DENVER, CO - An audit sparked by a riot at a Corrections Corp. of America prison in Crowley County uncovered staffing shortages at two prisons run by that company that resulted in fines of $126,000, a first in Colorado.

The company is one of three companies awarded contracts Tuesday to build two private lockups and expand two others for an additional 3,776 beds. CCA won a contract to expand its existing male-inmate prisons in Bent and Kit Carson counties by 720 beds each.

The company's Kit Carson County prison in Burlington, near the Colorado-Kansas state line, was fined $103,743 for leaving 701 required shifts empty in a 10-week period from Nov. 1 to Jan. 10, according to state records.

CCA's Crowley County prison in Olney Springs was fined nearly $23,000 for leaving 157 shifts open in the same period.

An inquiry into a riot at the Crowley County prison in 2004 found the company's staff-to-inmate ration was one-seventh of the state's prison's at the time. Thirty-three officers were guarding 1,122 inmates.

Alison Morgan, the state's supervisor of private prisons, said staffing has improved at CCA prisons since the fines were levied.

"We certainly are working very hard to recruit and retain staff. That's a challenge for corrections systems, both public and private, around the country," CCA spokesman Steve Owen said.