Making Connections News

In Sept. 2022, the Bureau of Prisons announced that it was reviving a plan to build and operate a federal correctional institution and prison camp in Letcher County, KY, an area that was devastated by flooding on July 28, 2022. This episode shares the comments, both pro and con, that members of the public delivered to Bureau of Prisons representatives regarding bringing this facility to the county. Plans for a prison originated in 2006 when Congress authorized a study for a high security facility which was eventually approved for a site in Roxanna, KY, in 2018. However, that plan was withdrawn in 2019. Now the Bureau of Prisons is proposing a medium security prison and work camp and began the process of creating a Draft Environmental Impact Statement with a public meeting on November 17 at Letcher County Central High School. One hundred-fifty people signed in at the high school and another 54 were attending by way of the internet. While some supporters said they thought the prison would bring jobs and econo