Agency Reinforces Policy Of Releasing Inmates Close To Home
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- Maryland's prison agency is reinforcing a policy of generally releasing inmates in the counties in which they were convicted.
The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown reported in its Friday edition that the agency issued a memorandum on the subject after Hagerstown officials complained that some former prisoners from outside Washington County had been released locally from nearby state prisons.
Spokeswoman Brandie Jefferson says there had been no change in procedures the agency first announced in 2007. But a local rescue mission official says his organization has accepted into its emergency shelter program a number of former inmates who were not from western Maryland.
The issue has arisen in Washington and Allegany counties, home to five state prisons in rural areas far from the Baltimore-Washington area.
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Information from: The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown, Md., http://www.herald-mail.com
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