Bolinsky Tours Garner Correctional

NEWTOWN- In the interest of learning more about the special mission of the state’s Garner Correctional Facility and its relationships with Newtown, State Rep. Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) visited and toured the facility on Nunnawauk Road on Wednesday, December 11th.

Garner Correctional is a high-security state prison, opened in 1992, that incarcerates pre-trial and post-trial offenders. Garner has the distinction of being the only prison facility in the state which treats prisoners with mental health issues. Garner currently houses 513 inmates on any given day. It sits on 118 acres of state-owned property on the former Fairfield Hills Hospital parcel and the State of Connecticut provides payment in lieu of Taxes (PILOT) funds to Newtown for being a host community. In the last state budget Newtown received $1,727,468 for the two-year budget period.

Bolinsky, who is finishing his first year as a state legislator, visited the facility to see how one of the state’s primary prisons functions. Bolinsky was hosted by Garner Warden Henry Falcone and Deputy Warden Amonda Hannah who served as tour guides.

“I was very impressed with the level of care prisoners with acute mental health needs receive at Garner. As a legislator who worked on a bipartisan bill to improve early childhood mental health treatment, my hope is Connecticut’s renewed effort to better the mental health system for young people will prevent many of the offenses now being committed by this very different class of criminals. About six out of every ten inmates at Garner arguably are there, in part or wholly, because of incidents that were contributed to by their untreated or uncontrolled mental illness. I’d like to see us get to a place where we can diagnose and treat mental illnesses early and in a way we can reasonably expect to get the needed help and attention to these folks before acts of violence occur. Of course, most mental illness that goes undiagnosed or untreated does not necessarily lead to violent crime but, as we continue to learn, it’s clear that prevention requires our attention as a society. As Newtown’s State Rep, this holds special importance to me.” said Rep. Bolinsky.

Bolinsky also learned how Garner maintains its good-neighbor status. Under state law, the Department of Corrections is tasked with establishing a public safety committee in each municipality in which a correctional facility is located. Newtown has a public safety committee composed of the warden or superintendent of the correctional facility and representatives appointed by the chief elected official of the municipality. The public safety committee meets quarterly to review correctional safety and security issues which affect Newtown.

The Public Safety Committee (DOC/Garner) meets on the first Tuesday of March, June, September and December, at 5:00 pm in the meeting room at the C. H. Booth Library. Its meetings are open to members of the public.