PROVIDENCE — Amid heightened concerns that the novel coronavirus could sweep through the state’s prison population and further overwhelm Rhode Island’s health-care system and imperil corrections officers, the state Department of Corrections and the governor are backing a move by the Rhode Island Public Defender’s office to release prisoners with 90 days or less left to serve

“While this is ultimately a decision for the courts, the Governor and RIDOC agree with the spirit of this motion and would be supportive of releasing certain inmates, as long as public health precautions are taken. This would help mitigate the risk of a potential COVID-19 outbreak in our facilities and create additional space if necessary,” corrections spokesman J.R. Ventura said in an email statement.

The statement released late Wednesday came two days after the Rhode Island Public Defender’s office filed an emergency petition asking that the state Supreme Court issue an “extraordinary” order directing Superior and District court judges to release inmates facing 90 days or less behind bars. Acting Public Defender Matthew Toro argued such relief was necessary as “Prison outbreaks imperil us all.”

In its petition, the office proposed the creation of a process allowing prosecutors to object to the release of any prisoner if there was a concern that he or she would present a significant risk to public safety and a hearing held.

The corrections statement released Wednesday called for any potential release to be limited only to eligible nonviolent offenders, the vast majority of whom will be under probation supervision, Ventura said.

It called, too, for anyone released to be monitored for symptoms and be subject to public health monitoring by the state.

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Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office on Tuesday weighed in in opposition to the public defender’s petition, arguing that state health and corrections officials are best poised to determine the possible benefits and risks to Rhode Island as a whole.

State prosecutors emphasized that the office and correctional officials have already taken steps to reduce the prison population, including working with defense lawyers to get prisoners released on bail, limiting requests that offenders be held without bail, increasing home confinement, and restoring good-time credits to eligible inmates.

“While the release of some or all of the inmates whose sentences are scheduled to expire within the next ninety days would undoubtedly reduce the inmate population at the A.C.I., this may be an arbitrary solution to a problem that may need to be more specifically defined,” the state wrote.

“It is incumbent on everyone to ensure that each inmate has a stable and safe home to return to and that the inmate is able to self-quarantine or, at the very least, practice social distancing,” Neronha wrote.

Such a move “must be first predicated on safeguards recommended by the DOC and DOH to ensure that the inmate will not pose a public health risk to the community at large.”

The state Supreme Court conferenced the matter by telephone Wednesday and planned to revisit it Thursday, according to courts spokesman Craig N. Berke.

At issue are concerns that the potentially deadly coronavirus could rapidly spread throughout the densely populated state prison complex and as such overwhelm the state’s hospitals and health-care resources, and compromise corrections staff and their families who fan out across the state.

“This will give the DOC the precious additional space that it requires for quarantining new or sick inmates during the unprecedented outbreak,” Toro said.

So far no inmates have tested positive for the fast-spreading virus, but a spokesman for corrections announced Saturday that an officer had tested positive for COVID-19. The department said the officer had “minimal interaction with inmates” and that all possible contacts are being traced, including by video surveillance.

Other states have not been as fortunate. The New York Times reported Monday 167 inmates and 137 staff members have tested positive at New York City’s jails, including the Rikers complex.

Several states are being proactive as authorities fear prisons could serve as incubators for the coronavirus. In New Jersey, the Supreme Court last week ordered that some county jail inmates be released. In Montana, the Supreme Court directed jails to review theirs and release many non-violent offenders. The high court in Massachusetts is also considering prisoner reductions amid the COVID-19 crisis.

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