The $1 billion Utah prison is not providing the programs that were promised

Salt Lake City, Utah – Franklin Carroll must enroll in sex offender treatment programs if he hopes to be released from jail before his sentences expire in 2029.

“I’m just burning up time here,” Carroll said. “There’s not a lot of options for me – just to stare at walls.”

Carroll has been writing for months, to governor Spencer Cox, friends, and authorities in the prison system. In every letter, he bemoans his inability to receive the therapy that the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has informed him he must undergo in order to be released early.

“Just the lack of resources,” Carroll said, explaining the excuses he’s heard. “Not enough counselors.”

He is just one of many prisoners in Utah who are not getting treatment. And as a result, they are being forced to serve longer prison terms.

“I hear it directly from inmates,” said Brian Redd, who last year became the director of the Utah Department of Corrections. “‘My parole date was moved because you couldn’t get me the treatment that I needed.’”

The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, or BOP as the Utah legal system calls them, reports that around 67 prisoners had their parole dates revoked last year because, for no fault of their own, they were unable to finish their prescribed therapy. With the cost of housing a convict at $140 a day, the missed parole dates pile up on ledgers.

The issue extends beyond sexual offenders and encompasses prisoners who are already slated for release. According to Redd, inmates frequently are unable to access therapy that could lower drug usage and violence inside of jails. The available programming at the prisons in Salt Lake City and Gunnison is given preference to offenders who are attempting to fulfill their parole requirements.
Philip Hatfield, who is incarcerated for attempted murder and assault, claimed he had to wait seven years to be accepted for a course on cognitive behavior.

“And I’d like to get into substance abuse treatment,” Hatfield said in an interview at the Salt Lake City prison, “but I’ve been told no on that, too, because I have to have a year to getting out (on parole).”

This was not how it was intended to be. Legislators from Utah frequently claimed that a new jail would provide convicts with more programming options when they were advocating for the closure of the Draper facility and the construction of a new one in Salt Lake City.

Inmate therapies were also promoted in a 2015 Prison Relocation Commission film as a means of lowering expenses throughout the state’s judicial system and recidivism rates.

Cox highlighted therapy as one of the prison’s advantages during the 2022 dedication for the Salt Lake City facility, whose construction costs surged to $1 billion.

“So that there can be more programming here,” the governor said. “So that we can give these incarcerated individuals the tools to fix their lives.”

Redd said that the programming issues are due to a staffing shortage. More educators and therapists are required at the two prisons. Additionally, extra correctional officers—the preferred euphemism for guards—are required to accompany prisoners to classrooms and maintain security there.

“We definitely are working on” the lack of programming, according to Redd. “And it’s not acceptable.”
A decade ago, during the jail discussion, Redd, having risen through the ranks of the state trooper, was not among the public leaders who made empty pledges. However, he claims to be aware of those promises made to taxpayers. According to him, corrections is making an effort to remedy the shortcomings by adding more employees.

In addition, Redd wants to make sure that programming is started as soon as a convict is admitted to jail and not only rushed to finish in time for a parole deadline.

“We want to make sure that we’re bringing them in,” Redd said, “and giving them opportunities right out of the gate.”

According to BOP spokeswoman Jennifer Yim, the organization has started meeting with prisoners as soon as they enter the facility, determining what kind of programming each one requires, and then communicating that information to Corrections so that it can make plans.

While treatment completion raises the possibility, release is not a guarantee. Furthermore, Carroll and other prisoners with limited sentences could remain behind bars for extended periods of time in Utah if treatment is not provided, which would leave them without new coping skills when they are released.
The classes for sexual offenders cover topics like decision-making and empathy. Carroll claimed that he watches television for a large portion of the day rather than learning stuff.

“I will be a hundred percent honest,” Carroll said. “At first, I wanted [treatment] for me. I wanted to learn things from it.

“But now I just feel like my back’s against the wall and I’m forced to do it.”