Govenor Signs Resolution Moving Prison to West Salt Lake City

A move to build a new state prison west of Salt Lake City’s airport has received final approval after Gov. Gary Herbert signed the proposal Thursday.

Supporters of moving the prison said it was an opportunity to reinvest in reforms to the criminal justice system and improve conditions for inmates and correctional facility employees. They also argue it will allow Utah to tear down a crowded, outdated prison in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper, freeing up that land for business development.

“The government, basically, for the first time ever … put a surveillance cone over Salt Like City, an entire geographic area – never had a warrant, never had particularized suspicion that anything was going on, and they scooped up everything,” he told RT. Opponents have raised environmental concerns as well as complaints about it being located on the city’s often-neglected west-side.

The plaintiffs in Anderson’s lawsuit are: Josie Valdez, the former vice-chair of the Utah Democratic Party; state Senator Howard Stephenson (R-Draper); Anderson’s former spokeswoman and former Salt Lake City Councilwoman Deeda Seed; former Dead Goat Saloon owner Daniel Darger; author William Bagley; and University of Utah English professor Thomas Huckin.

The House and Senate approved the idea by wide margins during a special legislative session Wednesday evening.

In a joint statement issued Wednesday night, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker and the city council said the city is considering all political or legal paths to fight the prison. “I would hope that in the spirit of cooperation, we can come together with the leaders of Salt Lake City and say this is a remote location, which probably has no anticipated development for many years in the future”.

Herbert said he knows the site isn’t ideal, but that it is the best site for the city and the state.

“I was outraged by this”, Anderson said Wednesday. It then went to the governor for signature Thursday morning.

The resolution passed the House by a vote of 62 to 12.