By Melissa Davlin, Idaho Reports
The Idaho Department of Correction is one step closer to owning the Correctional Alternative Placement Program building.
On Thursday morning, the IDOC Board of Correction voted 2-0 to approve the purchase of the CAPP facility building from MTC Corrections Holding, LLC.
The Kuna-based facility opened in 2010, and houses parole violators and people serving sentences under a retained jurisdiction. CAPP provides programs for substance abuse and cognitive issues, and can house up to 432 residents, according to the IDOC website.
The program was designed to ease the workload for probation and parole officers, as well as to help those in custody transition back into the community.
Board vice chair Dodds Hayden was not present at the meeting, which lasted less than ten minutes. Board chairman Dr. David McCluskey and secretary Dr. Karen Neill approved the request with little discussion.
IDOC Director Josh Tewalt acknowledged the brief meeting was “unorthodox.” He told attendees the decision to purchase the facility came from Gov. Brad Little’s initiative to use the influx of money to pay down bond debt. The legislature appropriated $10.7 million in state general funds for the lease purchase for this fiscal year, which ends June 30.
The $10.7 million will pay off the remaining seven years of the lease purchase agreement, IDOC public information officer Jeff Ray told Idaho Reports on Thursday. The move will save the state about $2 million in interest over that seven year period.
The board also voted to give Tewalt authority to act on sales documents on behalf of the board to complete the purchase this summer.
The Board of Correction will meet again in July.
