Idaho’s Next Prison A Private One, Batt Says State Doesn’t Have The Money Or Time To Build One Itself, Governor Says

Gov. Phil Batt said Friday that Idaho’s next prison will be privately built and operated.

“The big advantage of it, in this terrible wave of people coming into the prisons, is it can be done rapidly,” Batt said during a taping of the “Viewpoint” public affairs program on KTVB-TV.

Idaho’s prison population has been growing by 400 inmates a year, but the state hasn’t been able to come up with money to build a new prison. Instead, it has been shipping hundreds of inmates out of state, while requests from the Corrections Department for money to build a new $45 million penitentiary have been rejected.

“The next big building we build is going to have to be private,” Batt said Friday, “because we cannot go through the lengthy process of state building procedures in time to accommodate the growth in our prison population.”

There are about 100 privately built and operated prisons across the country, although neither Idaho nor Washington has any yet.

Said Batt, “We’re going to have to have a private prison.”

Idaho corrections officials have been studying private prisons and have concluded that one would be feasible for Idaho - if the deal is carefully structured and monitored.

The Corrections Department will present a report on privatization to the Legislature’s budget committee on Feb. 10.

Batt said he expects the state to send out requests for proposals from private prison firms “right away,” with the goal of having a private prison operating within about a year and a half.

“In almost all areas, legislators have expressed interest in privatization wherever possible,” the governor said. “We have privatized some of the prisons’ functions - medical care, food, laundry and so on.”

If the state contracts with a private company to build and run a prison, the state’s only cost would be a daily fee for each inmate.

“I think most legislators approve of it,” Batt said.

, DataTimes