BOISE - The Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) has temporarily relocated 55 Idaho inmates who were incarcerated at Dickens County Correctional Center in Spur, Texas, to Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas. According to a news release from IDOC, the inmates are expected to be there for about two weeks. They eventually will be moved to Val Verde Correctional Facility in Del Rio, Texas.

IDOC said it decided to remove all its inmates from the Dickens County facility after an investigation into the March 4, 2007, suicide of an Idaho inmate. The investigation revealed a number of concerns, including the physical condition of the facility and the level of professionalism of the Dickens County staff.

An IDOC deputy warden and an IDOC contract monitor will remain with the 55 inmates while they are at the Bill Clayton Detention Center to make sure that IDOC standards are being met. IDOC representatives also are calling inmates’ families and briefing them on the move.