Recently we presented the idea of a Federal Prison being located in Cassia County. The city of Burley will be fielding comments on their website within a couple of days. Cassia and Minidoka counties have committed to pursue the idea. We feel that time is critical in order to make the next funding cycle for federal funds. We want this to be in the budget in February, 2010.
The idea was brought to us by DPV Solutions, Inc. The principals of this consulting firm are former Senator Larry Craig and Paul Venosdel of New West Strategies. Paul has just finished the process of locating and building a federal prison in California. They are promoting the GREEN PRISON concept. The location would be in the vicinity of the Geothermal site south of Malta. The green electricity and the sharing of the hot water source for heating makes the prison site attractive.
The contract with New West Strategies, LLC and/or DPV Solutions,LLC would cost the area $5,000 per month, plus expenses not to exceed $500 per month unless prior approval is granted. The process is a long one but the contract can be cancelled by either party with 30 days notice.
The facility would provide 350 good paying jobs with good benefits. It would be non seasonal and recession proof. Currently the Federal Bureau of Prisons does not operate a prison in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Montana, or eastern Oregon and Washington. The 1,152 bed facility would be medium security with the medium income of those working at the prison being between $47,000 and $58,000. A key component to employment with the Federal Bureau of Prisons is the creditworthiness and educational degree requirements of applicants. Two or four year degrees from ISU or CSI in fields such as Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice would be examples of the degrees needed.
At present we are moving forward. We know there are others working for the project also. As we move forward we will try to keep you informed.
Commissioner Clay Handy
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This is really exciting. Something like a federal prison would be a huge boost to this area. I’m glad to see that we have people working towards helping this area grow.