If you have read any of my other blog posts, or know anything about New England, North Dakota, you will be somewhat aware that with a town consisting of only 600 residents, if the Dakota Women’s Corrections And Rehabilitation Center were to close, this would have a huge impact on the tiny town of New England.

The reason why this possibility exists, is because in about 2019, seemingly out-of-nowhere, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum began talking about closing this Women’s Prison in New England.

Although Governor Doug Burgum and the Director of the North Dakota Department Of Corrections explained to the press that this proposal was all about prison reform, and providing the best treatment and programs for women inmates, many people, including myself, believe that the primary motivation was creating business opportunity and revenue for Bismarck.

In my opinion, Governor Burgum was being pressured by his influential backers/handlers in Bismarck, to close the New England Women’s Prison, in order for them to make money in the following areas: Land sales, extensive legal-services fees, civil engineering contracts, architectural design contracts, site-work & building contracts, building material supply, construction equipment supply, building equipment & interior furnishings, maintenance services, creating new jobs, and especially by making money from the creation and ownership of healthcare, mental-health, counseling, and rehabilitation services in Bismarck.

Back in the early 2000s when the Women’s Prison was opened in New England, one of its greatest advantages, was that it was not located in either of the three cities Bismarck, Jamestown, or Fargo. Instead, this remote, rural setting was seen as a safe environment that didn’t have the temptations, distractions, and stressors of a large city.

I will admit that the New England Women’s Prison is not a new, state-of-the-art, impressive facility. Here is a brief history of the origin of the Catholic Boarding School that became the New England Women’s Prison:

In 1910 the St. Mary’s Catholic Parish was established and a Church was built. Within a few years, an existing building was purchased and converted for use as a Catholic School. In the 1950s a Catholic High School was built, then a Boys and Girls dormitories were constructed along with a gymnasium and a Catholic Convent. This became the St. Mary’s Catholic Boarding School.

The St. Mary’s Catholic Boarding School experienced adequate enrollment until the late 1980s. But in the early 1990s the attendance steadily decreased, and the school closed completely by 1997. In roughly year 2000, the buildings and grounds were converted for use as a Women’s Prison.

Currently the Dakota Women’s Corrections And Rehabilitation Center is the only Women’s Prison in North Dakota. This prison houses approximately 12% of the prison population in North Dakota.

Probably the most valid argument that Governor Doug Burgum presented for closing the New England Women’s Prison, is that its location is so remote, that the women inmates can’t easily receive the type of medical care, drug-treatment, mental-health services, and rehabilitation services that are available in large cities.

I thought that it was inevitable that the New England Women’s Prison would close because there were so many wealthy, influential people in Bismarck that wanted it to close. Since 2020, I spent quite a bit of time contemplating all of the ways that the small town of New England would change after the closure.

My estimation was that the New England Women’s Prison employed about 25-30 people. Following its closure, there would soon be about twenty heads-of-households unemployed, putting their houses up for sale, relocating with their spouses and children, resulting in an immediate population drop of about 60 residents. Then there would be the ripple effect of 60 less consumers living in the town of New England.

In my opinion, the biggest immediate impact, would be 10-20 houses going up for sale at the same time, with a lack of buyers. House prices are already low in New England, but for a period of a couple of years this would cause the house prices to drop further, there being 10-20 unsold houses.

However, I did not foresee that Kelly Armstrong from Dickinson, North Dakota, would be elected Governor in 2024. I believe that Kelly Armstrong completely understands how detrimental the closing of the New England Women’s Prison would be to the city of New England. I believe that within a year of taking office, Kelly Armstrong might agree to go along with the planning for construction of an additional women’s prison in Bismarck, but not agree to the closure of the women’s prison in New England.