Hocking To Shut Down

An Ohio prison unit housing about 430 inmates will be closed, the inmates moved elsewhere and employees offered jobs at other prisons. Officials made the announcement on Tuesday. Inmates will be transferred from Hocking Correctional by the end of March. The prison unit is Ohio’s most expensive, costing $65 a day per inmate to operate compared to $21 at similar facilities in Belmont, Richland and Trumbull counties. The state hopes to turn the Hocking unit into an educational, health care or drug treatment facility. Some fear the move could create overcrowding at other facilities.