By MARY ANN SPOTO

The Star-Ledger

A plan to close and auction off New Jersey's third-newest state prison and move its 800 inmates to already crowded facilities is generating controversy as officials grapple with tough budget times and critics worry the state is choosing money over safety.

Some Camden County residents and local elected officials hail the closure of Riverfront State Prison in Camden, which sits on the banks of the Delaware River, as key to revitalizing Camden's long decaying waterfront and its adjacent neighborhoods.

In their dreams for a city besieged by crime and unemployment, they envision concrete walls and barbed wire replaced by green parks and tidy homes.

"Riverfront State Prison has held Camden down since the day it opened on the waterfront," said Rodney Sadler, president of Save Our Waterfront, a citizens group.

But union leaders and some lawmakers say the decision to close the prison was driven purely by economics, could overburden county jails that house state inmates, and leaves little room if more crime produces more inmates.

"This was a rash decision without thinking it through, without any public input on it," said Assemblyman Scott Rudder (R-Burlington). "Why is this being expedited? What is really going on here?"

State officials say the move gives the state a rare opportunity to consolidate services and get an influx of cash from a property sale amid a $7 billion budget shortfall.

"Certainly because of the dire financial times we're in, we're looking at the efficiencies, looking at everything," said DOC spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer. "If you can close a prison, you have to do it."

The state plans to empty Riverfront before June by scattering the more than 800 inmates among other state prisons. The 17-acre site is scheduled to be auctioned April 20 to 24.

Treasury spokesman Tom Vincz said the auction date is not definite and depends on when the inmates are transferred. He said the state has not received an appraisal of the property. The Office of Legislative Services has said its assessed value is nearly $41 million.

However, in justifying the move, state corrections officials publicly overstated how much the prison population has dropped.

When confirming the decision to close Riverfront, officials said the number of inmates in New Jersey's prison system had decreased by 5,000 inmates - from about 27,500 to about 22,000 - over the past six years. In reviewing the records, The Star-Ledger found the population actually fell by just 387 inmates during that time.

Fedkenheuer acknowledged the incorrect figures, but said the state was not trying to be misleading.

"It was wrong and it was not deliberate," she said.

A medium-security facility, Riverfront opened in 1985 and was designed to hold 408 inmates. In recent years it consistently housed more than 1,000 inmates, despite its new capacity of 631.

For the past decade, the state's prisons have held more prisoners than for which they were designed, prompting officials to double-bunk cells and convert program space into dormitories. A budget report from the Office of Legislative Services noted state prisons are operating at 36 percent above their design capacity.

Corrections officials, however, say prison populations are declining and there is space in the state's 10 other adult correctional facilities to absorb Riverfront inmates.

James Austin, a criminologist who advises state prisons on re-entry and parole, said moves to close prisons are not unusual.

"Many states are trying to cut corrections budgets, and the only way you can cut them is to close facilities," he said. "Very few systems are at their design capacity."

Citing the high number of state inmates still housed at county jails, Rudder and Assemblywoman Dawn Marie Addiego (R-Burlington) called on Gov. Jon Corzine to keep the prison open.

"I am shocked the governor wants to close one of the state's newest facilities when there isn't enough room for the prisoners we have already," Addiego said.

The plan is also getting static from the corrections officers union, whose members would also be scattered to other prisons.

"Public safety should not be compromised because somebody wants that property to look over at Philadelphia and build a condo on it or whatever else they want built," said Gregory Kelley, president of local 105 of the state corrections officers union.

Corrections officers argued poor conditions at Southern State, a Delmont-based medium-security facility in Cumberland County comprised of modular buildings, warrant closing that prison before Riverfront.

Camden County officials, however, say they'll be glad to see the prison go.

At a recent meeting in Lawnside, Camden County Freeholder Jeffrey Nash told an audience filled with angry corrections officers that the prison's closure is key to transforming the city. He said the prison was forced on residents and prevents the expansion of the city's downtown and of Rutgers University's Camden campus.

"The residents of this community believe in their hearts...they do not want the prison to be on that location," he said. "They view it as the way that their community can turn things around and they can't get it done with a prison on its most valuable property."