HONOLULU -- State officials on Wednesday what KITV first reported -- that all the employees at Kulani Correctional Facility have been notified their jobs will be eliminated if the state moves forward with layoffs.

Sources told KITV the state may make an announcement about the future of the 63-year-old prison on the Big Island as soon as Friday.

Kulani Correctional Facility is a 160-bed minimum-security prison located between Hilo and Volcano on the Big Island. It offers vocational training and specialized programs for men near the end of their prison sentences.

Prison officials have told all 76 employees at the prison that if the state begins layoffs, every one of them will be laid off, from janitors and cooks to guards and administrators.

"The names of those employees were on the list of potential layoffs and there's just nothing I can add at this time," Gov. Linda Lingle said.

Lingle refused to discuss the future of Kulani prison at a news conference on Wednesday.

"I can't tell you anything today, but hopefully, shortly, in the coming days, I'll be able to tell you more. At this time, I'm just not able to elaborate," she said.

There are about 120 inmates at Kulani. Opened in 1946 as a work camp, Kulani sits on 20 acres of land.

State Sen. Will Espero, who chairs the Senate's Public Safety Committee, wants to assure prisoners will continue to get programs if the state closes Kulani.

"It is important that those inmates who are going to be released soon, or within a year or two, get the re-entry programs and services," Espero said.

Past programs focused on agriculture and the environment. Now, Kulani prison work lines emphasize construction and mechanical repairs.

The state's primary sex offender treatment program is also housed there.

"That's a very important part of our system that we have to make sure is adequately taken care of," Espero said.

Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi called the state's plans to lay off the entire Kulani prison staff "alarming." Kenoi said he is "troubled" that the state announced the plan only to prison staff without informing the community or elected officials as well.