Each week during the 2026 legislative session, we're checking in with a Salt Lake Tribune reporter about the latest in Utah politics and what you need to know. This week, we talked with statewatch reporter Addy Baird about a request to appropriate $130 million to expand the Utah State Prison.
Tom Williams
It was 2022, I think, right when the new prison was unveiled?
Addy Baird
That's right. It was less than four years ago that the prison was unveiled, and it was more than $1 billion in in taxpayer money to construct that prison.
Tom Williams
Now this is Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, Republican from Clearfield, sponsoring this bill. Why does she say they need this money, additional money?
Addy Baird
So Lisonbee is sponsoring this bill because she says that we are — and there are some estimates that support this — that by 2029 we could reach maximum capacity in our prisons that would require emergency release of some incarcerated people.
She says that this is because the population of Utah has grown faster than expected. There were some estimates of population growth when work on that prison began, and Lisonbee and other supporters of this appropriations request argued that we've just grown faster. We have more people here in Utah, and in turn, more people who need to be incarcerated.
Tom Williams
Now this comes in what is shaping up to be — it looks like a tight budget year. I guess that's cause for some concern.
Addy Baird
That's right. Going back to when Gov. Cox introduced his proposed budget, he said from the very start that this is a tight budget year for the state. This budget comes after five years in a row of income tax cuts passed by lawmakers and signed into law by Cox. And it also comes after the federal passage of the big, “beautiful” bill, which made current tax rates permanent. The current tax rates were set to expire at the end of 2025, so the state of Utah expected about $300 million in tax income, assuming that those tax rates would expire, that now that they are permanent, they're not receiving.
So even though the state has a budget, that's something like $37 billion, $300 million isn't a huge amount of that $37 billion, but it's enough that many state agencies are being asked to make cuts. And the fact of $130 million request in a year where that is happening, it's raising some eyebrows on the Hill and among advocates and attorneys.
Tom Williams
So what would the state get for that $130 million?
Addy Baird
They would get 768 new prison beds.
Tom Williams
Now, you talked with a founder of the Utah Prisoner Advocate Network. What is she saying?
Addy Baird
Yeah, I spoke with several members of the group. They do advocacy for people in prison, as well as support work for families with incarcerated loved ones.
And they are really concerned about this funding request. They are all for more funding for the Department of Corrections, but for that funding to just support beds and constructions is really concerning to them. They want funding to go toward things like better health care, better therapy, educational opportunities. And they also, if there's going to be an expansion, they want there to be an expansion of staff as well, and that would not be covered under this appropriations request.
Tom Williams
So Rep. Lisonbee and others have cited increasing population overall, which would lead maybe to more incarcerated people. Are there any other factors which are leading to more people incarcerated?
Addy Baird
Yeah, I think one of the really important things here is that for the last several years, lawmakers in Utah have increased criminal penalties. There have been dozens of bills in the last three years in particular that have increased, expanded, or created new criminal penalties.
And I spoke with an attorney who said, when you increase penalties, there are consequences, anticipated consequences of that type of legislation. One of the anticipated consequences is that more people are going to go to prison, and are going to prison for longer, and that puts a strain on the Department of Corrections. And I think this is really important, because it's not just population growth, it's the way that the population is being criminalized and penalized.
Tom Williams
Rep. Lisonbee, she cited a legislative audit in saying that expanding capacity would reduce recidivism rates. You cite a couple of other studies which come to different conclusions.
Addy Baird
Yeah, and I'm really glad you asked this. This was not something I was able to get into the weeds of in the story, but I think it's really important and valuable.
Lisonbee has framed that audit as saying that there's a direct correlation between more beds and less recidivism. What that audit says is slightly different than exactly that. It says that emergency releases, so not having enough beds and being forced to release people from prison or from jail, increases recidivism, which is slightly different.
The studies that I found and that I have cited here show that while better prison capacity is one factor that can reduce recidivism, meaning fewer people reoffending, just having more beds alone doesn't actually reduce recidivism. The question is more about better prison conditions overall.
