Editor's note: Welcome to the first in what will be at least a four-part series in which we try to unravel the complex financial underpinnings of public-private partnerships such as the ones in place for the Okanagan Correctional Centre and Penticton Regional Hospital, and determine if they are actually a good deal for taxpayers.

Construction of the Okanagan Correctional Centre near Oliver only took about 2 1/2 years, but the battle to unlock the financial model underlying the project has taken much longer.

This week, a judge in Vancouver is expected to finally decide whether The Herald should be granted full access to the 30-year deal between the B.C. government and Plenary Justice to design, build, finance and maintain the 378-cell jail.

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