ALLOUEZ, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Village of Allouez is doubling down on its efforts to close the Green Bay Correction Institution, according to Village President Jim Rafter.
Rafter said he is pledging to continue efforts to close the institute, after it was left out of Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal and the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee process.
A 2020 report found that the nearly-125-year-old building should be shut down. A 2009 study provided similar guidance.
“Every day GBCI remains open, it is a risk that remains to inmates, guards and our community. It must be closed,” said Rafter. “A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and leaders from the Green Bay area support the facility’s closure. At a time when the Capitol is saddled with partisanship and gridlock, this is a rare policy change that nearly everyone agrees should be made.”
While Rafter says nearly everyone agrees GBCI should be closed, State Rep. Kristina Shelton, D-90th District, has said the project isn’t ready for the budget.
And Evers also said the timing wasn’t right on the issue when his budget was revealed earlier this year.
“At the end of the day, we’re moving people out of part of the prison system and in central Wisconsin, moving those juveniles down to Milwaukee,” said Evers during a visit to Green Bay in February. “The timing isn’t right to take on that issue.”
But Rafter says he will continue to work with local leaders to emphasize the importance of closing GBCI and transforming it into “an economic engine for Brown County.”
While the window for action in this budget is closing, according to Rafter, he is hopeful leaders will still listen.
