Utah has one of the lower rates of incarceration in the western states, but its prison population is still growing. Every year Utah sends 250 more people to prison, and the state is running out of places to incarcerate people. In May, Scott Carver, Director of Corrections, testified before a legislative committee that at its current pace, Utah will need 2,100 additional prison beds by 2015. His proposal is to expand existing prisons and construction of a new prison beginning in 2012. The new prison is expected to cost $70,000 per prison bed for a total of around $150 million for construction. After the prison is built, Utahans should expect $50 million a year of their tax dollars for operation.

To handle the increasing prison population until 2015, Utah is expanding existing prisons and jails. In November, the Beaver County jail will imprison an additional 200 state prisoners. By the end of the year Central Utah Correctional Facility will incarcerate 288 more people. The state is still working on a 300-person facility that will incarcerate people for technical parole violations and is requesting that county jails take on 20% of the demand for new prison space between now and 2014.

This news brief is based on a story from The Salt Lake Tribune, Prison officials warn $150 M addition may be on the horizon [1]. If the link is broken, check their archive.