Gov. Josh Shapiro's $51.5 billion budget proposal calls for saving costs by closing two state correctional institutions and two state-run community corrections centers.
Department of Corrections Press Secretary Maria Bivens said specific locations have not yet been identified and that the process will be conducted transparently and in accordance with state law.
Shapiro says the closures would save over $100 million for the two prisons with an additional $10 million saved by closing the two community centers.
The Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association (PSCOA) argues it would make the system less safe overall and strike an economic blow to the affected communities.
DOC operates 23 state correctional institutions and a motivational boot camp, according to its website. More information can be found here, and in the graphic below.
"Following the process required by the Public Safety Facilities Act, these closures will not result in a reduction of services, but will strategically redistribute resources to meet operational and rehabilitation goals more effectively," the governor's budget brief states.

Union to fight 'misguided decision'
PSCOA President John Eckenrode said his group will "vigorously fight against this misguided decision."
"If passed, this proposal will endanger officers and inmates, devastate working families and potentially destroy local economies," Eckenrode said in a statement released Tuesday.
The budget brief says closures would improve public safety "in order to better support corrections officers."
That's not how Eckenrode sees it.
"In 2019, violence in our state prisons was some of the worst I’ve seen in a quarter century of service. Much of this was due to 21 of 25 prisons being over 90% capacity, including 11 over 100%," Eckenrode said.
"Today, violence has dropped in part because the prison population is spread more evenly. Last year, half of all prisons were over 90% capacity and only four over 100%," he added.
"Lessons learned from 2019 now are being forgotten. Closing these jails will create potential powder kegs of trouble that many of us thought were a relic of the past."
Shapiro's budget brief argues that correctional facilities "have consistently operated under capacity, with utilization rates ranging from 84 to 92%."
"As a result of recent initiatives to improve outcomes at DOC, the number of inmates at State Correctional Institutions has decreased by 9,000 over the last 8 years and the recidivism rate has fallen by 7% over the same time period," the brief adds.
Cuts recommended by REMAP process
The closure proposal follows recommendations from the Resource Evaluation and Mission Alignment Project (REMAP).
Launched this fiscal year by the Office of the Budget (OB) and the Governor’s Policy Office, REMAP "seeks to ensure state resources are directed to programs that deliver measurable results and advance the Commonwealth’s objectives," the budget brief says.
"Last year, I directed the Budget Secretary to begin a comprehensive review of every program we offer in our Commonwealth. Known as the REMAP Initiative, we started with three agencies and identified inefficiencies and costs that can be eliminated," Shapiro said in his address to the General Assembly.
Those three agencies were DOC, as well as the Department of Community and Economic Development and Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
"Through REMAP, agencies identified inefficiencies, program misalignments, and areas where cost savings could be realized," the budget brief states.
Shapiro did not specifically mention the prison closures in his speech to the General Assembly, but argued that his administration has supported corrections officers by filling critical vacancies and cutting the vacancy rate in half by hiring nearly 3,000 new officers.
"This budget also supports our corrections officers, reducing the strain on them and giving them the resources they need to do their critically important jobs successfully," Shapiro said in his speech.
DOC outlines next steps
DOC's Bivens said the next step will be for a department steering committee to submit a report to Corrections Secretary Laurel Harry recommending which prisons will be proposed for closure.
Staff at the affected institutions will be notified as soon as a preliminary decision regarding proposed facilities is made, Bivens said. Community members, union representatives, and other stakeholders will then have at least three months to provide feedback as required under the state's Act 133 regarding public safety facilities.
Community corrections centers are not subject to Act 133, Bivens said. Names and locations of affected centers, and timelines for closure of those facilities, will be shared when they are available, she added.
Closures have been controversial
Closing prisons has been a controversial process in the past. The 2020 closure of SCI Retreat in Luzerne County was a recent example in Northeast Pennsylvania.
Originally a mental hospital and almshouse, the Retreat complex had 1,200 beds, an 86% occupancy rate and about 400 employees when its planned closure was announced in 2020. The state offered Retreat's corrections officers jobs at other prisons within a 65-mile radius.
The aging and isolated facility — some buildings dated to the late 1800s — was accessible only via a bridge across the Susquehanna River. A list of necessary repairs would run between $15 and $20 million, while the cost of mothballing the facility would have been $1.2 million a year, WHYY reported at the time.
Those statistics came against the backdrop of "the state’s rapidly declining inmate population — due to falling crime rates and criminal justice reforms — and a $140 million hole in the agency’s budget," WHYY reported.
There was significant local backlash against the move from lawmakers and community members.
That included stinging criticism from then-state Sen. John Yudichak from Luzerne County, who switched from Democrat to Independent amid concerns about how the administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf was handling the closures of Retreat and the White Haven State Center, a facility for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“The closure of SCI Retreat is not driven by budget numbers, it’s being driven by a political agenda, by special interest groups that want to shut down the criminal justice system in Pennsylvania,” Yudichak told WHYY then.
In the end, following hearings and community outcry, Retreat did close as planned.
Union president Eckenrode on Tuesday predicted similar pain to come if Shapiro's latest closure plans advance.
“This proposal also ignores how it will devastate both local economies. In nearly every case, a state prison is the primary economic development engine of its area. Families in these communities deserve better," Eckenrode said.
"We believe they already know what facilities they want to close, and this dog and pony show will do nothing but pit communities against each other and tear them apart.”