MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) — The state is investigating the discovery of homemade knives found in a prison where guards are alleging violent working conditions.
Julie Walburn, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, says the weapons were found in a mop closet at Mansfield Correctional Institution Sunday during a routine search.
Mansfield guards and other employees were picketing outside the prison Monday to protest prison conditions, which they say include a high number of assaults on guards in the last three months.
Ohio prisons are holding about 51,000 inmates or 32 percent above normal capacity.
The prisons department is also eliminating positions and closing some programs to cut its two-year budget by $87.2 million.
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