House panel gives privatization of prisons a chance

A bill that proposed reviving the issue of privatizing Utah's prison facilities was put on life support Wednesday, at least for another year.

HB177 proposed to require the Utah Department of Corrections to call for bids by private prison contractors for the construction of a 500-bed facility by July 1, 2008, as well as require the state to open bids to private contractors for other future prison facilities.

However, the bill was amended before it was presented to members of the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Standing Committee to merely encourage the Utah Department of Corrections to study the issue of privatization over the next year.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, explained that with new leadership recently installed at the Department of Corrections, it may take some time to further study the issue. The amended bill encourages the department to study the issue of privatization and report back to the Legislature next year.

Last month Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. replaced the corrections head after a scathing legislative audit concluded the department's top echelon was rife with favoritism and other abuse. Former director Scott Carver was replaced with Tom Patterson, who had been serving as the head of the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. Carver was re-assigned among the governor's staff to head the Utah Sentencing Commission.

Spencer Stokes with Management Training Corp., a private corrections company, said all states surrounding Utah have some form of privatized correctional facilities and told lawmakers privatization would save Utah tax dollars.

A privatization opponent pointed out that the Legislature has studied the issue four times in the past 11 years and has rejected it every time.

Some lawmakers wondered what the purpose of doing another study would be but said given the new leadership at the prison, they would give the bill a chance. The bill was passed 9-2 and now moves to the House for a vote.

Among groups opposing privatization is the Utah Fraternal Order of Police, which says prisons house the most heinous criminals in society and therefore should be directly managed by government.

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