COLUMBUS, Ohio — The state is to announce today which prison it will close to save about $19 million. It will be the first time Ohio has shut down a prison because of money problems.

        The state has not identified which of its 34 prisons will be closed but earlier eliminated seven from consideration. State employee unions are lobbying to close one of Ohio's two privately run prisons.

        The company that runs the private prisons said the state told company officials a month ago that the facilities in Conneaut and Grafton were at risk of closing, said Mike Murphy, a spokesman for Centerville, Utah-based Management and Training Corp.

        The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction decided on a closing after Gov. Bob Taft ordered budget cuts to help plug a $1.5 billion hole in Ohio's two-year budget.

        The seven prisons not considered for closing are: the supermaximum-security prison in Youngstown; the Corrections Medical Center in Columbus; the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville; the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville; the state's psychiatric prison facility, Oakwood Correctional Facility in Lima; and two intake centers, the Correctional Reception Center in Orient and the Lorain Correctional Institution in Grafton.

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