MANSFIELD — About 20 inmates currently assigned to prison farm operations at Mansfield Correctional Institution will be reassigned to other programs for job training opportunities as the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction begins to phase out the MANCI farm operation, according to Grant Doepel, ODRC spokesman.
Job training programs are still being developed, Doepel said. The Ohio Penal Industries, the ODRC’s vocational training division, is developing other opportunities to assist inmates with their successful reentry, including adding new crews in construction trades.
“In addition, our office of enterprise development is creating public-private partnerships that would link offenders with training/skill-building inside that would result in a job outside,” Doepel stated.
The MANCI farm is one of eight prison farm operations statewide that will be shuttered in an effort to improve safety and provide more meaningful career opportunities for prisoners returning to society, according to a press release issued by the ODRC.
“Helping prisoners get the education and job training they need for a meaningful career after their release is a top priority, yet only a 0.004 percent of inmates participate in job training at one of the state’s eight prison farms. Few – if any – inmates have pursued careers in farming following their release,” the press release states.
The state’s eight prison farms encompass 12,500 acres of farmland, as well as 2,300 beef cattle and 1,000 dairy cows.
The state will continue farming this year but will prepare to auction off livestock and stop farming by 2017, prisons director Gary Mohr told The Associated Press.
“Ohio’s prison farms have become a drain on DRC’s energy and resources, and are not generating the training benefits to justify continuing their operations,” the press release says. “By focusing on programs inside prison walls, Ohio can provide more resources to improve safety and give inmates meaningful, in-demand job training that will reduce crime in Ohio by providing a foundation for an individual’s successful reentry back into society.”
By selling its livestock and farmland, the state prison system can direct more resources inside prison walls, allowing the state to invest additional resources into areas such as restrictive housing, where security risks are higher.
Additionally, the ODRC anticipates that phasing out prison farming operations will help improve safety by reducing opportunities for passing illegal contraband into the prisons.
The ODRC also expects the closure to provide more revenue to schools and communities.
“Traditionally, local governments and schools have not earned tax income from the 12,500 acres of state-owned farmland. By selling portions of this land and adding it back into the local tax base, as many as 10 Ohio counties may see higher revenues for their school districts and local governments,” the press release says.
Dates for the MACNI farm’s auction have not yet been set, but they will be in late summer or fall, Doepel said.
He said there are currently over 500 animals on Mansfield’s farm.
“An assessment of the herd will need to be done before any auction to determine the best options, so it’s impossible to predict (when the auction will occur),” he said.
The farmland reportedly consists of 1,485 acres.
“Before the land is sold there will be surveying and appraisals conducted and legal authority needs established through a bill in the General Assembly,” Doepel said. “It could be a year or more.”
Doepel said an estimation of how much money the auction will generate will not be known until the land is fully assessed.
“The use of the money acquired from the sale of land will be determined by the Ohio legislator,” he said.
The closure affects seven employees and about 20 Level 1 inmates that work on the farm.
