Prison

Imagine sending your child off on an adventure to a foreign country and waiting to hear from them, letting you know they've arrived safely, but that call never comes.

Idaho is about to become the only state in the nation that puts patients who are "dangerously mentally ill," but who have not committed any crime, in prison.

Lawmakers in 2022 approved buying out the remaining lease on the building and in the most recent session gave the thumbs up to spending $2.5 million to take over operations.

A new report reveals the full picture of correctional control across the United States, including incarceration, probation and parole. Rates of incarceration and supervision vary widely across the Mountain West.

A new report shows the overrepresentation of Native Americans and Alaska Natives in state prison systems, and some of the greatest disparities are in the Mountain West.

Paul Martin, an administrator for the Wyoming Department of Corrections, said it’s challenging for prisons to compete with other jobs that pay more. An advertisement lists the starting salary for a Wyoming corrections officer at about $18 an hour, while a similar job in Nebraska pays at least $22 an hour,

Imprisonment rates are markedly higher in communities of color across the U.S., according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a nonprofit group that advocates for criminal justice reform. And its work to spotlight what it calls “the geography of mass incarceration” has recently focused on parts of the Mountain West.

Head of Idaho prisons says now is the time for a new prison for women

A federal judge in Nevada has ruled that a law that further penalizes those who re-enter the U.S. after deportation is unconstitutional. Section 1326 says if you were denied entry to the U.S. or were deported at some point, that law makes entering the U.S. a felony. The Nevada judge says it violates the U.S. Constitution because of its racist, anti-Mexican origins. The U.S. Department of Justice is appealing this decision.

Since 2016, at least 19 people have died in tribal detention centers overseen by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Several died after correctional officers failed to provide proper medical care.