Letcher County, Ky: Last week, Congressman Hal Rogers’ office announced that a letter of decision had been issued for the construction of the new federal prison in Letcher County, and the project is now a go. Letcher Judge-Executive Jim Ward said the prison project in the Roxana area will take several years to complete, but it will ultimately benefit not only Letcher County but also the entire region. Ward said infrastructure improvements are already planned or underway for the project, including water line extensions and road upgrades.

“It’s not just good for this county, it is gonna be goo for this whole region. We are looking at somewhere between 300 to 400 permanent jobs once it’s built, but we are also looking at 4 to 5 years, was what they told me it would take, to build it and you’re looking at 1000 to 1500 jobs created during the process. I think there will be some improvements in the road going out to the prison on 1-60. That was one of the things that we proposed to Frankfort when this prison was announced, that there would be some road improvements from there.”

Ward said property acquisition for the project is underway, and that process will determine how long it will be before a formal groundbreaking can be held for the construction of the prison.

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