BOISE, ID - The Idaho Board of Examiners today approved an emergency declaration request by the IDDOC to send 100 more offenders out of state.

“Idaho's prisons have been over capacity for four years. What's different is counties have flexed with us,” said IDDOC Director Tom Beauclair. “But now they're not able to do that and growth is above what we expected.”

Even though the department currently has 1,000 more inmates than in-state beds, three Idaho county jails told the IDDOC they needed to reduce their number of state inmates.

The increased offender population statewide, which grew by 432 offenders at the end of Fiscal Year 2006, was also a cause for the emergency declaration.

Construction delays on a 100-bed housing structure at the state's largest prison also have a role in the increased need for out of state beds.
 
Currently, 24 county jails provide housing for 503 state inmates, and Kootenai, Caribou, and Twin Falls have all indicated they no longer have enough beds to manage IDDOC inmates.

“This removes much of the Department's ability to utilize housing options within Idaho,” added Beauclair.
 
The emergency request was also needed to relocate the 419 Idaho inmates at the Newton County Correctional Center in Texas. The GEO Group recently notified the IDDOC that a Texas agency wants to use all the beds in the Newton facility as soon as possible.

Idaho offenders are being sent out of state because its prisons are full, and have been for several years.

Idaho has 6,979 inmates but a capacity to house only 5,967. The IDDOC continues to experience inmate growth in its facilities and anticipates more out of state transfers in the future. The Department forecasts 1,400 Idaho offenders will be incarcerated out of state by the year 2010.