The Utah Department of Corrections broke ground for expansion of the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison Monday.
The new unit is called West One and will add 192 beds to the existing 1,125. Department Executive Director Rollin Cook says it will be a state-of-the-art facility. He says the direct supervision technique is used in handling the inmates.
“The officers are in continuous contact with the inmates, proactively trying to solve problems, rewarding positive behavior. The facility,” says Cook, “will be built so that we can do proper programming and things like that, that in many of the other facilities, especially the ones we have here in Draper, we’re just very limited in what we can do so we’re pretty excited about that opportunity.”
Claudia Jarrett is Sanpete County Commission Chair. She says the community has been very receptive of the facility and welcomes the expected 76 new jobs related to the expansion.
“Even the things that the prison needed like a medical facility and whatever, I think that even the correctional people were surprised by the outreach that they received,” says Jarrett.
The Central Utah Correctional Facility opened in 1990 and currently employs about 350 people. The housing unit is scheduled to open in August 2016. It’s expected to cost $30 million dollars to complete.
