Moving The Prison Is Dumber Than A Homemade Radio

Here we go again.  Al Mansell and the rest of the powerful Realtors who are still in the Legislature are at it again.  They want the prison moved so they can profit from the land.

Moving the prison will cost something like three times what the state could get from selling the land it's on now.  And they claim that a new prison will make up the money in using less staff.  Bullshit.

Anyone who says that has never worked in a prison.

We have a perfectly good, totally serviceable prison right where it's at.

And on top of that?  Most of the folks paroling OUT of it have all their family, support systems, treatment options right in Salt Lake County.

Now, I admit, I retired six and a half years ago.  But back then, 80% of everyone on probation and parole in the whole STATE was supervised in Salt Lake County.

How does it make sense to have a prison in Tooele County, or down by Gunnison if you have to transport all your prisoners to and from Salt Lake County?

It does not.  Unless you are a rich, realtor.

Follow the money to see how crazy this idea is.

You want to live in Bluffdale, but you don't want to live by a prison?  Tough shit!  Live somewhere else.  The prison has been there since 1954.  It's not like is snuck up on you!

We already have one of the lowest staff to prisoner ratio's in the whole country.  How much lower would it have to go to make a billion dollars disappear?  I can't imagine.

And no one seems to be counting the hours spent by Parole Agents transporting violators from SLC to Gunnison, or Tooele County, when 80% of those violations occur in SALT LAKE COUNTY!

And the countless hours prison transport officers will spend bringing prisoners back to Salt Lake County for medical treatment, court hearings and other things.

And what about the family of these folks?  After all, we're all about family in Utah, are we not?  If 80% of the folks in prison are from Salt Lake County, why would you make their family travel to Gunnison or some other obscure place to visit them?  Seems kind of anti family if you ask me.

This is nothing more than a land grab by the monied rich, who will rip off the state.  And make life a lot harder for anyone working in Corrections.  But the Legislature doesn't care about that.  They only care about how much money they can make for their supporters.