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CNMI identifies site for a federal prison
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Posted on Mar 15 1999
The CNMI government has reserved a property from the Department of Public Safety in Susupe to house a Federal prison on Saipan.
According to DPS Commissioner Charles Ingram, the U.S. Marshal Service has requested for a 50 feet x 50 feet piece of land to accommodate the portable jail previously owned by the U.S. Navy in Florida.
This prison will have five cells good for 10 inmates from the CNMI who are awaiting trial for a federal offense.
Local personnel from the Division of Corrections will man its day to day operations using federal funding, he said.
The Commissioner learned from sources that an announcement bid went out last month inviting contractors to ship this facility to Saipan.
“I assume the Seabees on Guam is going to construct it,” he said.
This future federal jail on Saipan will ease mobility and court schedule problems for federal prisoners from the CNMI being detained at the Division of Corrections on Guam.
Currently, federal prisoners from the CNMI await their trial on Guam and are transported back and forth during court appearances held on Saipan.
The most recent prisoners that were sent to Guam were the six inmates who led the prison standoff last Tuesday. The group is scheduled to fly to Saipan this week for a court appearance.
Ingram emphasized that this planned federal jail will only serve as a detention center and prisoners who are convicted will still be shipped out to the mainland.
Meanwhile, following the 14-hour siege last Tuesday, Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has authorized 10 FTEs for DPS to boost the present personnel line-up at the DOC.
“The governor is very concerned and he understands the problem,” he said.
Ingram learned from the Governor’s office that these positions were taken from other agencies that were appropriated for this fiscal year but were not filled up.
“They are like travel analysts and clerks, these positions will be rewritten to correction officers positions,” he said.
His office has already advised CNMI’s personnel office to start the recruitment process.
