“The revenue situation is going to be lower for the foreseeable future, relative to what we had expected coming out of a national (economic) recovery,” Brown said in an interview later.

Powhatan layoffs

The planned layoffs represent one half of 1 percent of the state’s full-time workforce of about 99,000 employees. Most of the layoffs — 264 — will come at the Powhatan Correctional Center. The medical unit and receiving center at the Powhatan facility will remain open, and 75 positions will transfer from the main Powhatan facility to the Deep Meadow Correctional Center, which is part of the same complex.

The corrections department also is closing the Cold Springs Work Center in Augusta, with 45 layoffs, and the White Post Diversion Center in Clarke, with 34 layoffs. The Culpeper Correctional Center for Women, created at the site of a former juvenile corrections facility, also will not be opened as scheduled, resulting in an additional 163 layoffs and the elimination of more than 200 positions.

State officials said they hope the department will be able to place affected employees in other jobs, but Corrections Director Harold W. Clarke told employees Wednesday that the scope of spending cuts will make that difficult to accomplish.