Md. planning third Cumberland-area prison

CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) — The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services is proposing a third state prison near Cumberland.

The Cumberland Times-News (http://bit.ly/1pIqDmg ) reported Monday that Secretary Gregg Hershberger outlined the $15 million project in an email to local state legislators.

Hershberger says the 140-bed, minimum-security facility would be built between North Branch Correctional Institution and Western Correctional Institution in Crespatown, south of Cumberland. Each of those maximum-security prisons houses more than 1,300 inmates.

Hershberger says the proposed facility would reduce contraband issues by enabling minimum-security inmates to work on road crews and other public works projects without going in and out of a maximum-security prison.

He says that if the project is budgeted in the next General Assembly session, planning and design work could begin in November 2015.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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