A top state public safety official said he found some buildings nearly gutted, with windows shattered, computer equipment and light fixtures slammed against walls and toilets destroyed, when he inspected a central Kentucky prison Monday in the aftermath of a riot. Justice and Public Safety Secretary J. Michael Brown said the damage at the Northpoint Training Center is so severe, he expects several buildings will have to be torn down and rebuilt. “While it may look like the walls are standing, I’m not an engineer, but I understand just the heat from that can cause structural cracks ... Jump to full article >>

State and local prison inmates, the staff who oversee them and visitors to the jails will be restricted in their smoking habits starting Aug. 15, the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections said today. Department spokeswoman Pam Laborde said that the 2006 law that banned smoking in most public places took affect Jan. 1, 2007, but its implementation for prisons was delayed. Two prisons — Avoyelles Correctional Center in Cottonport and Dixon Correctional Institute in Jackson — served as the pilot program for the system’s smoking restrictions and put them in place May ... Jump to full article >>

BATON ROUGE – Voluntary smoking cessation programs at two state correctional facilities have proven successful in the first months of implementation as the Department readies for a full ban on indoor smoking by August 15, 2009. State correctional facilities are on target to comply with the Louisiana Smokefree Air Act, passed by the Louisiana Legislature in 2006. However, a provision in the law gave state correctional facilities more time to implement the indoor smoking ban. Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary James M. Le Blanc says the Department has revised its smoking ... Jump to full article >>