Rayburn Prison, location of my ministry of charity, possibly forced to close

>>>This would be devastating; what are they thinking.  At Rayburn Prison a combination of amazingly strong educational programs and outstanding faith based programs, including our St. Peter Catholic Community and Kairos Ministry, are helping to reform lives and restore hope.

And because of the location of this prison, the closure would absolutely devastate a remarkably poor region of our Northshore community.  This is wrong on so many levels.


House budget plan could lead to closing of prison .
wwltv.com

Doug Mouton / Northshore Bureau Chief


BATON ROUGE, La. -- The budget battle in Baton Rouge could soon hit Washington Parish hard.

According to Gov. Bobby Jindal, cuts made to his budget by the Louisiana House could lead to the closing of the Rayburn Correctional Center in Angie, and the loss of jobs to Rayburn's 306 employees.

Tuesday, Sen. David Vitter held a Town Hall Meeting in Bogalusa, and roughly 30 Rayburn employees brought their concerns to Senator Vitter.

Because it's a state budget issue, there's little Vitter can do about it, although he said he was sympathetic to their plight, and would pass along their concerns.

"It's very natural when jobs are on the line, when a major potential change is on the line, people are going to be potentially upset," Vitter said, "and I'm going to pass on the concerns I heard here when I talk to state legislators and others in Baton Rouge."

Those legislators in the Louisiana House of Representatives voted to cut Jindal's proposed budget. $27.5 million would come out of the Department of Corrections. If that happens, Jindal and Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc say, five prisons would have to close, including Rayburn.

"We're very worried," longtime Rayburn employee Delos Williams said after speaking with Vitter. "Scared to death. Scared we won't have a job soon."

The Rayburn Correctional Center is a medium security facility, housing more than 1,100 inmates. Secretary LeBlanc said Rayburn had "an excellent track record."

"We have a clean, safe, very efficiently ran prison," Rayburn Warden Richard Tanner added.

According to LeBlanc, the Department of Corrections has cut more than 1,400 positions statewide since October 2008, and the House cuts would simply make it impossible to continue to operate Rayburn.

"The reality is, we proposed a budget which wouldn't close Rayburn," Jindal said. "We don't think the House action makes sense, and that's why we're working with the Senate to fix the budget."

Jindal's budget plan includes selling off some prisons and eventually privatizing others, although privatizing Rayburn is not part of any plan.

In the meantime, employees can only watch, as the budget battle in Baton Rouge plays out.

"The mood is tense. Nothing like I've ever experienced before in my years in corrections," Warden Tanner said. "They are really concerned about their jobs, and what's going to happen next."