Cheyenne –The Wyoming Department of Corrections transferred a total of 88 Wyoming State Penitentiary inmates to Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi.
60 of those inmates were moved on April 4, 2018, and the remaining 28 were moved on April 12, 2018. After a bus ride of approximately 32 hours, all inmates arrived safe and accounted for and are now going through the orientation process at their new facility.
Although it was not the WDOC’s preference, the transfer of inmates out of state was deemed necessary by the Department for multiple reasons:
There are a number of inmates housed in Wyoming county jails awaiting transfer to the Wyoming Department of Corrections. This allows for additional bed space in order to absorb these inmates into WDOC facilities.
Furthermore, as a multitude of contractors have begun repairs to the Wyoming State Penitentiary, it allows flexibility for internal inmate movement as this process continues.
In addition, WSP has relied on assistance from other WDOC facilities in order to augment staffing needs. This move will relieve the pressure placed both on institutional staff and WDOC staff who were required to work an abundance of overtime.
After considering a variety of options, Department officials determined that transferring long-term, high custody inmates was the most appropriate and cost-effective option. According to WDOC Housing and Classification Manager Carl Voigtsberger, the Tallahatchie facility has everything the Department was looking for such as experienced staff, inmate job availability, education and programming, an excellent medical program, and –most notably- room. The facility is big enough to allow Wyoming inmates to be housed separate from other inmates.