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| Vt. to send inmates to private prisons |
| By Brattleboro Reformer |
| Published: 01/12/2004 |
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Overcrowded facilities and an expired agreement with Virginia prompted the Vermont Department of Corrections to sign a contract with a private out-of-state company, which will house a portion of the state's burgeoning inmate population. In February, the department will transfer more than 350 inmates to facilities operated by the Corrections Corporation of America, in Beattyville and St. Mary, Ky., Commissioner Steve Gold said. The contract provides for the secure placement of up to 700 inmates at CCA-owned facilities over the next two years with a renewable clause that would allow the state to extend the arrangement for two additional years, if necessary. The department chose CCA over proposals from three other private for-profit prison companies, Gold said. No state, local, or county correctional facilities submitted proposals. "(Virginia) won't do any more contracting because they need the space themselves," Gold said. Housing inmates at CCA will be cheaper than in Virginia, Gold said. Housing an inmate at CCA facilities in Kentucky will cost about $42 per day, Gold said, while Virginia cost nearly $49 per day. "Overall, the CCA proposal came out the best," he said. Based in Nashville, Tenn., CCA is the largest private prison system and the sixth largest overall in the nation. More than 13,000 people work at 59 facilities in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 55,000 inmates are housed in CCA owned or operated facilities. Vermont inmates are transferred to out-of-state facilities based on sentence length, age and willingness to undergo rehabilitative treatment, Gold said. Older inmates with longer sentences and inmates that refuse treatment are more likely to be moved out of state. Prisoners will return to Vermont facilities shortly before the expiration of their sentence to undergo any applicable treatments prior to release, Gold said. |
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