Officials in a southern Vermont town are discussing renovation plans to turn a vacant building into a detention and training center.
Bellows Falls Area Development Corporation director Francis Walsh told the Brattleboro Reformer the structure would not be a prison, but would be used to temporarily house up to 45 detainees. He says housing detainees in Bellows Falls would save time and money that is spent transporting individuals to Windham Court.
He says the facility could possibly recruit a community college to train inmates in the skills they will need to secure employment once they are released.
A sheriff in Bellow Falls told the newspaper that Vermont spends approximately $22 million a year sending criminals to be housed out of state.
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