Alaska Seeks Site for Mega-Prison

ANCHORAGE – Department of Corrections officials are looking for the best location for a new, large-scale prison that would hold up to 2,250 beds. They have made a decision to consider sites within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, although one possibility could be to expand the Palmer Correctional Center. The Palmer Correctional center sits on 640 acres and contains a minimum-security and a medium-security facility. It is 10 miles from Palmer, the seat of the borough’s criminal justice system, but those 10 miles are over steep and winding roads. Additionally, the site lacks a natural gas connection for utilities and instead relies on fuel oil and electricity. The Department of Corrections may decide that the new prison should be located where natural gas is available and where the roads are better developed.

Planning is continuing, and questions such as what the prison should look like and how it should be financed are being addressed. State and borough officials will meet again in the coming months, although nothing has been formally scheduled. Gov. Frank Murkowski must also give the go-ahead for plans to move forward. He is interested in building a new prison but does not want to do it if it would jeopardize the state's bond rating.

Although a new prison could cost as much as $162 million up front, it has the potential to save the state money in the long run, because currently, Alaska houses more than 700 inmates in Arizona at an annual cost of $14 million.