Cells which house convicted criminals in Ohio will soon be vacant in at least one prison.

As part of his drive to cut $1.5 billion in state spending with an ever-approaching economic recession, Gov. Bob Taft has handed down a 1.5 percent budget cut to the Department of Corrections.

“This has been coming for about six months,” said Joe Andrews, Taft’s press secretary. “The events of Sept. 11 have contributed to the rapid decline in the state budget.”

Although the governor instituted the cut, it is up to the Department of Corrections to decide how it is executed, Andrew said.

“At least one prison will be closed,” said Andrea Dean, public information officer at the Department of Corrections. “It is possible that up to three prisons will be closed.”

It is unknown as to which prisons are going to be closed, but the state is certain about which ones will not be shut down.

In a statement released on Oct. 17, Reginald Wilkinson, director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, listed the four state correctional institutions which would not be closed: the state’s supermax prison in Youngstown, the Correction Medical Center in Columbus, the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville and the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville.

Wilkinson also discussed the closure of areas in eight-10 other correctional facilities. The areas which Wilkinson speaks of are housing units, where prisoners are kept, Dean said.

“(Prisoners) will be scattered throughout other institutions,” Dean said. “We don’t know where yet because we don’t know which prisons will be closed.”

All the closings and cutbacks will result in a $19 million cut in the total correctional department’s budget. The budget cut will force Wilkinson to do something he has never had to do before – lay off workers.

“He has always said that these are recession-proof jobs,” Dean said. “He’s doing everything he can to keep as many employees as possible.”

Despite his efforts, Wilkinson will end up laying off close to 500 employees, including security officers and prison guards. However, prison security will not be compromised, with the plan being to increase the inmate-to-officer ratio, he said. The plan is difficult but can be done.

The final say on which prisons will be closed will come in the next week. The safety of civilians living in areas where prisons could be closed is not in jeopardy, Dean said.

“We’ve never had to do anything like this before but security is and always will be our number one priority,” she said.