By William L. Spence
Lewiston Tribune
BOISE — The Idaho Department of Correction is requesting an extra $1.9 million this fiscal year to hire staff and prepare for the management transition at the Idaho Correctional Center.
ICC, the state’s largest prison, has been run by Correctional Corporation of America since it opened in 2000. However, after years of mismanagement, an ongoing fraud investigation and lack of alternative bidders, the state chose to assume management of the facility when CCA’s $29 million annual contract expires June 30.
Prior to the handover, the Department of Correction wants to ramp up staffing levels, both to help with the transition and to make sure the new hires are all fully trained.
“New officers have to go through a number of steps, including orientation, on-the-job training, the (Peace Officer Standards and Training) Academy and field training,” said department Deputy Director Kevin Kempf, who is leading the ICC transition team.
The agency is looking to hire a warden, 72 new correctional officers and some support staff before July 1. It anticipates retaining about 65 percent of CCA’s correctional officers after that date. Total staffing under state management is estimated at 356.
State officials aren’t sure, however, how that compares with the private prison model. Nor do they know how state pay compares with CCA’s rates.
“We don’t exactly know what officers and staff make at the private prison,” Kempf said. “We do know what our budget is set at. We’ll do our best to honor their years of experience, but we have a budget we need to stay under.”
For fiscal 2015, which begins July 1, Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter is recommending a $25 million budget for ICC.
Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke will submit his budget request to the joint budget committee Feb. 5. He declined to say if his number will match the governor’s, but indicated the cost will be about $50 per prisoner per day, which is slightly higher than CCA’s average.
“The primary difference is health care costs,” Reinke said. “That and the fact that we’re requesting an adequate staffing level. We’ll have a few more officers and sergeants.”