DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The newly appointed acting chief of Iowa’s corrections system says the department will keep employing some workers at state mental health institutions in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant that have been ordered to close.

Jerry Bartruff, who recently took over corrections, told a legislative panel Tuesday that about $2 million will be transferred from the state Department of Health and Human Services to corrections to continue administrative staffing and other jobs that had been shared between the agencies at both facilities.

The state Department of Corrections currently has operations at Clarinda and Mount Pleasant, which houses two of the state’s four mental health institutions. Gov. Terry Branstad has proposed phasing out state health services at the two facilities later this year, though corrections will continue to operate.