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| Alaska Closer To First Private Prison |
| By Anchorage Daily News |
| Published: 06/11/2001 |
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Despite his earlier criticism, Gov. Tony Knowles signed a bill into law last week that brings Alaska closer to construction of its first private prison -- an 800-bed facility proposed on Native-owned land in Kenai. Early this month, as the bill was headed toward passage, Knowles said the measure lacked a competitive process for selecting the company to build and operate the project. But by last week, Knowles had decided that the bill 'holds enough flexibility' that the corrections commissioner could negotiate a contract 'in the state's best interest,' Bob King, the governor's press secretary, said in a telephone interview. House Bill 149, sponsored by Rep. Mike Chenault, R-Kenai, authorizes the Department of Corrections to enter into a lease agreement with the Kenai Peninsula Borough to work with a private company that would promote, design, build and operate a medium-security prison. A new prison in Kenai will help diversify the region's economy while allowing the state to return prisoners now being held in another private prison in Arizona, Chenault has argued. The borough has already chosen Texas-based Cornell Companies Inc. as its partner for the first phase of the plan, which includes 'planning and promotion of the project.' Based on its contract, Cornell will be first in line to negotiate for the second phase, which includes designing, building and operating the facility -- a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 20 years. While a coalition of lawmakers from both parties supported the bill, other legislators, local officials and citizens have denounced the plan as lacking in competitive bidding. The result was a contract with a politically powerful venture led by Cornell that includes the oil-field service company Veco, former Allvest owner Bill Weimar and Kenai Natives Association Inc. |
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