The restraining chair, prison psychiatrists with suspended licenses, prison escapee Keith Shepherd.
Those are the words Lane McCotter avoided as he resigned Friday from his post as the director of the Utah Department of Corrections.With Gov. Mike Leavitt by his side, the embattled McCotter stepped down from the post he has held for more than five years and away from the spotlight and scrutiny that have plagued the prison.
Leavitt said he didn't ask for the resignation. But he didn't reject it either.
"It would be an inappropriate second guess for me" to ask him to reconsider his resignation, Leavitt said.
Rumors about McCotter's departure have swirled around the department and Capitol Hill for more than a week. When questioned by the Deseret News last week, Leavitt's staff refused to answer questions about McCotter's future.
McCotter said he's unsure of his future, but it won't include retirement.
What is known is that the governor asked McCotter for a strategy to deal with the prison's problems. McCotter came back with four suggestions and his resignation.
"I told him it was probably time for him to find someone with a new energy level and new intensity," McCotter said.
Among the controversies that have drained McCotter's energy are the death of an inmate in a restraining chair in March, the highly publicized escape of Shepherd, who robbed banks across the West, and questions about the personal use of state vehicles. And, then there was Dr. David Egli, a prison psychiatrist whose medical license was suspended for inappropriate conduct involving sexual overtones with male inmates.
McCotter insisted those factors did not play into his decision to resign. Rather he had grown weary of 15 years in the public spotlight as prison director in Utah, New Mexico and Texas.
"It was like living in a pressure cooker and a glass house all at the same time," McCotter said, quoting his wife.
Leavitt had glowing praise for McCotter but also spoke of a need to "lift the department into a positive trajectory."
To do that, McCotter identified four critical areas that will be independently studied in the months ahead:
- Medical and mental health, including an examination into turning over medical services at the prison to a private contractor. Two and a half years ago, the state looked at privatizing medical services for inmates and determined it could be done more efficiently by state employees. But a lot has changed in 2 1/2 years, Leavitt said.
- Retention and recruitment of correctional officers. Turnover has plagued the department. Because of low wages, Corrections has been a recruiting ground for other state law enforcement agencies, McCotter said.
- Budget pressures. Corrections is the fastest growing department in state government, but it remains underfunded by the Legislature. McCotter said he will have a plan in 30 days that will address "significant cuts in certain areas."
- Unprecedented population growth. The number of Utah prisons inmates has been growing by about 500 inmates a year, a rate that will continue until past the turn of the century, McCotter said.
McCotter promised he will have specific options in place for the new director. Former Speaker of the House Nolan Karras will conduct a nationwide search for a new director. Leavitt said McCotter will continue to head the department until his replacement is found.
Leavitt said there will be no significant changes until the new director is hired. Possible personnel changes will be left to the new director.
McCotter said he leaves the position with no regrets, but he recognizes there are failures with any job. The death of inmate Michael Valent, a schizophrenic who died after 16 hours in the restraining chair, is one of those failures.
"I care about people and I don't care who they are. . . . All of those things greatly affect me," he said. "If it quit affecting me I would have quit long before now."