Idaho soon will send inmates to private prison in Arizona rather than Texas facility
A contract between the Idaho Department of Correction and a private prison in Eagle Pass, Texas, is slated to end Sept. 30, meaning hundreds of Idaho inmates will be moved.
Idaho correction officials will send inmates to a different private prison — this time in the Arizona desert — officials said. The facility roughly 60 miles southeast of Phoenix will incarcerate hundreds of inmates from Idaho, which continues to struggle with overcrowding.
IDOC public information officer Jeff Ray said that a five-year deal is being finalized with the Saguaro Correctional Center, which is owned by CoreCivic, one of the largest private-prison companies in the United States.
It will cost Idaho taxpayers about $28.7 million per year to house the inmates in Saguaro, which can hold up to 1,896 people. The prison there houses inmates from several other states, including Hawaii, Kansas and Nevada, according to CoreCivic’s website.
In an update published Tuesday night, IDOC director Josh Tewalt wrote that 148 people were transferred from Eagle Pass to Saguaro earlier that day, and transfers will continue ahead of the contract expiration date with Eagle Pass.
According to Ray, the IDOC deal allows for the use of 1,100 beds at the Arizona facility, which is located in Elroy. The Eagle Pass prison can hold only 620 inmates, according to IDOC’s website.
However, in a news release published Monday, CoreCivic said the contract actually calls for up to 1,200 beds to be set aside for Idaho inmates. The company indicated that the contract with Idaho can be extended if need be, saying it has “unlimited extension options thereafter upon mutual agreement.”
At one point, IDOC was in talks with the same company — CoreCivic — to have a similar contract at the Kit Carson Correctional Center in Burlington, Colorado, a prison that actually has been closed since 2016. Those talks were halted after the coronavirus pandemic took hold, Ray told the Statesman earlier this year.
In an email Thursday, Ray said that the Arizona prison will provide the IDOC’s core treatment programs, such as adult education and vocational offerings like electrical, carpentry, computer coding and sewing. Saguaro also will have the 2nd Chance at Life greyhound program, an initiative that allows inmates to train rescued racing dogs to become service animals for veterans.
IDOC said it chose Saguaro because of the prison’s educational programming and treatment options. The prison was built in 2007 and has large, covered recreation areas available for inmates seven days a week. The prison also has medical services available around the clock and offers “a full range of comprehensive medical, dental and mental health services,” according to Ray.
The contract with the Eagle Pass prison officially ends the last day of September. Ray said it was not renewed after the GEO Group — the private-prison company that owns and manages the Eagle Pass prison — informed IDOC that it was not interested in bidding for a long-term contract.
In what has become a common refrain from Idaho officials, Ray said that it’s not ideal for the state to send inmates to prisons thousands of miles away, but it’s really the only option. Overcrowding has been an ongoing problem for Idaho, and there doesn’t seem to be a solution in sight.
“We wish we did not have to send people in our custody out of state,” Ray told the Statesman. “We know how hard it is on them and their families. But as Idaho has grown, there is simply no more room in Idaho’s correctional system.”
He went on to say that while Arizona is a long distance from Idaho, the prison is roughly a one-hour drive from Phoenix, and there are numerous daily flights between Boise and Phoenix.
Ray noted that local Idaho jails were not a viable option for housing prison inmates, as jails are also facing a shortage of beds. And that doesn’t even take into account the coronavirus concerns.
Saguaro’s past issues
The Eagle Pass prison had its share of issues recently while housing Idaho inmates — like having water lines fail twice since April — but complaints against Saguaro have proved to be more severe over the past 10 years.
According to the Wichita (Kansas) Eagle, three Hawaii inmates have been killed in the Saguaro prison since 2010. Two killings took place in 2010 and another occurred in 2015. The newspaper reported on the in-custody deaths prior to Kansas inmates being sent to Arizona.
Since 2011, the Hawaii Department of Public Safety has conducted twice-yearly audits of the facility. The latest audit, published last December, showed the Saguaro prison passed all requirements but one from the state — the only deficiency being the amount of training for employees. The prison said in the audit it would address the issue.
When asked about Saguaro’s past, Ray said IDOC examined all major incidents since 2018, and the department has no concerns with moving Idaho inmates to the facility. He also said the Kansas Department of Corrections gave Idaho prison officials a “great recommendation for Saguaro.”
Idaho’s past with CoreCivic
This won’t be the first time Idaho has worked with CoreCivic, which is one of the largest operators of private prisons in the country. Formerly known as the Corrections Corporation of America, CoreCivic was once the operator of the Idaho Correctional Center.
In 2010, The Associated Press reported gross misconduct at ICC, which was so violent that inmates referred to the facility as “Gladiator School,” and the American Civil Liberties Union sued IDOC over the overcrowding and violence that plagued the prison.
Four years later, the state took over the facility when CCA allowed its contract to expire. The prison remains in operation by IDOC, and it is now known as the Idaho State Correctional Center. It is still the largest prison in Idaho.
In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice declined to press criminal charges against those running the facility after the FBI began investigating violence, understaffing and the falsifying of records to cover up misdeeds at the prison.
As of 2020, Idaho has only one private prison operating — the Correctional Alternative Placement Program facility, or CAPP, which is located in Kuna. The prison houses up to 438 men in need of substance abuse treatment, according to IDOC’s website.
Other IDOC updates
In addition to the Arizona prison news, Ray told the Statesman about other IDOC updates for housing inmates.
In the coming weeks, a new 150-bed men’s unit will open at the Idaho State Correctional Institution. In Twin Falls, a new community reentry center for men will open in September, Ray said. Both of these expansions have been known and in the works for months.
Further down the road, correction officials are in the planning stages for a new community reentry center in North Idaho, though no timeline is in place. IDOC also is in the planning stages of a 150-bed expansion to a work camp in St. Anthony. Ray said the department is hoping to have the expansion open by 2022.
Prison officials have also begun discussing with the state’s Board of Corrections options to build a 1,200-bed prison in Idaho. Ray said the talks about a new prison are in the early stages.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 2:10 PM.
