Free Republic

Working at the prison can be dangerous and stressful, but it has always offered a much-coveted perk: job security. While factories have downsized or shut down in recent years, the area's prisons have been relatively safe from layoffs. But the state's recent budget woes have upended that stability, leaving employees at Jackson County facilities in a state of uncertainty. State Department of Corrections officials announced in February plans to close Southern Michigan Correctional Facility -- one of five prisons in Jackson County -- as a step toward filling a $92 million deficit in the Department of Corrections budget. But the...