LANSING, Mich. (WOWO) — The Michigan Department of Corrections is moving ahead with a statewide expansion of high-security prison housing, adding 870 beds while upgrading 30 cells to improve accessibility for incarcerated people with disabilities. The Michigan Department of Corrections announced t he changes Tuesday as part of its Safe Prisons Initiative, saying the projects are designed to improve prisoner classification, expand appropriate housing options and make facilities safer for both corrections employees and incarcerated people. The largest portion of the expansion will come from new construction at Oaks Correctional Facility near Manistee and St. Louis Correctional Facility in Gratiot County. The state has secured $152 million in fiscal year 2027 funding for the two projects, which will create more than 400 new Level IV and Level V/segregation beds. Construction of the two new units is expected to take roughly two and a half years, putting completion around 2030, according to MDOC as reported by the Michigan Advance. Level V is the state’s highest security classification, while Level IV is also designated for prisoners requiring substantially greater security and management restrictions. The new units are expected to use updated designs and security practices intended for prisoners with the highest management needs. MDOC Director Heidi Washington said the additional capacity is intended to make sure prisoners are housed at a security level appropriate to their circumstances. “When we have the right housing to support individuals throughout their course of incarceration, we create safer facilities for staff and increase the success of those housed there,” Washington said in the department’s announcement. She said the state’s prison population is continually changing and that the current housing transitions are expected to provide immediate operational improvements while the new construction addresses longer-term needs. The 870-bed increase will not come entirely from new construction. At Macomb Correctional Facility, the department is converting a lower-security housing unit to Level IV housing. That project will add 182 Level IV beds and is scheduled for completion September 18. Oaks Correctional Facility also is undergoing internal conversions. Once complete, the changes will produce a 192-bed Level IV unit and a 96-bed Level V unit. Those conversions are expected to be finished by the end of 2026. MDOC said prisoners affected by the Oaks changes will be moved to housing units or facilities that better match their security and management requirements. A separate change is planned at Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia, where a Level II general-population unit is being converted into a Protective Housing Unit. The move is intended to preserve protective-housing capacity after changes at Oaks and provide a housing environment better suited to prisoners requiring that level of protection. That work, along with the relocation of affected prisoners, is expected to be completed this fall. At Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Ionia, the department is upgrading 30 cells as part of an Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility project. The rooms are being modified to provide barrier-free housing for prisoners with accessibility requirements, with the project expected to be finished by early January 2027. The expansion comes amid continuing concerns from Michigan corrections officers about the availability of high-security housing and staffing levels inside state prisons. Byron Osborn, president of the Michigan Corrections Organization, told the Michigan Advance that the additional beds are a step in the right direction but questioned how quickly the new units will address current security concerns. Osborn said the construction timeline for the new units at Oaks and St. Louis means the additional capacity will not provide an immediate solution to problems the union says are occurring now. “We are not pleased with the delays that are going to occur, because these problems are persisting,” Osborn told the Michigan Advance, citing assaults involving both prisoners and staff and recent prisoner homicides. He said the need for Level V and single-cell housing is more immediate than the construction schedule allows. The corrections officers’ union has argued that Michigan does not currently have enough high-security housing for prisoners who have been classified at the highest security levels. Osborn has said prisoners who accumulate serious misconduct violations may remain in lower-security settings when the appropriate higher-security beds are unavailable. Staffing is another concern surrounding the planned expansion. Osborn pointed to St. Louis Correctional Facility, where he said the department has a significant vacancy rate. According to MDOC data cited in the Michigan Advance report, the facility’s staff vacancy rate was about 14.5%. He questioned how the department will staff the additional high-security housing at St. Louis and Oaks when some existing facilities are already struggling to fill positions. “Already, SLF is facing a pretty significant staffing shortage,” Osborn said. “So if you add another level 4 or 5 housing unit, that’s another 4 or 5 assignments per shift that they’ve got to fill.” The Detroit Free Press also reported concerns from Osborn about staffing the new units and connected the broader debate over high-security housing to recent deaths inside Michigan prisons. The Free Press reported that Michigan State Police are investigating the September 6 death of 28-year-old Johnathan Adam Brancheau at Carson City Correctional Facility. Brancheau was found unresponsive in a two-person cell, and police identified his cellmate as a suspect in the investigation. Osborn told the Free Press that the suspected prisoner was classified as Level V but was housed at a Level IV facility. MDOC spokeswoman Jenni Riehle declined to address Osborn’s comments because of the ongoing investigation, according to the newspaper. The Free Press also reported that another prisoner, 36-year-old Kevin Joseph Kelly, died at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in August after being found unresponsive with signs of trauma. Osborn had previously argued that Kelly’s cellmate should not have been housed with another prisoner. The department’s announcement does not identify how many of the 870 additional beds will ultimately be Level V beds. The new Oaks conversion, however, specifically includes 96 Level V beds, while the new construction at Oaks and St. Louis will contain more than 400 combined Level IV and Level V/segregation beds. {“fallbackMarkdown”:”(Michigan.gov)”,”reference”:{“matched_text”:””,”prefix”:null,”start_idx”:7585,”end_idx”:7617,”safe_urls”:[“https://www.aol.com/articles/mdoc-add-870-high-security-100644000.html”,”https://www.aol.com/articles/mdoc-add-870-high-security-100644000.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com”,”https://www.michigan.gov/corrections/press-releases/2026/09/03/mdoc-adding-hundreds-of-new-high-security-beds-to-increase-prison-safety”,”https://www.michigan.gov/corrections/press-releases/2026/09/03/mdoc-adding-hundreds-of-new-high-security-beds-to-increase-prison-safety?utm_source=chatgpt.com”],”refs”:[],”alt”:”(Michigan.gov)”,”prompt_text”:null,”type”:”grouped_webpages”,”status”:”done”,”fallback_items”:null,”items”:[{“title”:”MDOC Adding Hundreds of New High-Security Beds to Increase Prison Safety”,”url”:”https://www.michigan.gov/corrections/press-releases/2026/09/03/mdoc-adding-hundreds-of-new-high-security-beds-to-increase-prison-safety?utm_source=chatgpt.com”,”attribution”:”Michigan.gov”,”pub_date”:1788825600,”snippet”:””,”attribution_segments”:null,”supporting_websites”:[{“title”:”MDOC to add 870 high-security prison beds amid safety concerns – AOL”,”url”:”https://www.aol.com/articles/mdoc-add-870-high-security-100644000.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com”,”pub_date”:null,”snippet”:””,”attribution”:”AOL.com”}],”refs”:[{“turn_index”:0,”ref_type”:”search”,”ref_index”:0},{“turn_index”:0,”ref_type”:”search”,”ref_index”:1}],”hue”:null,”attributions”:null}],”style”:null,”error”:null},”showLoginRequiredCard”:false} MDOC says the changes are part of a broader Safe Prisons Initiative launched in 2026. The initiative also includes efforts involving contraband prevention, prisoner programming, employee training and support, recruitment and retention, and improvements to classification and prison capacity. {“fallbackMarkdown”:”(Michigan.gov)”,”reference”:{“matched_text”:””,”prefix”:null,”start_idx”:7911,”end_idx”:7930,”safe_urls”:[“https://www.michigan.gov/corrections/safe-prisons-initiative”,”https://www.michigan.gov/corrections/safe-prisons-initiative?utm_source=chatgpt.com”],”refs”:[],”alt”:”(Michigan.gov)”,”prompt_text”:null,”type”:”grouped_webpages”,”status”:”done”,”fallback_items”:null,”items”:[{“title”:”Safe Prisons Initiative”,”url”:”https://www.michigan.gov/corrections/safe-prisons-initiative?utm_source=chatgpt.com”,”attribution”:”Michigan.gov”,”pub_date”:null,”snippet”:””,”attribution_segments”:null,”supporting_websites”:[],”refs”:[{“turn_index”:0,”ref_type”:”search”,”ref_index”:7}],”hue”:null,”attributions”:null}],”style”:null,”error”:null},”showLoginRequiredCard”:false} Citizens for Prison Reform, an advocacy organization representing incarcerated people and their families, acknowledged the importance of accessibility and safety improvements but questioned whether additional high-security beds alone will address the reasons the state is seeing greater demand for restrictive housing. In a response posted on Facebook, the group asked what is being done to address underlying conditions contributing to the need for higher-security housing. The group pointed to staffing, educational and rehabilitative programs, medical and mental health services, substance-use treatment, trauma-informed practices, appropriate prisoner classification and family connections as factors that can contribute to safer prisons. MDOC maintains that matching prisoners with housing appropriate to their security and management needs is a central component of its safety strategy. The department’s current projects are therefore operating on two tracks: conversions at existing prisons that can deliver additional high-security capacity this year, and larger construction projects at Oaks and St. Louis that are expected to provide more than 400 additional high-security beds once completed. For corrections officers, the central question remains whether the additional housing will come online quickly enough—and whether Michigan will have enough personnel to safely operate it once it does. The post Michigan Adding 870 High-Security Prison Beds as Officials Address Safety, Staffing Concerns appeared first on WOWO News/Talk 92.3 FM and 1190 AM. ...read more read less