BISMARCK – The North Dakota State Senate passed a bill that provides funds for a new state prison for women. The action came during Thursday’s legislative session.
House Bill 1015, the department of correction and rehabilitation budget, would provide $131.2 million for the Heart River Correctional Center in Mandan, a state prison for women. Legislative intent was added for the next session to provide an additional $30 million for the project. The total budget for the department, not including the one-time funding projects, is increased from $283 million to $446 million, a 58% increase.
Sen. Shawn Vedaa, R-Dis. 6, Velva, said some of the funding will go to equipment that can help prisoners remove gang-related tattoos to make it easier for them to get back into the workplace.
“What the department is doing is very noble, and I think we have a good prison system here in North Dakota, and we’re headed in better corrections,” said Vedaa.
“I plan to vote no on this budget,” said Sen. Mathern, D-Dis. 11, Fargo. “Not doing so questioning the management of our corrections and rehabilitation, I think they’ve done a really good job in terms of changes they’ve made over the past decade. However, this project regarding the women’s prison, I believe, is taking us backwards.”
Mathern said the cost of the prison will cost much more as the years go by than what is being predicted now.
“So, what do you do when the cost goes way up?” Mathern asked. “You cut on things. You really cut out the things that address the needs of these women.”
Mathern said most of the women in the prison have mental illness or are traumatized and need treatment and connection to their children, so he prefers the approach of having several facilities across the state as opposed to a central facility.
“We had those discussions during committee and when we toured the facility,” said Vedaa. “We found out that they are having these meetings with their children. They’re working those families’ situations to get them back together… We are finding that the costs are stabilizing.”
Sen. Jim Roers, R-Dis. 46, Fargo, said it is far more expensive to build multiple small facilities than one large one. The main concern would also be trying to staff all of the facilities.
“Would it cost more to have multiple facilities than just one? Probably,” said Mathern. “Just because you have a central facility does not make it easier to find staff. If you had more facilities around the state it would be easier to find staff because of the availability of staff around the state.”
The bill passed the Senate 44-2. If both chambers agree on the amendments it will be sent to the governor for consideration.
