KSL 5 News reported yesterday that the state's Prison Development Commission has hired two consultants for help making the initial decision about how to proceed with construction of a new prison to take the place of the Draper location.

The hires come after members of the commission charged with overseeing the $550 million project decided at their first meeting in September that they weren't ready to endorse a plan from the Division of Facilities Construction and Management.

The process calls for site preparation to start in July 2016, with construction of ancillary buildings to be underway a year from now, and work on inmate housing to start in the spring of 2018 and be finished by the end of 2019.

The design/build option would take about three months less to complete because construction would begin during the design phase. Waiting to build until the design is done and a bid awarded would push the projected finish date until July 2021. State Senator Stevens said the consultants were selected because of their experience with prison construction. He said the commission isn't looking to hire them for future work on the project, one of the largest the state has ever undertaken.