|
|
| Vermont monitors inmates kept in private prisons |
| By Rutland Herald |
| Published: 04/05/2004 |
|
Kentucky is not generally a leading destination for Vermonters. But more than 300 of the state's residents who don't have a choice about it are spending extended time there. The 334 Vermont inmates being housed in privately run prisons in Kentucky are the first part of the state's experiment with such facilities. While privatization of prisons could save the state several hundred thousand dollars yearly, the practice has raised concerns about prisoner well-being and about how much of the government's functions should be performed by the private sector. In January, the state Department of Corrections signed a 29-month agreement with Corrections Corporations of America to send up to 700 Vermont prisoners to facilities in Arizona and Kentucky. The state could pay up to $29.5 million, depending on how many inmates are sent to prisons run by the Nashville company. Four Vermont prisoners are being housed in a CCA facility in Arizona. Last year, an average of 1,848 inmates per day were housed in Vermont prisons or in out-of-state facilities under contract to the state, according to the Department of Corrections. Before the state signed an agreement with CCA, if the state did not have space for some of its inmates, it sent them to state-run facilities in Virginia. When that pact expired, CCA beat out two other bidders for the contract. Deputy Corrections Commissioner Janice Ryan, who has visited Vermont inmates in the Kentucky facilities, said conditions there are at or above the standards that her department developed in conjunction with national organizations. Ryan said she urged officials in one of the prisons to give the inmates "enhanced recreational space," but that the existing facilities are adequate. She also said the majority of the prisoners she spoke with told her that they are happier than they were when they were housed in Virginia. At least one representative of the Department of Corrections has visited the facilities almost every week since January, Ryan added. |
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