WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers (KY-05) announced the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is moving forward with the proposed development of a Federal Correctional Institution and Federal Prison Camp in Roxanna, Ky., according to the agency’s new Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) published on Friday.
In 2006, Congress directed the BOP to initiate various investigations leading to development of a new federal correctional facility in Letcher County. Since then, Congressman Rogers has secured more than $500 million for construction of the BOP’s next prison facility.
First elected in 1980, Rogers is currently the longest member of the U.S. House.
“The Federal Bureau of Prisons employs more than 1,300 people in Kentucky’s Fifth Congressional District, investing more than $83.7 million each year in wages in our region,” said Rogers. “Building a medium-security prison and camp in Letcher County will add more than 300 jobs in our region, employing people from surrounding counties, and providing other economic development opportunities.”
Letcher County is on the Virginia state line between Pike and Harlan counties. Its county seat is Whitesburg.
The FBOP webpage on the proposed facility in Ravenna states: “To accommodate a portion of the federal inmate population, the BOP is moving forward with planning for a new Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) and prison camp in Letcher County, Ky. Among the objectives for developing a new FCI and prison camp is to meet the on-going need for modern federal correctional facilities and infrastructure as well as to address an identified need for a new FCI and prison camp in the BOP’s Mid-Atlantic Region of the country.”
“If this new prison facility isn’t built in Letcher County,” Rogers said, “it will be built in another state and Kentucky will lose out on the funding and opportunities that come with it. So, I am pleased to see that the DEIS confirmed that the site in Roxanna meets the environmental requirements.”
According to the BOP, out of its 122 institutions, 62 were developed between 1890 and 1991, 55 institutions were developed between 1992 and 2007, with the remainder developed since 2008. BOP’s new proposed facility will address safety, modernization needs and overcrowding.
The next step in the process includes another public comment period. Federal agencies, Tribal, Commonwealth, and local governments, interested parties, and the public are invited to comment on the DEIS and the Proposed Action which will be the subject of a 45-day review period beginning March 1, 2024 and ending April 15, 2024.
The DEIS and information about the Proposed Action can be found on the project website: https://www.proposed-fci-letchercountyky.com.
