The Idaho attorney general’s office is calling for a criminal investigation into Correction Corporation of America’s understaffing of the Idaho Correctional Center after learning that a police investigation announced last year was never done, reports the Associated Press. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden sent that message in a letter to Idaho Gov. C. L. “Butch” Otter and the heads of the state police, Department of Correction and the Ada County prosecutor’s office Friday.
Wasden wrote that there appears to be a “large degree of confusion” into whether, based on a forensic audit that showed thousands of hours of guard posts being left unstaffed, an investigation into alleged criminal wrongdoing should be conducted. “To ensure that there is no confusion going forward, I recommend that this matter be immediately referred to the Idaho State Police and the Ada County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for an investigation of any criminal wrongdoing,” Wasden wrote. In a reply delivered Friday, Otter indicated he did not believe an investigation is warranted.