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7/24/02
Counties
required to donate land for prison
By
Scott McLeod
Haywood
County would have a substantial up-front cost if it wants to land
one of the 1,000-bed prisons the state plans to build in the next
decade.
“The county has to provide the necessary land at no cost to the
state, that’s one of the criteria,” Lynn Phillips said last
week. Phillips is the assistant secretary for the Department of Correction
who is in charge of siting new prisons. He would conduct public hearings
in Haywood County if the plans for a new prison reach that stage.
At this point, Phillips said Haywood and Rutherford are the only western
counties that have formally expressed interest in siting one of the
new close-custody prisons. Haywood, said Phillips, has been mentioned
several times as a possible site.
“Haywood happens to be an important geographical area for us.
We have informally asked ourselves where we could find a location
in the far west,” said Phillips.
The possible siting of a new prison in Haywood County has come to
the forefront in recent weeks primarily for two reasons: the proposed
Senate budget now under consideration in Raleigh recommends closing
the 106-bed minimum-security prison in Hazelwood that employs 40 people;
and County Manager Jack Horton sent a letter to the DOC June 20 saying
the board of county commissioners was “very interested”
in siting a new prison and that the board was currently “in the
process of trying to identify a suitable site.”
Phillips said the state has sent Haywood County a package of information
dealing with the economic impact, site requirements, payroll, road
access requirements , and other pertinent information. If asked, Phillips
said his staff would help organize public hearings and provide any
other necessary information to the county. He also said citizens need
not worry about the state building a prison where it wasn’t wanted.
“The county has to determine if this is the right economic development
strategy for them. To my knowledge we have never forced a prison on
anyone,” said Phillips.
The state’s criteria for one of the 1,000-bed high-security prisons
includes: approximately 150 acres of land (donated to the state);
a site that minimizes site development costs; adequate water and sewer;
public highway access; proximity to medical and fire prevention services;
a site that would lend itself to adequate security measures; and community
support.
Haywood’s June 20 letter reiterates a point made in another letter
sent in December 2000 to the state. At that time the county also requested
that it be considered for one of the new prisons. As Phillips said,
it seems those requests have at least put the county on the radar
of the DOC.
The need for more space
The state prison now in Hazelwood is a minimum-security facility
built in the late 1930s. It has a standard occupancy of 106 inmates,
according to a DOC spokesman, but is currently housing 121 inmates.
“That shows how we are becoming cramped for space,” said
Keith Acree, a spokesman for the DOC.
But space is just one factor in the state’s plan to open up
to 10 new 1,000-bed prisons in the next decade. While the inmate
population is expected to grow from 33,400 to 40,000 by 2009, larger
prisons are also cheaper to operate.
That fact, more than anything else, will likely lead to the closure
of the Hazelwood prison. The state Performance Audit Commission’s
report on prisons issued in the early 1990s recommended closing
almost all of the state’s small prisons, including those in
Haywood and Henderson counties. Following those recommendations,
the state has closed 33 prison units since 1994. Still, North Carolina
has more prison units — 76 — than any state in the country.
Currently three of the 1,000-bed close-custody prisons are under
construction. They are being built in Alexander, Anson and Scotland
counties, and will open in 2003. The two in Alexander and Scotland
County will create 417 and 567 jobs, respectively. The facility
in Anson County is only expected to create a net of 138 new jobs
because two smaller units will close and those jobs will be consolidated
into the new prison. All of those counties have donated land for
the new prisons.
The economic impact of the jobs that would accompany a new prison
is being touted by those who support building in Haywood County.
According to Acree, the starting salary for a prison guard is about
$23,000 per year and the average salary is $26,000 per year. The
job requires only a high school diploma or a GED, that the applicant
be 21 years old and not have a serious criminal record.
Prisons as economic development
In a county that has lost hundreds of manufacturing jobs and whose
workforce has many people with just high school diplomas, those
requirements might sound good.
“People in Haywood County might be more receptive to this now
due to the fact that so many plants have closed and we are in need
of jobs,”said Jay Hinson, the county’s economic development
director.
Still, Hinson said the not-in-my-backyard scenario could become
a factor.
“You’d have to deal with the public’s receptiveness
to the idea,” said Hinson. “Obviously it would have to
in a remote and isolated area.”
The remoteness of a potential site may concern many due to the nature
of the inmate that would be housed at the facility. Since it would
be a “close-custody” facility, inmates convicted of serious
crimes like murder and rape could be housed in the prison. Acree
said it would definitely be a “different type inmate than what
is now in Haywood.”
Close custody is relatively new term used to describe a level of
incarceration that is between medium security and maximum security.
Maximum security prisons like Central in Raleigh are now used for
inmates on death row and those considered most disruptive and troublesome,
said Acree. Close-custody units would house inmates convicted of
serious crimes who have not caused any trouble while incarcerated.
Politics and prisons
While Haywood County looks around for a possible 150-acre site,
the decision about the new prison will come from the General Assembly.
“Ultimately, it is all a political decision,” said Acree.
Each year while budgets are being analyzed the small prison units
face survival questions, he said. If a smaller unit is closed, then
that county probably stands a better chance of getting one of the
larger prisons, said Acree.
“Haywood has been identified as a workable site. That might
make the powers that be more amenable to letting the smaller unit
close,” said Acree.
Potential sites, however, could be difficult to find and expensive.
When the county looked at 20-acre tract on Ratcliff Cove Road as
a possible site for a new justice center, the price was $1.8 million.
Hinson said the county does have 75 acres at its Beaverdam Industrial
Park. That land, however, can only be used for industrial purposes
and therefore is out of contention for a prison, he said.
The Senate budget that suggested closing the prison was only a proposal.
The governor’s proposal did not include the closing of the
Haywood unit. It also did not provide any money this fiscal year
for starting a new 1,000-bed prison.
In the House, Rep. Marge Carpenter (R-Haywood) says lawmakers are
not even close to having a budget proposal ready for review. In
fact, Carpenter said she was not even sure when — or if —
a budget would be ready from the House.
Whether a new prison comes to Haywood will be decided in the future,
but it is almost certain that the Hazelwood unit will close soon.
The state’s budget crunch is likely to increase pressure to
operate prisons at a reduced per inmate cost.
“The GPAC report made it clear that using small lots of small
prisons is an inefficient way to run a prison system,” said
Acree.
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