Where can I get a pie chart on cost if prisons? Why do they build prisons inside cities which lands are so expensive? It may make sense for the ones that need to got to court, but what about the ones that got convicted?
2007-03-03 12:43:40 · 9 answers · asked by pxn11 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
I don't think so. It would cost massive amounts of money to run utilities out there.
2007-03-03 12:47:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Although it seems logical that building a prison in the middle of the desert would lower costs, ......it is deceptive. Here are some of the reasons:
First: You have to build very solid buildings with heavy reinforced steel and concrete . The cost of building way outside of cities is increased, not decreased, because of the all the hundreds and thousands of contractors and workers have to travel great distances, and bring heavy equipment for construction hundreds of miles.
Second: You have to run electrical lines and an entire electrical grid substation many miles to the middle of nowhere. Also, you have to run water and sewer treatment pipes many miles and then miles back for sewage treatment, telephone and communication systems.
Third: You have to pay extra for every pound of food, clothes, and all other equipment that has to be freighted to the site, every day, every week,every month.etc.
Fourth: You need to have enough housing for more than a thousand prison guards and administrators, doctors, nurses, psychologists, counselors, and their families and children, and all the support for a small town from gas stations and grocery stores. And then,....who wants to work and live in the middle of the desert away from schools, hospitals, municipal amenities, and all that makes a community. Prison guards are well-paid, and deservedly so, and you have to recruit the best you can find. That is NOT cheap.
Fourth: You have to have some public transit to get to and from the prison, both for employees and visitors, (lawyers, prison administration, and so forth.) Add to this probably 50 or more miles of highway and freeway, and the cost is HUGE.
The cost- per -bed for each prisoner is enough to send a child to the best , most expensive college or university in the United States.(upwards of $25-35,000 per year each).
2007-03-03 21:04:57 · answer #2 · answered by JOHN B 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think you're confusing prisons and jails... for jails, due to high turnover and the security risks presented by transporting inmates to and from court appearances, it does make more sense in the long term to have the facility located very near to the courthouse, so usually within the city limits of the County Seat.
Prisons,where inmates go to serve their sentences after being convicted of a felony carrying a term of more than 1 year, generally ARE built in the middle of nowhere.
2007-03-04 10:45:06 · answer #3 · answered by UppityBroad68 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I doubt it. If it's out in the middle of nowhere, away from all cities, it would probably be a pain in the @$$ to maintain and run the place, to transport prisoners to and from, and to staff the prison considering the guards and workers would have no place to live. It has to be near a town so the staff has a place to live...I doubt anybody wants to live on the prison grounds, or commute 3 hours one-way just to get to work.
2007-03-03 20:53:42 · answer #4 · answered by The Man In The Box 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it would depend on how far out in the desert you wanted to go to see if the savings gained by the cheaper land outweighed the cost of drilling a well for water supply and the added costs of bringing utilities to the site as well as having to transport prisoners to the facility and/or adding a closed circuit tv sattelite to "transport" prisoners to court
2007-03-03 20:54:36 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Who are they going to hire to be prison guards, cactus? It would make the costs go up, not down. The cost of building a prison is only a tiny part of the cost of running one.
2007-03-03 20:52:19 · answer #6 · answered by Larry 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am with you. I think they should build prisons where it is cheaper to build and operate prisons, but I doubt if the people of Nebraska would want all the criminals from California, Chicago, and New York. I recently read that some court had over ruled a plan to send prisoners out of state to cheaper prisons. I don't know what the rationale was for that. Probably cruel and unusual since it would make it harder for them to have visitors.
I think we should farm them out to Mexico! That would teach them to break the law, being guarded by a bunch of Mexicans and eating tortillas and beans every meal!
2007-03-03 21:05:57 · answer #7 · answered by plezurgui 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It would not lower the cost of transportation.
2007-03-03 21:06:41 · answer #8 · answered by Vernon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no way it takes more energy to run a facility in the extreme heat
2007-03-03 20:50:49 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋