Dozens protest closing of Brunswick Correctional Center

A group of 40 to 50 Brunswick County residents and employees of the Brunswick Correctional Center protested the facility's closing this morning on the grounds of the state capitol.

Speakers included members of the area's General Assembly delegation, Barbara Jarrett Drummond, chair of the county board of supervisors, Brian K. Roberts, the county sheriff and Douglas R. Pond, the mayor of Lawrenceville. Speakers complained they had been singled out to bear a disproportionate share of recent state budget cuts and vowed to keep fighting the closing.

But Gordon Hickey, spokesman for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, said, "our plans haven't changed. We intend to close and sell that property. The decision is driven by the economy, and that hasn't changed."

Larry Traylor, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections, said, "It is our goal to have Brunswick closed by November 10th. There are less then 25 inmates left as of this morning."

The closing of the prison, located in Lawrenceville, is part of a package of budget reductions that Kaine recently announced to close a $1.35 billion revenue shortfall for fiscal 2010, which began July 1.

-- Frank Green