Michigan's state prison system plans to start a pilot program giving some corrections officers stun guns or Tasers.
Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan says the devices would be used to help break up fights between prisoners and help officers subdue prisoners if they're attacked by them.
Marlan said breaking up assaults more quickly could help the prison system save money on medical treatment and workers' compensation costs.
The department has ordered about 100 stun guns. They will be given to officers where fights are most frequent such as food halls and prison yards.
Marlan said the devices have been used in some other state prison systems.
Last week, an inmate died at the Isabella County Jail.
Officers used a stun gun to subdue 36-year-old Bradford Gibson of New Jersey. He was arrested for being disorderly and assaulting a police officer at a Mount Pleasant bar.
Gibson was found unconscious in his cell an hour after he was brought in.
Police are waiting for autopsy results to determine the cause of death.
