 as a level two facility for sentenced male offenders.
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