Nisqually Tribe building $20M prison (Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, published April 05, 2011)

The Nisqually Tribe recently started site work on a new business venture: a $20 million public safety complex where excess inmate beds will be leased to nearby governments and tribal agencies. The first phase will provide 288 beds for Category II low-risk offenders such as people who have violated parole or were arrested for theft. A future phase could allow an expansion to 576 beds. The 48-acre site is on the Nisqually Reservation, at the junction of state Route 510 and Yelm Highway.

Funding includes a $10.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, a $11.5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture low interest loan and tribal funds. Joe Kautz, the Nisqually Tribe's chief of police, is the driving force behind the project. When he started his job 13 years ago, he had five employees and a $500,000 budget.

Today, he has a staff of 35 and a budget of more than $2 million. The tribe currently has space for 92 people. Generally, he said, about 10 percent of its inmates are Nisqually, 30 percent are from surrounding tribal agencies, and the rest are from nearby cities or the Washington State Department of Corrections. Even in today's uncertain economic climate, Kautz said there is a need for more local beds because many prisoners are being held east of the Cascades and sometimes out of state.

Joe Cushman, director of planning and economic development for the tribe, said the project should generate about $1 million in revenue annually. He said the arrangement works well for all involved.

KMB design groups is the architect and completed an earlier feasibility study. The tribe will seek a general contractor in early summer and expects to start construction soon after on the year-long project. OSG Dozing of Olympia is doing site work on about 20 acres of the site and should complete that work in August. The complex will include a 96-bed special needs housing unit; two 7,700-square-foot 96-bed dorms; and a 6,000-square-foot warehouse to house the commissary, laundry and backup power. A 34,000-square-foot support services building will have offices for the Nisqually Police Department and Corrections Department, as well as tribal fish and game departments.

A second phase will include a court building, enforcement space, fire protection space, emergency communications and expansion for corrections. There is no schedule for the second phase at this time. The Nisqually tribe has developed a video conferencing system so inmates and judges can communicate without having to leave the area. Cushman said this is now the tribe's biggest economic development project though it is also considering more retail and gaming space, as well as other business opportunities. He said the tribe wants to diversify beyond gaming. “This is not a huge new step,” he said. “This is the next logical step for an existing operation.”