Utah prisons bursting at the seams

While Utah doesn't lock up many criminals compared with other states, Utah's inmate population is bursting the seams at the state prison and county jails.

State leaders have few options besides coming up with $15 million more to build another "pod" at the Gunnison prison, legislative leaders were told Tuesday.

The state can't look to county jails for relief. Members of the Executive Appropriations Committee learned county sheriffs don't trust the state since it has not fully reimbursed counties for state inmates already held in county jails.

Millard County officials had tentatively agreed to build a 100-bed addition to its jail for state inmates, with the Legislature approving the deal in February.

But that county has since decided it "doesn't want to do business" with the state anymore and has backed away from a jail addition, said Sen. Dave Thomas, R-South Weber.

Sanpete County officials are still considering whether to build a 50-bed jail addition or dump the state as well, said Bill Greer, a legislative fiscal analyst.

"We are not keeping pace, we need more bed space," said Thomas, Senate chairman of the corrections budget committee. And if counties won't build the space, the state will have to.

Tuesday's count of state inmates was 6,240, Greer said. The capacity of various state prisons and contracted space in county jails can handle 6,300 inmates.

A new "pod" will open at Gunnison next summer. But it will quickly fill up, with the need to build another $15-million, 192-bed pod coming almost immediately, said Greer.

Just three years ago, with a drop in the growth of inmate numbers, legislators were considering backing out of contracts with local jails, which were being expanded with the promise of state inmate money to pay off construction bonds.

Ultimately, legislators kept prisoners in the jails, even if that cost more money than bringing some back into newly-empty state prison cells.

Those hiccups — and the ongoing disputes over reimbursement moneys — have led county officials to hesitate over building more jail space based on state inmate payments.

"We need a five- and a 10-year plan" for corrections housing, said Greer.

Each year for the past several years corrections officials estimated that the overall number of inmates would grow by 250. But the inmate population has consistently grown by more than the projected 250.