Mich. in talks to possibly take Calif. prisoners

By AP

LANSING, MI – Empty Michigan prisons could become home to hundreds of California inmates if a deal can be struck.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm sent a letter Monday to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger formally offering space for some of the inmates California is running out of room to house to Michigan.

Michigan plans to close two prisons by the end of September. They are the Standish Maximum Correctional facility about 145 miles northwest of Detroit and a medium-security prison in Muskegon, about 45 miles northwest of Grand Rapids.

Michigan could save the jobs of about half of the 1,000 prison guards it plans to lay off by Oct. 1 if California accepts the offer.