Commissioner Jenkins, the head of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, told the Special Commission on Corrections Consolidation and Collaboration on Aug. 25 that the department has closed higher‑profile facilities — including Walpole, MCI Cedar Junction (mothballed), and recently MCI Concord — because of physical‑plant failures and a sustained low incarceration rate.

“The large impetus, reasons for closing MCI Concord was really physical plant challenges,” Commissioner Jenkins said, citing repeated after‑hours calls about water in server rooms, steam leaks and electrical problems affecting doors, radio communications and body‑worn cameras.

The department said it is reallocating staff from closed sites across the system and is working with the Executive Office of Health and Human Services on a Section 35 program in Plymouth that will transition to that office. Jenkins said the Bay State site in Norfolk, which “was returned or given back to the DOC” after housing a migrant population, is under active consideration and discussion for possible uses.

Nut graf: The DOC presented the commission with its strategic approach to using fewer beds and more specialized program space as the inmate population has fallen. The department said physical‑plant failures and limited staffing are central constraints; commissioners and sheriffs urged the group to examine Framingham’s renovations and the broader budget implications for women’s services.

Commissioner Jenkins emphasized that a lower census presents an opportunity to redesign sites for programs and reentry services. “We have the benefit of having a very low incarceration rate right at this time,” he said, adding that the department is taking “a really hard look from a strategic standpoint on how we can best utilize our spaces.”

MCI Framingham drew special attention: Jenkins said the state‑sentenced population there is “about a 160 or so,” a historically low number that allowed the administration to win commitments from the governor and lieutenant governor for renovations. The commissioner said the department has held three town halls with incarcerated people at Framingham and two town halls with staff to brief them on construction phases and day‑to‑day impacts during renovation.

Sheriff Kochie urged the commission to frame Framingham’s renovation discussion around available funding. “If the governor and the legislature are going to commit, and I would guess it’d be millions of dollars in renovations … my women’s correctional center, which has about 178 to 185 women, is $20,000,000 deficit,” he said, asking the commission to factor budget trade‑offs into consolidation proposals.

Commission members also asked the department to provide more granular bed‑use and staffing data as the group evaluates consolidation options. Jenkins said the Shattuck location is transitioning to the Newton Pavilion (the former Boston Medical Center site) and that the DOC is coordinating closely with DCAM and Health and Human Services on that move.

The presentation included procedural clarifications: the DOC’s operational capacity figures exclude support or mission‑specific beds (such as behavioral assessment units and specialized health units), and the operational capacity numbers reported to the commission mirror the statutory operational capacity report the department files.

Ending: Commissioners asked for follow‑up materials — including breakdowns of current staffing, bed usage by unit type, and the Framingham renovation timeline and budget assumptions — and scheduled the commission’s next meeting for Oct. 17. No formal votes or decisions on facility closures or capital commitments were taken during the session.