Prisons aren’t just places for punishment and rehabilitation. They are also a major industry employing thousands upon thousands of workers. In recent decades, most prison construction has happened far from urban centers, and the economies of many rural communities have become dependent on policies that maintain America’s sky-high incarceration rate.
Boydton, Virginia, population 480, is about to celebrate its 200th anniversary. But this rural town is uncertain what it’s future holds, now that the Virginia Department of Corrections plans to shutter its primary employer and source of revenue: the local prison.
A recent article in the Washington Post explores how shrinking prison populations – an overall boon for the United States – can have mixed results in places like Boydton:
Boydton ultimately will lose 20 percent of its annual budget — revenue that comes from providing sewer services to the prison — and the area is poised to lose 300 jobs. Officials fear they will have to lay off most of the town’s workers, including its only police officer; triple some water rates; and cut back on trash pickups. More than $1.5 million in grants are in jeopardy. If the town does not get help from the state, it could go bankrupt and be dissolved.
Boydton’s bicentennial could turn into its wake.
“They call Boydton a little Mayberry – and that’s what it is,” said Alan Panther, who has lived in the town of about 480 all his life and works at the prison. “We were really trying to make a comeback. All that work is going to go down the drain.”