Board Oks Details For Privately Run Jail

The state Board of Correction finalized key provisions on Wednesday of Idaho’s unprecedented plan for a private company to operate a major new prison.

After a lengthy discussion, the board agreed that the facility will be on state-owned land, most likely at the main prison complex south of Boise, and will be financed through the State Building Authority.

Board Chairman John Hayden emphasized that alternatives such as private financing under a lease-purchase arrangement with the state and locations other than the main complex exist.

“But none of us feel comfortable with any other option,” Hayden said.

In giving the board the green light for a private prison this winter, state lawmakers also indicated they would feel much more secure if the state completely owned the facility in case the private operator got into financial trouble. That way, the state could quickly absorb the facility into its own operations.

With hundreds of state inmates backed up in county jails and hundreds more shipped to prisons in other states because of overcrowding, state officials turned to the private prison because analysts say it can be built in half the time the state would take and operated at less cost.

A critical factor in the request for bids that will be issued in early May is the prerequisite that the private companies propose building the facility for less than the state’s estimated cost and that they can operate it for at least 7 percent less than the state currently spends to house inmates.

The state has estimated the 1,250-bed facility that can be expanded to 3,000 beds would cost it $80 million and that it spends about $52 a day to house medium-security inmates and $42 a day to house minimum-security inmates. The facility would likely contain 750 medium-security beds and 500 minimum-security beds.

Consultant Richard Crane predicted that at least four and possibly seven companies will submit bids on the project by the mid-July deadline with construction costs as much as 20 percent lower than the state’s estimate and operating costs as much as 15 percent lower.