Soon after inmates arrived at the new Utah State Correctional Facility west of the Salt Lake City International Airport in July 2022, stories began trickling out about bug repellent shortages and a broken medical records system.
At the time, the Utah Department of Corrections blamed the medication issues on technical “glitches” and said mosquito abatement was on the way. But inmate families and advocates said the progress was slow.
Now, almost two years later prisoner advocates say things are getting better on both fronts.
“It is absolutely improving,” said Utah Prisoner Advocate Network director Molly Prince.
“It is not where everybody wants it to be. I don't think it's where the prison wants it to be. It's not where UPAN and inmate families and inmates want it to be, but it is significantly improved.”
According to Prince, various changes are being studied and implemented — like phasing out dark clothing which attracts mosquitoes, and making sure mosquito larvae on the facility don’t hatch.
“Some of it is going to be reasonable, some of it's not, but the exciting part of the story is that the Department of Corrections is at the table now.”
Prince said the single biggest change has been new leadership at the Utah Department of Corrections. Brian Redd took over as executive director in 2023 and Prince said communication between the department, advocates and inmate families is much better.
“They are very open and they're appreciative of the ideas that are being presented.”
UDC deputy executive director Rebecca Brown said in addition to the suggestions of Prince and other stakeholders, the department is also increasing access to repellent for both inmates and staff, exploring innovative trapping techniques and providing inmate education about mosquito protection.
“One of our key focuses [is] to listen more and speak less and to really have curiosity around the issues that are arising,” she said. “We are working very closely and I feel [we] have a very positive working relationship with all stakeholders involved.”
The mosquito issue is further complicated because of the prison’s location, size and proximity to wildlife areas where insects are a vital part of the environment.
“We're really closely monitoring and being more proactive rather than reactive to the problem,” Brown said.
When it comes to staying on top of medical needs, Brown said teams meet multiple times a week.
“It is one of our primary initiatives to continue to work through, both the technical difficulties and the operational planning related to medication management and improving access to medications and addressing those issues of quality,” she said. “It has been a key focus … since the issues arose.”
While mosquito abatement is already underway at prison facilities ahead of the summer, for Prince, the fact that 2022’s issues even happened still bothers her.
“Nothing is going to change the fact that this was not addressed for all the years that they were building the prison. But at least now under this administration, I think we're making some progress.”
