Wisconsin lawmakers to consider new juvenile prisons

Associated Press by Associated Press

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MADISON, Wis. — A legislative committee is set to take up a plan to replace Wisconsin’s troubled youth prison.

The institution near Irma has been dogged for years by allegations of rampant guard-on-prisoner abuse. Lawmakers have voted to close the institution by July 1, 2021, and replace it with new state prisons and smaller county-run facilities.

The Legislature’s finance committee is scheduled to consider a plan Wednesday to build two new state youth prisons and release up to $80 million in grants for smaller county-run detention centers in Brown, Dane, Milwaukee and Racine counties.

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