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| Budget Cuts May Leave Idaho Prison Cells Open |
| By Idaho Statesman |
| Published: 10/14/2002 |
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The panel overseeing state buildings was warned recently that diverting $2 million from replacing the failed locking system at Idaho's maximum-security prison to balancing the state budget increases the chance for major problems at the prison. 'I´ve been on the death row tier and had the doors open by themselves,' Lt. John Hardison told the Permanent Building Fund Advisory Council. 'It makes the hair on your neck stand up.' One of three cell electronic control panels at the facility has failed completely, Public Works Director Larry Osgood said, and correctional officers have been relegated to using keys to control the cells covered by that panel. Hardison, who has worked at the prison since it opened in 1989, said glitches in the rest of the locking system combined with other health-safety problems create the potential for disaster. 'It could lead to a hostage situation, to the loss of control of the institution,' he said. 'It's the system. It's just wearing out. It's gone.' Correction Budget Director Don Drum said that despite the severe overcrowding problems the state faces in the coming months - problems the department says it needs $75 million to handle - the locking system at the maximum-security prison is the top priority. The Correction Department raised the locking issue two years ago and finally convinced the Legislature last winter to earmark $3 million to replace it. The Advisory Council made the locks its top financial priority last year. But in his latest search for cash to sop up red ink from the deteriorating economy and lost revenue to last year's tax cut, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne diverted $2 million of that cash to budget balancing. Osgood said the $1 million remaining is enough to replace the failed control panel and plan for replacing the rest of the system. |
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