|
|
| 600 inmates head to Louisiana |
| By The Montgomery Advertiser |
| Published: 06/01/2006 |
|
PERRY COUNTY, AL - To ease congestion in the state's burgeoning prison system, another 600 inmates will be sent to a private Louisiana prison, state prison Commissioner Richard Allen said Wednesday. The Alabama Department of Corrections is facing a June 20 deadline from a Montgomery County Circuit Court to show progress in transferring hundreds of state inmates out of county jails. The 600 medium-security male prisoners will be shipped to Emerald Correctional Management, a Shreveport, La.-based company that outbid Alabama's Perry County Capital Improvement Cooperative District/Perry Detention Services. The cost for holding the prisoners in Louisiana will be about $1.4 million a year. "I would prefer to put them in Alabama," Allen said. "But the differential was just too great." Perry Detention Services bid $34.50 per inmate compared with Emerald's $28 per inmate. Representatives from Emerald and the Department of Corrections are scheduled to meet next week to work out details of the contract. Allen said the talks could include getting a lower price for the state. However, Emerald CEO Clay Lee said Wednesday he was unaware of any additional negotiations. "We answered the (request for proposals) just like it asked, for a firm price," Lee said. It will be weeks before the first Alabama inmates can be moved to Emerald prisons, but Allen said the department would move with "deliberate speed." Judge William Shashy has ordered the department to take custody of prisoners who have been in county jails more than 30 days, a backlog of hundreds of inmates that is costing counties millions of dollars a year. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think