For more information contact: Melinda Brazzale, Public Information Officer, 307.777.6085

"The mission of the Wyoming Department of Corrections will not be affected by Governor Freudenthal's recommendation for a $14.9 million budget reduction," said Director Bob Lampert. "We have an obligation to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money, and so we have developed a two-tier approach to meet this obligation and keep the public safe," he added.

The first tier focuses on the reduction of contracts with private service providers along with accrued savings from vacant staff positions. Services affected include a residential program for mental health treatment at the Wyoming State Penitentiary known as the P.R.I.D.E. program, 40 beds for residential substance abuse treatment for parole and probation violators in Casper, and 8 beds for residential substance abuse treatment for women in Rock Springs. A comprehensive sex offender treatment program will also be discontinued as additional funding was not made available during the supplemental budget process.

The second tier will insure all inmates housed out-of-state in Virginia are returned to Wyoming beds prior to the end of February 2010. Initial training dates for staff for the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution (WMCI) in Torrington have been adjusted from July 2009 to September 2009, resulting in additional vacancy savings for the state. Costs for the WMCI start-up will also be reduced by holding correctional employee training at Camp Guernsey in Guernsey, Wyoming, instead of in Rawlins.

"WMCI will open as promised and the WDOC will continue to strive for quality rehabilitation and supervision services at the same level with less money," said Director Lampert. To do so, WDOC will focus primarily on best practice approaches that have been proven to help offenders change their behavior. The most intensive levels of programming will be reserved for those offenders with the highest assessed need for intervention. High risk offenders will continue on the highest level of supervision and all offenders will still be held accountable.

Director Lampert reemphasized that, while the department's budget is being reduced by 12%, at no time will any of those reductions adversely affect public safety. "The WDOC is committed to returning to society individuals who will be productive citizens while maintaining the current high level of safety and well trained correctional professionals and evidence-based interventions are the keys to doing so," concluded Lampert.