The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

³We¹re going to continue contract negotiations with three companies and whoever else jumps in,² Sessa said.

Officials from GEO said they are continuing talks with California.

³We¹re looking forward to working with the state,² said Pablo Paez, director of corporate communications at GEO. ³We¹re working with them and we look forward to work through the process.²

GEO has available beds at three facilities, including the Lake County site, Paez said, noting that California officials have visited the facility sites.

Paez said he has no specific timeline for contract talks, but added that the state-of-emergency declaration demonstrates ³they have an immediate need to send up to 5,000 inmates out of state.²

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday proclaimed the state of emergency.

The former Michigan Youth Correctional Facility in Webber Township closed last year when Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed funding the state¹s contract with GEO.

A spokesperson with the company confirmed GEO was in talks with CDCR and the Department of Homeland Security¹s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The proclamation allows the CDCR to ³bypass administrative features to contact faster,² according to Sessa.

With the emergency declared, the state can enter into multi-year contracts with the private prison companies, but could have only signed one-year deals without an emergency declaration.

Most companies wanted a longer term contract than one-year, which made business sense, and to seek sole source contracts without competitive bidding, Sessa said.

³The emergency paves the way for us to move our contacting process faster,² Sessa said.

The CDCR did not announce any contracts Wednesday.

Sessa said CDCR would like to move 200 inmates out of state within 30 days and keep moving out another 100 or so per week. The security level of the inmates ³depends on level we contract for. For the most part, they will probably level two and three, but it depends on the actual number and security level we contract for,² Sessa said.

Sessa said he didn¹t know of any lump-sum dollar figure being discussed in the contract negotiations.

³In most discussions, it¹s somewhere in low $60-per-day range,² Sessa said. ³Our day rate in California, when we have to house inmates in local jail, is higher than that.²

Still, moving inmates out of state is not seen as a cost-saving tool for California.

³It depends on the structure of the contracts and how many (inmates) agree to go, but saving money is not our motivation,² Sessa said. ³Our motivation is to relieve overcrowding so we have room for inmates we will have in the future and provide space for programs.²

Schwarzenegger issued the emergency proclamation after his legislative package failed to win support during a special legislative session called to address prison overcrowding. California Corrections officials estimate the CDCR will run out of bed space for inmates as early as June of 2007. Overcrowding has forced CDCR to house more than 15,000 inmates in areas not designed for living space, including gymnasiums, dayrooms, and program rooms, as well as 1,500 inmates sleeping in triple-bunks.
http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=33240