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Gov. Don Carcieri, a Republican, proposed the change earlier this year as a way to close a $450 million budget shortfall. It costs an average of $40,000 a year to house an inmate at the state prison less than half the $98,000 it costs to put a teen through the Rhode Island Training School, where juveniles attend classes and receive rehabilitative services.
After the law was passed, the state Department of Corrections pointed out that inmates under 18 are placed for their protection in the state prison's expensive high security unit, where the average annual cost per prisoner is roughly $100,000, a department spokeswoman said.