Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 30, 1995                   TAG: 9505300120
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: POUND                                LENGTH: Medium

PRISONS DEBATED AS ECONOMIC REMEDY

Proponents say building state prisons in the coalfields helps boost the region's slipping economy. But prison opponents cite safety and decreased property values as chief concerns.

The state is planning to build a new prison on Red Onion Mountain on the border of Dickenson and Wise counties. Local officials pressed for legislative approval of the project, saying it would create many new jobs.

In Buchanan County, where a state prison has been operating for nearly five years, the chairman of the Board of Supervisors said the county has seen more good than bad from the prison.

The region's coal-based economy has been hurting for several years, and the continuing slide has left economic development officials searching for ways to put out-of-work coal miners and others back to work so they can contribute to the economy and the tax base.

While some manufacturers have opened businesses in the coalfields over the past few years, most counties in the region still have double-digit unemployment.

Roger Rife, chairman of the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors, said the same concerns now being expressed in Tazewell and Wise counties were expressed in his county before the Keen Mountain Correctional Facility opened in October 1990. But for most county residents, Rife said, those fears have been put to rest.

Keen Mountain, a maximum-security prison, has had no escapes since it began operation. It has experienced one inmate riot, but that was defused in less than 24 hours.

Prison officials say Keen Mountain now employs 291 people, with an annual payroll, including benefits, of about $8.2 million.

Keen Mountain business manager Jim Coffey said the facility gets a large portion of its supplies, food and inmate and officer clothing from state contracts. However, he said, it buys perishable food items and services locally.

Coffey estimated the prison spends $1,500 to $2,500 each week in the community on food.

He said about $1 million is spent locally each year, with a large portion going for medical services. He said other services, such as maintenance and repair work, also are bought locally.

Perhaps the biggest concern Rife expressed about the prison was the number of people employed.

While the prison employs 291 people, only 67, or 23 percent, are Buchanan County residents. Most of the remainder come from neighboring Dickenson, Russell and Tazewell counties.

Rife said the number of people from the county employed at the prison has led to some concern and criticism. But with the focus of economic development turning toward regionalism, Rife said, the prison has served the entire region's employment picture well.