Idaho Department of Correction

Idaho Department of Correction patch

The Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) operates nine prisons, four community release centers and 20 probation and parole offices located throughout the state of Idaho. The agency has its headquarters in Boise.^[1]

IDOC employs about 2,000 people. Most of them are correctional officers and probation and parole officers. They are all certified peace officers and train at the Peace Officer Standards Training Academy in Meridian.

Administration

IDOC's mission is to promote a safer Idaho by reducing recidivism. IDOC is responsible for the incarceration and community supervision of felony offenders in Idaho.

The Department handles adult offenders sentenced by the courts. A probation/parole officers caseload can be broken down into four categories:

• Those on Probation - Probationers are convicted offenders who have had their sentences suspended and given freedom during good behavior under the supervision of a parole officer. This category makes up the largest number of the department's offender population.
• Those on Parole - Parolees are inmates who have served a specific prison term and who are out in the community. They have agreed to abide by stated conditions set by the Commission of Pardons and Parole for a specified time period as a condition of release.
• Those Serving Prison Time
• Those who are serving time in the Rider program under a retained jurisdiction order from a judge. Which means the offender is only accountable to the courts for his/hers behavior and will be seen again by the judge after non compliance or completion of the program for decision to be given to the offender of probation or prison - This program, also known as the Rider Program is made up of minimum and medium custody, 120-day and in some cases up to 1 year of retained jurisdiction commitments who have been sent by the courts for evaluation. The program provides a sentencing alternative for the courts to target those offenders who might, after a period of programming and evaluation, be viable candidates for probation and reintegration into the community.

Private prisons

As of 2016, IDOC contracts with one private prison firm, Management and Training Corporation, to run one facility: the Correctional Alternative Placement Program, a 432-bed center focused on treatment programs and inmates with cognitive issues. It opened in the summer of 2010.

Idaho entered into its first private prison project in July 2000, opening the Idaho Correctional Center with operator Corrections Corporation of America. The state paid $29 million annually for the mixed-security prison. An increasing number of lawsuits related to violent incidents, chronic understaffing and fraudulent recordkeeping revealed deep operational problems. The Idaho State Police and the FBI launched investigations. ^[2] IDOC took over the facility in 2014. As part of the long legal aftermath, in July 2015 IDOC itself faced federal court allegations that it had falsified inmate medical records, and was out of compliance with previous court orders. ^[3]

Idaho has also exported prisoners to private prisons in other states. From roughly 1998 to 2008,^[4] Idaho had placed inmates at Prairie Correctional Facility (Appleton, Minnesota),^[5] the Newton County Correctional Center (Newton, Texas),^[6][7] Dickens County Correctional Center, (Spur, Texas), Val Verde Correctional Facility (Del Rio, Texas), the Bill Clayton Detention Center (Littlefield, Texas), ^[8] and the North Fork Correctional Facility (Sayre, Oklahoma). This cycle ended around July 2009.^[9]

Once again in July 2012, IDOC exported about 200 prisoners to the Kit Carson Correctional Center in Burlington, Colorado,^[10] a contract that ended in mid-2016 and the closure of that prison.

Facilities

South Boise Prison Complex

The South Boise Prison Complex is located in unincorporated Ada County, five miles (8 km) south of the Boise Airport and nine miles (15 km) east of Kuna. It has six prison facilities and one community work center.^[11]

• The Correctional Alternative Placement Program (CAPP) facility (43°27′42″N 116°14′08″W / 43.46167°N 116.23556°W)^[12] opened July 1, 2010. Management and Training Corporation of Ogden, Utah built the facility and operates the program. CAPP offers intensive treatment programs for substance abuse and cognitive issues for up to 432 low to moderate risk male offenders needing substance abuse treatment. It houses three different groups of offenders: probationers, parolees and retained jurisdiction.

• Idaho State Correctional Center. On 7/1/2014 IDOC took over ownership of the building from Corrections Corporation of America. The Warden is Randy Blades.

• Idaho State Correctional Institution

• Idaho Maximum Security Institution (IMSI) (43°28′47″N 116°13′24″W / 43.47972°N 116.22333°W)^[13] is a high-security state prison. It opened in November 1989 to confine Idaho's most violent offenders. The compound is located within a double perimeter fence reinforced with razor wire, an electronic detection system and a 24-hour armed perimeter patrol. The offender population includes a large number of mental health offenders, including subjects of civil commitments. Thirty beds are dedicated for prisoners with acute mental illness. IMSI has restrictive housing beds dedicated to administrative segregation, disciplinary detention and death row. The remaining beds are allocated for close-custody general population offenders.

• South Boise Women's Correctional Center (SBWCC) (43°28′54″N 116°13′51″W / 43.48167°N 116.23083°W)^[14] opened in March 2002 at the site of a former community work center. It is a program-specific, minimum-custody facility designed for female offenders sentenced to a retained jurisdiction commitment by the court. It provides a sentencing alternative for the courts to target those offenders who might, after a period of programming and evaluation, be viable candidates for probation rather than incarceration. This facility has a safe operating capacity of 248.

• South Idaho Correctional Institution (SICI) (43°28′33″N 116°12′42″W / 43.47583°N 116.21167°W)^[15] is a minimum-security prison. It receives mail through a post office box in Boise. SICI is a working facility, which houses male minimum custody offenders in a dormitory setting. A lot of the offenders will need to work and maintain that work to show the parole board they can handle being responsible along with programming. Those offenders who choose to work will have to apply for available positions and is expected to work whether inside or outside the facility compound. Sex offenders are not allowed to go off compound for work. Road crews for the Idaho Transportation Department and fire fighting crews for the U.S. Forest Service are located here. SICI also houses offenders who have almost completed their sentence (toppers). Toppers do not have to work if they choose not to. SICI also operates the final pre-release program for about 90 percent of offenders paroling from the system.

• The South Idaho Correctional Institution-Community Work Center (CWC)^[16] houses minimum-custody male offenders in a dormitory setting. Most offenders are assigned a job and work inside or outside the facility. Vocational Work Projects include road crews for the Idaho Transportation Department and conservation and fire fighting crews for the U.S. Forest Service. Some offenders serve as workers in the Correctional Industries program. It also operates the pre-release program for the majority of offenders paroling from the system.

Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino

Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino (ICIO) (46°29′31″N 116°15′39″W / 46.49194°N 116.26083°W)^[17] is a modified old state school and hospital mental health building in Orofino.^[11][18] A new wing was added in 1988. It is a standard prison designed for male offenders of all custody levels. The facility also houses protective custody offenders. Until April 1994, the state's female offenders were housed in one tier here, but due to litigation, females are now housed at the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center. Offender work programs, including correctional industries, are coordinated with schooling, counseling and recreational opportunities. The facility has a safe operating capacity is 541.

North Idaho Correctional Institution

North Idaho Correctional Institution (NICI) (46°04′48″N 116°25′41″W / 46.08°N 116.428°W), northwest of Cottonwood. A former radar station of the U.S. Air Force below Cottonwood Butte, it has been in the state correction system since 1974.^[19]

Pocatello Women's Correctional Center

Pocatello Women's Correctional Center (PWCC)^[20] (42°50′33″N 112°27′02″W / 42.84250°N 112.45056°W) is a prison for women located in the southwestern portion of Pocatello.^[21] It opened in April 1994. It is designed specifically to house all custody levels of female offenders. The facility is the first of its kind for the Department of Corrections, and it is designed specifically to meet the special needs of female offenders and their programs. The facility has an operating capacity of 289 female offenders and houses all custody levels.

St. Anthony Work Camp

St. Anthony Work Camp (SAWC) (43°58′05″N 111°41′37″W / 43.96806°N 111.69361°W)^[22] is located in St. Anthony.^[11][23] It is designed to house 240 low-risk, minimum and community-custody male offenders. The facility's primary focus is to provide a vocational work project opportunities offering full-time, constructive, paid employment to offenders. This is accomplished through contracted work and public service projects with government agencies, non-profit organizations and private employers. The program helps offenders develop good work habits, a positive work ethic and marketable work skills while providing a financial resource to meet immediate and future needs.

Work centers

• Nampa Community Work Center
• East Boise Community Work Center
• Twin Falls Community Work Center, closed August 1, 2011.^[24]
• Idaho Falls Community Work Center

See also

• List of law enforcement agencies in Idaho
• List of United States state correction agencies
• List of U.S. state prisons

References

1. "Idaho Department of Correction - About Us." Idaho Department of Correction. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.
2. Boone, Rebecca (5 March 2012). "The history of private prisons in Idaho". Idaho State Journal. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
3. Prentiss, George (8 July 2015). "Idaho's New Prison Scandal Altered medical records, scrubbed diagnoses and 'musical cells' trigger new federal court hearing". Boise Weekly. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
4. "Idaho brings 80 inmates back from Texas, Oklahoma". Oregon Live. Associated Press. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
5. "Idaho Man Dies In Prison In Minnesota". Spokane Statesman-Review. Associated Press. 23 January 1998. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
6. Clarke, Matthew (15 November 2006). "Private Geo Prison in Texas Rocked By Prisoner Abuse, Disturbance and Escape". Prison Legal News. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
7. "Idaho ends contract with GEO-run Texas prison". Beaumont Enterprise. Associated Press. 7 November 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
8. Miller, John (11 July 2007). "Idahoans Bound for Private Texas Prison". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
9. "IDOC prepares for out-of-state move". Idaho Department of Corrections. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
10. Russell, Betsy Z. (6 November 2016). "Idaho still contracts with CCA to house 208 Idaho inmates at private Colo. lockup". Spokane Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
11. "Locations." Idaho Department of Correction. Retrieved on June 4, 2011.
12. Idaho Department of Correction - Correctional Alternative Placement Program Idaho Department of Correction. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.
13. Idaho Department of Correction - Idaho Maximum Security Institution Idaho Department of Correction. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.
14. Idaho Department of Correction - South Boise Women's Correctional Center Idaho Department of Correction. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.
15. Idaho Department of Correction - South Idaho Correctional Institution Idaho Department of Correction. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.
16. Idaho Department of Correction - South Idaho Correctional Institution Community Work Center Idaho Department of Correction. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.
17. Idaho Department of Correction - Idaho Correctional Institution - Orofino Idaho Department of Correction. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.
18. "Orofino city, Idaho." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on June 4, 2011.
19. Roche, Kevin (November 15, 1974). "State signs lease on Job Corps site". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 16A.
20. Idaho Department of Correction - Pocatello Women's Correctional Center Idaho Department of Correction. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.
21. "Static Printable Map of Pocatello & Chubbuck." City of Pocatello. Retrieved on 4 June 2011.
22. Idaho Department of Correction - St. Anthony Work Camp Idaho Department of Correction. Retrieved on June 14, 2011.
23. "St. Anthony city, Idaho." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on June 3, 2011.
24. "Twin Falls Community Work Center | Idaho Department of Correction". idoc.idaho.gov. Retrieved 7 August 2011.

External links

• Official website