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July 13, 2009
OK: Republicans Push for More Prisoners to Go to Private Prisons. 3,000 "beds' in private prisons empty.
Private prisons in Oklahoma
The state has six private prisons that hold about 19 percent of the prison population or 4,343 offenders.
The average cost for a medium-security bed in a private prison is $17,611 a year and $23,725 for maximum security.
Nearly 3,000 private-prison beds in Oklahoma are vacant, a figure that includes prisons with and without Department of Corrections contracts.
Source: Oklahoma Department of Corrections
Republicans dissatisfied with prison study
By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
Published: 7/12/2009
OKLAHOMA CITY — Republican legislative leaders are dissatisfied with a report on the state's correctional system done by The Durrant Group Inc.
In a June 25 letter to the Iowa-based group, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, and House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, ask for a cost-benefit analysis that considers the use of private prisons and evaluates additional factors, such as staffing.
The Durrant Group's report suggested expanding the public system.
"It was not apparent from the report that the possibility of acquiring existing facilities from private prison companies, public private partnerships, or contracts with private prison operators to meet anticipated capacity requirements was ever considered," Coffee and Benge wrote in a letter seeking a "revised comprehensive master plan."
"The Durrant Group Inc. was informed of the excess capacity at several facilities and told that access to private facilities would be provided; but the availability of private beds was not taken into consideration before making recommendations."
The state has not paid the firm a final installment of $16,600 for the $415,000 study, according to Senate staff.
Coffee was withholding comment until the final report is finished, said his spokesman Randy Swanson.
The Durrant Group fully complied with its responsibilities, said managing principal Michael A. Lewis.
He said he was "surprised" and "disappointed" with the letter from legislative leaders,
adding that the additional requests were not part of the original agreement and would cost thousands more.
He said the company had very little support from or discussions with legislative leaders. At one meeting, leaders showed up 10 minutes late and then told the company to meet with legislative staff. Company officials made four trips to Oklahoma over three months and submitted the final report in late April.
The company believes it should be compensated in full, Lewis said.
The company has been in business for 75 years. Some 65 percent of its business is in the area of corrections and juvenile justice, Lewis said.
Benge said officials have no preconceived plans to address the correctional system. He said the state's options include an expansion of public beds, building a new public facility, leasing a facility with plans to purchase it, or relying on private prisons.
Benge said no more studies of the system are planned.
Posted by lois at July 13, 2009 12:17 PM