Police name Vic prison escapee

A prisoner has escaped from a Victorian jail just hours before the state's acting premier toured the facility.

Police say Matthew James Boland, 36, was discovered missing from the minimum-security Dhurringile Prison, near Murchison, on Monday morning.

Boland was in the latter stages of a six-month sentence for property damage and is considered low-risk.

Police say Boland comes from the Geelong area and may be returning there.

The escape embarrassingly coincided with a visit to the facility by Acting Premier Peter Ryan and Corrections Minister Edward O'Donohue.

Mr Ryan and Mr O'Donohue were at Dhurringile to inspect some of the jail's new portable cells, which were made from modified shipping containers.

The cells have been brought in because of a chronic shortage of space in the state's jails and police custody.

Mr Ryan said the government was in the process delivering the largest prison expansion in Victoria's history.

It is understood Boland was not staying in one of the new units.