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State proposes leasing 90 beds at Grand Forks jail as short-term correctional capacity
Summary
Department of Corrections officials told the Senate Appropriations committee they plan to lease part of the underused Grand Forks Correctional Center to house about 90 state inmates starting in July 2025, pending a lease with the county and hiring of staff.
The Department of Corrections told the Senate Appropriations Committee that it plans to lease a portion of the Grand Forks Correctional Center from Grand Forks County to create roughly 90 state correctional beds that could be available as soon as July 2025.
Colby (Staff member, Department of Corrections) said the county-built facility currently lacks staff and that the department would operate the leased portion as a state facility with state employees. “It'll be it'll be leased from the county as a state facility,” Colby said. He added: “This is going to put 90 beds that we can use immediately.”
Why it matters: committee members pressed the department for details about staffing, supervision and lease protections, citing public-safety and operational concerns. Committee members asked whether the lease would protect the state from short-notice county changes; the department said negotiations on those terms have not yet started.
What the department said: officials described the site as two housing units that could be separated and run as a “mini prison” with services such as an infirmary, drug and alcohol treatment, education and pharmacy access. The department estimated it would need about 15 correctional officers to staff the leased unit 24/7, plus supervisors, case managers, nursing and programming staff.
Committee questions and responses: Senators asked whether staffing is available in a tight labor market and whether the state could accelerate hiring by moving experienced staff from other facilities. Colby said staffing will be “the critical piece” and that the department would try to recruit experienced staff from other facilities to accelerate openings. Chairman Deaver and other members pressed for an informal county agreement before finalizing budget requests; the department said an agreement would be prudent but had not yet been negotiated.
Operational details and next steps: presenters said the county would lease the space to the state and the state would furnish and equip the unit, including phones, beds and technology. The department expects the county and state to coordinate on administration and incident response; presenters said they will work out detailed lease language about termination and service-level expectations as plans advance. The committee was told a meeting with the governor and local officials was scheduled to discuss the idea further.
