Prison With 26 Members Of Staff For One Inmate

A German state spent $6 million on
a prison which only had one inmate
and then closed, according to a
report on Thursday.
The single inmate was accompanied by
26 members of staff for a year.
The prison in Oberhausen, North Rhine-
Westphalia, was revamped into a therapy
centre for mentally-ill, violent
offenders in 2011.
It had room for 18 prisoners and cost
just over €1 million to convert.
A further €2 million was spent on 26
staff members in one year which
included six security guards.
Therapy, meals, medical care,
transportation and building
management cost another €175,425.
And €1 million was blown on furnishings
and fittings.
But in 12 months from mid-2011 to
mid-2012 it had a single inmate – a
s*xual offender from Bavaria.
He was joined for one week by another
inmate and who was then released.
The prison has now turned into a
political row with the Christian
Democrats (CDU) in Oberhausen blaming
the Social Democrats (SPD) for the mess.
Wilhelm Hausmann, a CDU member in the
North Rhine-Westphalia state
parliament, led an inquiry into the
spending.
He said the costs were an “appalling
waste of taxpayers’ money” and gave
Oberhausen a bad reputation.
The facility closed on December 31st
2012 and was meant to be demolished,
but there are now plans to turn it into a
hotel for prison visitors.