Gov. John Hoeven, who has favored a remodeling project to expand North Dakota's state penitentiary, says he will also consider a $62.8 million proposal to build a new prison in rural Burleigh County.

The Legislature's interim Budget Committee on Government Services split on the two proposals Thursday. Members voted 11-10 to endorse the remodeling option, then rejected the proposed new prison on an identical vote.

The panel's chairman, Rep. Al Carlson, R-Fargo, said legislation advocating both options is likely to be introduced in the 2007 Legislature, which begins in January. Hoeven said he is unsure which one he will recommend to lawmakers.

"We need to look through it pretty carefully before we can say whether (the new prison) … is the best option," Hoeven said. "But we're willing to look at it."

The budget committee has been weighing a number of ideas to relieve North Dakota's prison overcrowding problems for more than a year. Because of space demands, some inmates are being housed in county jails.

The remodeling project, estimated to cost $42 million, includes the demolition of the prison's east cell house, which is almost a century old, and construction of a 300-bed general housing and orientation unit for inmates.

New guard towers, along with a medical clinic, laundry, visiting area and segregation cells for inmates with disciplinary problems are included in the initiatives.

It would increase the prison's number of inmate beds from 550 to 794, and require the hiring of 52 staffers, including at least 23 guards, five nurses and five nurses' aides, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says.

The agency has advocated the remodeling plan for years. "We know that's doable, we know what's involved, and we think that $42 million estimate is a pretty good cost," Hoeven said. "We also know it works in the context of what we need throughout corrections statewide."

However, the governor said he will also consider the proposal for a new, 800-bed prison, which is being advanced by a group of six lawmakers. Rep. Alon Wieland, R-West Fargo, is the primary sponsor of a bill that outlines the plan.

Wieland's legislation would replace the main state prison and the Missouri River Correctional Center, a minimum-security prison in south Bismarck, and direct the corrections agency to sell the property.

The prison is surrounded by stores and commercial development in southeastern Bismarck, while the unfenced Missouri River Correctional Center sits near some posh homes alongside the river, about eight miles south of the city.

"The way our town is growing, this state penitentiary is right in the middle of our town, and I think there are good reasons to move it," said Rep. Dave Weiler, R-Bismarck, who is a co-sponsor of Wieland's bill.

Wieland, a former Cass County commissioner, was involved in the planning and construction of a new county jail. Building a new prison, rather than attempting to remodel the present one, is a wiser use of taxpayers' money and will result in a safer work environment for its employees, Wieland believes. It can be built to allow for easy expansion if that is necessary, Wieland said.

"I think we can plan better. We'll know if we need to add on pods in the future," Wieland said. "For the benefit of the employees and the benefit of the long-range … planning for the state, I think a new facility would be better."

Rep. Jim Kerzman, D-Mott, who supports the remodeling plan, said the rebuilding plan did not consider the relocation of Rough Rider Industries, the prison's manufacturing operation. It makes furniture, license plates and other items.

"I think it makes a lot more sense than new construction," he said. "I don't think the figure for (a new prison) is even close.

"The system we've built through the years is starting to work," Kerzman said. "We've got to put more emphasis on treatment, but I think we've come a long ways, and I hate to see us just go back to three hots and a cot."