DALLAS — A newly created board would consider whether to move the Utah State Prison from Draper at a potential cost of $600 million under a bill awaiting Gov. Gary Herbert's signature.
Senate Bill 72, sponsored by Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, authorizes creation of the Prison Relocation and Development Authority that would study plans for moving the prison and redeveloping the 690 acres it occupies.
A provision that would have banned solicitations for private prisons to replace the Draper facility was dropped from the version sent to Herbert.
Herbert's spokesman Nate McDonald said Tuesday that the governor had not received the bill but was expected to get it by the end of the week. Herbert has spoken in favor of the relocation as an economic stimulus that proponents say could generate up to 40,000 jobs and $20 billion in economic impact over 25 years.
The 62-year-old prison is located next to Interstate 15 in what is now a fast-growing suburban area.
McDonald said that any means of financing the relocation would have to be considered once the PRADA submitted its study.
"It's still too early for that," he said.
With triple-A ratings from all three ratings agencies, Utah is conservative with debt issuance and typically keeps maturities to within 10 years.
The prison relocation bill was among those approved in the last of the Utah Legislature's 45-day session that ended Friday. Lawmakers also approved a $12.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2014 that includes new money for education, including teacher raises.
SB72 was revised eight times before winning final passage as lawmakers differed on composition of the PRADA and whether to direct the board to solicit proposals to turn the prison's programming and operations over to private contractors.
Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, would assign two Senate members to the PRADA board, a proposal that brought concerns about conflicts of interest.
Niederhauser owns more than 30 acres of undeveloped property near the prison, according to the City Weekly of Salt Lake City.
Niederhauser's investment could rise in value if the board decides to redevelop the prison site. However, SB 72 includes provisions against conflicts of interest, keeping members of the authority from serving if they stood to gain financially through relocation of the prison or development of the prison site.
Draper is about 20 miles south of Salt Lake. The prison is where on Jan. 17, 1977 the firing squad execution of Gary Gilmore ended a long-term hiatus in use of the death penalty in the United States.
