Wyoming returns 118 inmates from out-of-state facilities

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The Wyoming Department of Corrections has returned over 100 inmates from facilities in other states in a move delayed by the coronavirus.

Eighty-eight male inmates housed at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi, and about 30 female inmates at a county detention center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, have returned to Wyoming, corrections officials announced Monday.

"We're glad to have our inmates back in our own facilities," Corrections Department Director Bob Lampert said in a statement. "The evidence shows that the long-term success rate of inmates released from prison is better when we can keep them in state where they are more likely to have families and other support systems."

The inmates originally were to be returned by mid-April but concerns about the potential spread of COVID-19 delayed those plans, corrections officials said.