Not only that, but if you've got a depressed area with a vanishing economy, the two quickest ways to get jobs in that community are a) build a casino b) build a prison. Look at it this way - prisons are one of the most functional ways to transfer funds from a federal budget to a state budget, or a state budget to a local budget, or a federal, state or local budget to a state, local or federal company. They are money vectors, pure and simple, and their medium is just like interstate trucking or hog farming. Hogs don't like hog farmers, either. That's the prison system in a nutshell - factory farming from a pig's eye view.
Its unfortunate that you are correct, because both jails and casinos are such terrible options. We have three large casino in Detroit (of course they were billed as a job creating measure), and they are nothing but money sinks. Each is filled with poor people mindlessly giving their money to the owners. But, there's no accounting for stupidity, I suppose.