The Northern Marianas Department of Corrections has called for a new training school to address a shortage of officers at the local prison facility.
The Department's acting secretary Robert A. Guerrero says the CNMI's prison facility is now 66 percent full with 185 inmates.
Mr Guerrero says while over-crowding is not an issue, the lack of prison guards is.
He is asking the Governor to add to the 60 Corrections officers there currently are.
Mr Guerro says this could be accomplished by establishing a new an academy to train an additional 30 staff that could be enlisted for both Corrections and its sister-agency, the Department of Public Safety.