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June 28, 2006
CO: State Awards Contracts for New Private Prisons
State awards contracts for new private prisons
JON SARCHE, Associated Press
Posted on Tue, Jun. 27, 2006 http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/14914711.htm
DENVER - Faced with the likelihood that Colorado's inmate population could outstrip prison capacity by the end of the year, state officials have awarded contracts to three companies to build two private lockups and expand two others for an additional 3,776 beds.
State officials on Monday awarded a contract to Houston-based Cornell
Companies Inc. to build a prison in Hudson, a town of 1,600 about30miles northeast of Denver, to house up to 832 women.On Tuesday, Boca Raton, Fla.-based The Geo Group Inc. won a contract to build a prison in Ault, about 10 miles north of Greeley, to house up to 1, 504 male inmates; and Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America won a contract to expand its existing male-inmate prisons in Bent and Kit Carson counties by 720 beds each.
As of July 1, the state's rate for private-prison contracts will be $51.91 per day per inmate. Both of the new prisons and both expansion projects are expected to be completed by mid-2008, according to the state Department of Personnel and Administration's purchasing office.
Corrections Department spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said the state's prison population is increasing by an average of 100 per month, and it is projected to exceed capacity by the end of the year.
"We are almost out of state beds, and we are desperately in need of places to put these inmates to keep them safe and secure and house them in a humane way," she said. "The private prisons allow us to do that without incurring construction costs to the state."
The first private prison in Colorado opened in 1994.
Hudson Mayor Neal Pontius said Cornell's proposal to build the prison on a site about 2 miles from the town center will have to go through public hearings. He said the few residents he has heard from on the possibility surprised him by supporting it.
"They're excited about the jobs and the chance that there'll be an
increase in the tax base," he said. "The town needs to get some kind of growth going in order to survive."
Cornell runs 82 correctional facilities in 18 states. In Colorado, it runs the Southern Peaks treatment Center in Canon City for up to 160 youths.
ON THE NET
Corrections Department: http://www.doc.state.co.us
Cornell Companies: http://www.cornellcompanies.com
The Geo Group: http://www.thegeogroupinc.com
Corrections Corporation of America: http://www.correctionscorp.com
Posted by lois at June 28, 2006 09:22 PM