Public Safety Panel Updated On Garner Prison Activity

By Andrew Gorosko

As autumn approaches and the daylight hours decrease, the state’s local high-security prison has stopped using its ball field for inmate recreation in the evenings, a Garner Correctional Institution official has told members of the Public Safety Committee.

Richard Bartholomew, who is one of the prison’s two deputy wardens, told committee members on September 7, that evening recreation outside the prison has ended in view of decreasing daylight hours. The fenced ball field will continue to be used for inmate recreation in the daytime, he added.

The ball field is located at the rear of the 245,000-square-foot prison, and is not visible from the public entrance to Garner at 50 Nunnawauk Road. Inmates are supervised by correction officers while using the ball field.

Garner is a Level 4 prison in a state prison system in which the highest security rating is Level 5.

Mr Bartholomew told committee members that Garner held 630 male inmates on September 7. Of that number, 332 prisoners were listed as general population inmates, and 298 prisoners were categorized as mental health inmates.

Garner is the state prison that specializes in the holding and the psychiatric treatment of inmates with serious chronic mental health problems.

Of the 630 inmates being held at Garner, 403 men have been sentenced, and the other 227 prisoners were awaiting trial on pending charges. The men awaiting trial are occasionally transported for court appearances in various parts of the state.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe explained that the Garner inmate population fluctuates based upon the actions of the courts, and on the number of inmates being held at other state prisons. In certain cases, Garner will house inmates that other prisons are not able to hold due to space limits.

Mr Bartholomew reported to committee members that James Dzurenda, who had served as Garner’s warden from April 2005 to June 2009, has been promoted to a deputy commissioner position in the state Department of Correction (DOC). Mr Dzurenda is the DOC’s deputy commissioner for operations under new DOC Commissioner Leo Arnone.

Mr Bartholomew attended the September 7 Public Safety Committee meeting on behalf of Garner Warden Scott Semple.

Mr Bartholomew said that Garner on September 4 tested its prison notification system. The telephone-based system is used to notify interested persons about any emergency situations that are occurring at the facility.

Garner is in the process of putting a new notification system into use, Mr Bartholomew said.

Also, the deputy warden told panel members that the prison had ceremonies in late August during which some inmates received their general equivalency diploma (GED) certificates after having completed a high school level course of studies within the institution.

Garner opened in November 1992. The prison is located on a 118-acre site. The committee meets quarterly to discuss public safety issues stemming from the presence of the prison.