The union representing correctional and parole officers is objecting to Gov. Phil Murphy’s plan to close East Jersey State Prison and keep technical parole violators out of prison. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor)
The union that represents parole and correctional officers has asked Gov. Phil Murphy to reconsider his plans to close East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge and end the state’s practice of returning technical parole violators to prison.
William Sullivan, who heads the State Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 105, warned that Murphy’s plan is “fraught with potential pitfalls” because there aren’t enough parole officers to handle the 1,000-plus people who will be freed from prison if lawmakers pass legislation that Murphy is pushing to effectuate his technical parole proposal.
“Our parole officers are already overburdened and we do not have the necessary resources to effectively supervise these individuals once they are reintegrated into society,” Sullivan wrote in a Tuesday letter to Murphy.
Technical parole violators are parolees who break the conditions of their release, such as missing a curfew, changing addresses without notifying their parole officer, or using drugs or alcohol. About 1,200 or so are in state prisons on any given day, costing the state about $90 million a year.
Keeping them out of prison would allow the state to close a prison, and Murphy announced during his annual budget address Tuesday that would be East Jersey State Prison, a maximum-security lockup that dates back to 1896.
But Sullivan also objects to that, saying any prison closure is short-sighted with legislators recently advancing and passing legislation that creates new crimes and heightens penalties for existing offenses, Sullivan told the New Jersey Monitor. Sullivan also works at East Jersey State Prison.
“When people start getting tough on crime, they start locking people up,” he said.
The state also needs spare prison beds when aging infrastructure or other problems require the system to shuffle its population around, he added. Northern State Prison in Newark had a fire earlier this month, which required staff to relocate about 40 people to East Jersey for a week, he said.
Murphy spokespeople did not respond to a request for comment.
The state Department of Corrections has closed several prisons in recent years, with the prison population recently leveling off after it shrunk in recent years because of pandemic releases, the decriminalization of marijuana, and a shift toward restorative justice.
Closing East Jersey State Prison would save about $30 million in the 2026 fiscal year, with an additional savings of $100 million projected in cost avoidance related to maintenance and capital repairs, according to budget documents.
The state also plans to build a new women’s prison to replace the troubled Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, with Murphy earmarking $222 million in his new budget proposal to build it. Construction of that facility won’t begin for at least a year, according to budget documents.
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