In 2015 and earlier, relocation of the prison was beginning, headed by Sen. Wayne Niederhauser who, incidentally, was put in his position by then-Sen. Al Mansell. At that time, coincidently, Niederhauser had acres of property adjacent to the current prison site and Mansell would probably be the contractor for the new developments there.
Along come Reps. Jerry Stevenson, Brad Wilson and Greg Hughes, who stated the costs to replace the prison at $550 million, knowing that wouldn’t be possible, and sold the idea to the legislators and senators. Then the prison relocation committee, which, surprisingly, had two members that were put on it by Neiderhauser, pushes the idea to relocate it west of the airport, where the land is unstable.