COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A union representing prison employees has sued the state, seeking to overturn Ohio's private prison contracts and get laid-off employees' jobs back.

The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association lawsuit filed recently in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus charges privatization violates state laws, including a prohibition against lending state credit to private companies

The union represents 270 employees who were laid off or had to take jobs in other prisons. A union spokeswoman says the jobs were lost when Ohio leased the North Central Correctional Institution in Marion to a private operator and sold the Lake Erie Correctional Facility in Conneaut to a private company.

An Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman says prison policy changes make residents and prisons safer and provide better taxpayer value.