Ground was broken this week on an expansion of the Little Sandy Correctional Complex in Elliott County. When the prison was built in 2002, it created around 260 jobs. The addition announced this week is expected to create more than 160 positions.
Rocky Adkins is the Senior Advisor to Governor Andy Beshear. In an interview with WEKU, he said it was always the plan to expand the prison, but a couple factors increased the urgency.
“Number one, the Kentucky State Reformatory, down in Oldham County, is getting old and dilapidated. A lot of the cell blocks have been closed and inmates are having to be moved to other locations. And again, having the situation where the facility is just not up to date,” said Adkins.
Adkins said the medical facility at KSR was also in bad shape. The former lawmaker said that facility will be relocated to Lexington.
Adkins said the state and the region will be better positioned once the construction is complete.
“We’re really getting two big benefits out of this. A highly constructed, state of the art, medium correctional facility for inmates. But also, really improving the economy, creating good jobs for people in a region of Kentucky that needs jobs the most,” said Adkins.
Adkins called the jobs high paying positions with good benefits.
Construction is expected to be complete within the next two years. Once inmates are moved in, Little Sandy Correctional Complex will become the Commonwealth’s second largest prison with nearly 1,900 inmates.
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