FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | December 3, 2025
Contact: Sarah Fulton (302) 401-1114
WILMINGTON —Senator Ray Seigfried, chair of the Senate Corrections & Public Safety Committee, issued a statement on the proposed closure of the Plummer Correctional Facility following a meeting with fellow lawmakers Wednesday morning to share concerns about the proposal with Governor Meyer and officials from the Department of Correction (DOC):
“Since learning about the proposal to close Plummer this fall, lawmakers and community members alike have raised questions about the impact of relocating those currently incarcerated there to facilities in Kent and Sussex Counties. Those concerns were amplified at a community meeting hosted by Rep. Chukwuocha last month, and again in a letter sent by myself and several of my Senate colleagues to Governor Meyer just yesterday.
“Today, we met with the Administration to get answers. Rather than answers, we were met with defiance.
“As we expressed in our letter, the decision on whether to relocate work-release individuals downstate versus making the necessary investment to provide a stable, high-functioning Level IV facility in Wilmington, must be predicated on more than simple budget considerations. A dramatic geographic shift stands to have significant, negative impacts on work-release Delawareans attempting to transition home — including insurmountable distances from their employers, their health care providers, and in many cases, their families and support systems.
“The notion that we can move full-steam ahead with this move — as the Governor doubled-down on this morning — without having concrete plans in place to address these and other concerns, is unacceptable. We must get legitimate answers to our legitimate questions, most importantly because the community deserves them, but also because the General Assembly is central to the budgeting decisions necessary to repurpose the funding within DOC needed to move the Governor’s Plummer plan forward.”
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