Utah Legislature OKs move to build prison in Salt Lake City

A short while later, Utah’s Senate voted 21-7 in favor, sending it to Gov. Gary Herbert’s desk for approval.

The GOP-dominated state House and Senate met in a special legislative session to approve the measure, which residents, local officials and many Democratic lawmakers opposed.

A state commission chose the site earlier this month after Utah officials debated and studied the issue for years.

Speaking to reporters at his monthly KUED news conference, the governor announced his decision calling the Salt Lake City location near I-80 and 7200 West “the best site”, but acknowledging no place is flawless.

The Prison Relocation Commission also looked at sites in Grantsville, Eagle Mountain and Fairfield before making their selection.

Herbert says the environmental concerns at the new site are no greater than if lawmakers were to rebuild the prison on the Draper site. He accused the district of putting minority students on a collision course with law enforcement by placing a disproportionate number of Salt Lake City police officers in schools on the city’s west side. But Salt Lake City police say the officers routinely visit other schools in the district. That district has only 3 percent of households receiving food stamps or welfare.

Brad Wilson, co-chair of the prison commission, speaks to the House of Representatives while they take up a controversial proposal to relocate the state prison near Salt Lake City’s airport during the Legislature’s one-day special session Wednesday, August 19, 2015, in Salt Lake City.

The suit seeks damages of at least $10,000 per plaintiff, and Anderson said it could be expanded to hundreds of thousands of people – everyone who was in Salt Lake City during that time as well as anyone who communicated with someone there, the AP reported.