State May Close MCI-Framingham By 2024: Report

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Facing steep renovation costs, the state Department of Corrections may close the MCI Framingham women's prison by 2024, according to a MassLive report. The prison was originally built in the 1870s, and has a capacity of about 450 people.

According to MassLive, some inmates would be moved by early 2024 to a renovated Bay State Correctional Center, a former medium security men's prison in Norfolk that closed in 2015. The South Middlesex Correctional Center, located next to MCI Framingham, might also take some prisoners, according to the report.

MCI Framingham was operating above capacity until 2017, according to Department of Corrections data. As of Jan. 1, 2019, there were 429 women in the prison. The facility has a capacity of 452 — but as recently as 2014 there were 672 inmates. Most prisoners — 141 — are serving sentences for violent crimes, according to state data.