Yes, privatization is on the table.

The reason: Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. wants all options examined.

"The governor really wants the information from the [study] to make a decision," said Tammy Kikuchi, the governor's spokeswoman.

When the Department of Administrative Services put out bids for a consultant to study the economic feasibility of relocating the prison, state officials authorized an examination of privatizing a portion of the 6,000 beds.

The state says the consultant "may consider the potential of using private prison facilities as an option." That section wasn't included in initial drafts sent out for public comment a week before the bid request became final.

The prospect of privatization worries at least one government watchdog, Steve Erickson, executive director of the Citizens Education Project, who argues such operations have failed too many times in other states.

Erickson also fears private-prison companies could unduly influence the feasibility study.

"Are there any privateers floating around the edges" of the proposed feasibility study? he asked. "My guess is, there is."

The issue isn't new to state corrections.

Citizen opposition in 2001 prompted lawmakers to pull back funding for a proposed 500-bed private lockup in Grantsville, about 45 miles west of Salt Lake City.

That same year, budget constraints prompted the state to scrap a contract with Centerville-based Management & Training Corp. (MTC), which ran a minimum-security facility in Draper.

MTC currently runs 11 facilities outside of the Beehive State.

If Utah opted to privatize, an MTC spokesman said the company would consider applying for the job. But it couldn't take over all of the state's prison system. "We would not have any interest in operating a maximum-security facility," said company spokesman Carl Stuart. "We really focus on rehabilitation."

In 2004, the Utah Department of Corrections also examined the possibility of privatizing services for its 440 women inmates. That idea fizzled.

The push for the current study is fueled by economic development across the southern end of Salt Lake County. Land prices are surging, and the area is home to some of Utah's fastest-growing communities. During the 2004 campaign, Huntsman floated the idea of perhaps moving the prison from Draper. Huntsman theorized that it may be more cost effective to sell the 673 acres and relocate the prison rather than pump millions more into the Draper facilities.