Pocatello Prison Case Study

Pocatello, Idaho New Women's Prisons

ISSUES, COST, BENEFITS

New Women's Prisons in Pocatello, Idaho

Approximately 8 years ago, former State Corrections Director Tom Beauclair defended the need for three new prisons at the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center before the Joint-Finance Appropriations Committee (Russell, 2005). If lawmakers would approve the proposal, the additional 300 beds to the existing privately-run prison near Boise, a new 400-bed prison for female inmates and a 1,500-bed new prison for male inmates. These additional structures would cost almost $160 million Director Beauclair emphasized that these structures were needed in the five succeeding years in order to manage prisoners safely. He said that every State prison is overbooked, with the corrections department then having 360 more inmates than beds. At that time, the State had 6,502 inmates, which was an increase from 2,900 in 1994. Director Beauclair said they expected the population to increase by 30 every month the following year. He argued against overcrowding their prisons in order to save but warned against the adverse consequences of overcrowding. He explained that wardens did not have a separate place for those who severely misbehaved or attacked other inmates or the guards. He added that the prison staff, programming and facilities are way too short, the cells were double-bunked and some inmates were being moved to tents. The lawmakers had hoped that something could be done to prevent an increase in prison population but nothing had been done to realize this (Russell).

The lawmakers who visited the correctional facility expressed of hope investing in programming and treatment to reduce recidivism in order to lessen the need to construct new buildings (Russell, 2005). Beauclair said that the cost would range from $45 to 60 per inmate per day to send them out of the State (Russell, 2005). They would also lose touch with their families and the envisioned programming and treatment, which could otherwise help them qualify for parole and shorter prison stay or come back. If they were moved out, it would be like paying for the construction costs to another State. Other lawmakers favored alternatives to prison like electronic monitoring or community treatment programs for inmates with low risk (Russell).

The Office of Performance Evaluations, which surveyed the prisons and prison staff

and maintenance, reported that some of these would cost more to operate than get replaced with newer and more efficient ones (Boone, 2010). The Committee also reported that the Pocatello Women's Correction Center was the least efficient. Replacing it would save the State 18% or $1.3 million in 50 years' time, it said. Office evaluator said that it could look difficult to invest in new structures at a time of tight budget but these replacements should still be planned. This could be done by using deferred financing, which would require loan payments only when the structures were already occupied. But Governor C.L. Otter opposed the construction while the budget was in crisis. He argues that this was unwise and unfair to taxpayers (Boone).