Inmates will maintain old prison grounds at McNeil Island

Inmates are returning to McNeil Island, but this time they’ll remain outside prison walls.

The state prison on the island closed in 2011. The state will use buses and ferries to transport prisoners to and from a minimum security work camp in Littlerock to maintain the grounds around the former prison.

The News Tribunereports that starting Sunday, the prisoners will replace kids from a youth rehab facility who’ve been doing the work. Inmates will work in crews of ten, to start, increasing to as many as 40 inmates working on McNeil Island.

It’s estimated to cost $200,000 per year to maintain facilities and grounds around the old prison.

State lawmakers, who made the decision to use inmate labor, were not willing to allow sex offenders at the island’s still active treatment center to work outside the razor wire.