NC Inmates Are Displaced Because Of The Hurricane
You’ll see a lot of cars on the highway from people trying to evacuate the coast, but what about the inmates? They’ll be on the roads too.
There are several state prisons and county jails that are in the projected path of Hurricane Florence. Those inmates who are incarcerated there will need to be evacuated as well and it has already begun. The evacuations of inmates begun Monday but due to security reasons, officials refused to disclose where everybody would be going.
State Department of Public Safety spokesman Jerry Higgins said that several hundred state inmates and staff members are being moved to larger facilities. Hundreds of county jail inmates will also be moved to state prisons for the time being.
Higgins also added that “All offenders affected by the move will be allowed to make a free phone call to a family member over the weekend.”
Once the storm subsides, inmates will be moved back to their original assignment.
While that may be the case for North Carolina inmates who are in the projected path, South Carolina is not jumping on board. Hurricane Florence is set to affect the coast of South Carolina as well. Despite a mandatory evacuation, Ridgeland Correctional Institution in Jasper County, South Carolina will not be evacuated and the South Carolina Department of Corrections spokesman says that the past has proved that it has been safer to keep inmates where they are.
