Butler County's new prison is fully operational and, for the first time in the 21-year tenure of Warden Rich Gigliotti, all county prisoners are under one roof.

Movement of prisoners to the $43 million lockup began in mid-June and was finished June 27. The old jail -- circa 1959 -- is empty, as is an adjacent annex that is soon to be reconfigured for use as office space for the county adult probation officers. As of June 9, 69 inmates were being housed in out-of-county facilities due to an in-house space crunch. Another 52 were lodged in the prison annex and 134 were in the old prison.

There has been no firm decision as to how the old jail, which is attached to the downtown Butler county government center, will be used.

Mr. Gigliotti told Butler County Commissioners during a public meeting this morning that the transition was a smooth one and only minor "tweaks" are being made.

"This has been a long time coming and I'm glad to be at this point right now,'' the warden said.

The 512-bed jail, located at South Washington and Cunningham streets a block from the county government center, has been in planning or construction for five years.