The Idaho Department of Correction is hoping to send 500 more inmates out of state to ease overcrowding in prisons and county jails, which, in turn, is expected to cost a lot more money.
As of Tuesday, Idaho had 877 inmates taking up space in already-bulging county jails — 651 inmates are housed at an out-of-state private prison in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt told lawmakers on the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee Tuesday they plan to prioritize freeing up space at county jails first with these 500 out-of-state placements.
One Idaho inmate died at the Eagle Pass facility last year because he failed to receive proper medical care.
While Tewalt's department has had issues with exporting inmates, he said the new contract that the Idaho Board of Correction is expected to act on later this month will demand better medical care for these inmates, as well as a guarantee that at least 70% of them can get a job while serving their sentence.
“It’s easy to say we’re going to have minimal expectations and we want minimal costs, but it costs us more when that’s what we get,” Tewalt said.
The move is expected to cost nearly $26 million. Gov. Brad Little (R) wants to couple that with spending millions more on re-entry and intervention programs to keep people from committing new crimes once they’re released.
That’s broken up into two initiatives. First, Little is asking for $5.9 million to develop a program that would target high-risk probationers and parolees to help them get jobs, stay sober and integrate back into the community.
Another $2.7 million would fund start-up and staffing costs for a new Twin Falls community re-entry center that’s expected to open by October. That facility would be able to hold 160 inmates.
Another 146 beds are also expected to be available after renovations are complete at one block of Unit 24, a former warehouse converted to house inmates in the mid-2000s.
Former Idaho Department of Correction Director Kevin Kempf told the Idaho Statesman, “It was unsafe for inmates and staff,” when he closed the facility. Almost immediately after it opened in 2009, inmates rioted over conditions there and “tore the place apart” according to federal court documents.
While the state has been scrounging up as much bed space as they can, Ada County last month filed a motion to force the Department of Correction to move inmates out of county jails within seven days.
The state currently pays the county $55 each day for the first seven days an inmate is held there and $75 a day after that first week.
Little’s proposed budget would simplify that to a flat, per diem payment of $60 in the coming fiscal year and $65 the following fiscal year.
Patrick Orr, a Bartlett spokesman, said the sheriff’s office would prefer a flat rate, but that lowering the reimbursement amount is “outrageous.” Orr said actual operational costs per inmate at the Ada County Jail was about $103 per day.
“They don’t pay enough now, and their proposal is to pay less. It is a classic tax shift.”
The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee will begin setting next year’s budget in about a month.
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