March 2009

Senate Criminal Justice Offers Direction on Private Prison Oversight

Mon, 03/09/2009 - 1:23pm — Nicole

Texas CapitolThe 81st Texas Legislature is in session under the dome in Austin. One of the topics on the table will be private prison oversight. We have already posted that State Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) filed legislation to address one aspect of private county jail contracts earlier this year.

The state senate criminal justice committee provided direction when it released its Interim Charge recommendations last year in anticipation of the legislative session. In the committee's interim report, several recommendations are offered for private prison oversight. Those suggestions include:

The Commission on Jail Standards review current standards for private vendors housing out-of-state inmates and audit all facilities providing this service.
Any vendors not meeting the requirements should be given a specified period of time to address any problems. If concerns are not addressed, contracts should be canceled and inmates should be moved.
All vendors should be required to disclose any information supporting terminated contracts as a result of the vendor not fulfilling their obligations in a Requst for Proposal. The vendor must also disclose how they have addressed past concerns.

In addition, State Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-El Paso) asked the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for specific information regarding private prisons. Hinojosa requested:

That TDC provide a 3-year numerical comparison between the agency's secure correctional facilities and its secure contracted facilities to include te following stastics: inmate deaths, suicide attempts, allegations and confirmation of abuse, physical and sexual assaults (among both inmates and staff), and riots; and
A request that factors such as a vendor's history of lawsuits, inmate or employee deaths, judgments, and other indicators of ethical and economic liability be included as performance indicatoars in TDCJ's request for proposal (RFP) review process.

No word yet on whether TDCJ has complied with the senator's request, but we sure are anxious to learn of any responses.

We will keep y'all posted on any further developments at the legislature with the interim charge recommendations or Hinjosa's requests.

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HB 1714 Would End County Contracts with Private Prisons

Fri, 03/06/2009 - 8:25am — Nicole

Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), filed HB 1714 that prohibits counties from contracting with private prisons. Dutton's bill comes in the wake of a number of deaths and scandals that plagued county managed private facilities in recent years. Several suicides and in-custody deaths among prisoners from Idaho in a GEO managed facility led to the cancellation of local contracts.

We have published posts regurlarly on this blog regarding the problems that face privately run county jails that contract with other states. Bob wrote earlier this year that early termination for private jail contracts resulted in counties holding debt they could no longer handle. Not good policy in midst of a deep recession.

Dutton's legislation is certainly timely. We will keep you posted as the bill advances through the 81st legislature.

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CCA 2008 4th Quarter Call

Mon, 03/02/2009 - 5:16pm — Nicole

The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) held its 2008 fourth quarter investor conference call last month. The private prison profitteers at CCA mentioned the company is suffering from the economic downtown that is facing other sectors. The most clear reason given was the budget discussions happening at the state level and the potential impact on CCA contracts.

Corporate officials were very careful not to disclose too much information in the call that could impact CCA's bottom line. Specifically, they refused to mention which states the company was in current discussions with regarding contracted capacity. We know that Texas is in the middle of it's legislative session right now. There is no doubt that CCA lobbyists are walking the halls of the state capitol in an attempt to protect it's current contracted capacity and influence any opportunity to expand private capacity at the state or local level.

On the investor call, CCA mentioned that the average compensated prison bed occupancy grew to nearly 83,000 beds in 2008 from 75,000 in 2007. Additionally, there was a 5.5% increase in average daily population of CCA capacity during 2008.

In materials relating to the call, CCA lists the facility it owns and operates in Texas. Those facilities are listed below.

Texas Facility Portfolio (as of December 31, 2008)

Facility Name	Primary Customer	Design Capacity	Security Level	Facility Level	Compensated Occupancy 4th Quarter
Bridgeport Pre-Parole Transfer Facility	State of Texas	200	Medium	Correctional	99.91%
Eden Detention Center	BOP	1,422	Medium	Correctional	108.05%
Houston Processing Center	ICE	905	Medium	Detention	94.89%
Laredo Processing Center	ICE	258	Minimum/Medium	Detention	119.49%
Webb County Detention Center	USMS	480	Medium	Detention	112.04%
Mineral Wells Pre-Parole Transfer Facility	State of Texas	2,103	Minimum	Correctional	95.32%
T. Don Hutto	ICE	512	Non-secure	Detention	100.00%

Source: Corrections Corporation of America (Feb. 10, 2009)

In addition to CCA owned and operated facilities, the private prison company also contracts to manage facilities owned by the state of Texas -- another reason CCA lobbyists are probably running the halls of the capitol. Below is a list of those prisons as of December 2008.

Texas CCA Managed Facility Portfolio (as of December 31, 2008)

Facility	Customer	Capacity	Security Level	Compensated Occupancy 2008 4th Quarter
B.M. Moore Correctional Center	State of Texas	500	Minimum/Medium	99.74%
Bartlett State Jail	State of Texas	1,049	Minimum/Medium	99.78%
Bradshaw State Jail	State of Texas	1,980	Minimum/Medium	99.01%
Dawson State Jail	State of Texas	2,216	Minimum/Medium	98.54%
Diboll Correctional Center	State of Texas	518	Minimum/Medium	99.92%
Lindsey State Jail	State of Texas	1,031	Minimum/Medium	99.69%
Willacy State Jail	State of Texas	1,069	Minimum/Medium	99.82%

Source: Corrections Corporation of America (Feb. 10, 2009)

CCA officials also mentioned adding a potential customer in the Houston area this year. According to company records, CCA would contract with Community Education Partners to operate a non secure facility for a design capacity that is not clear. However, the alternative education facility is currently configured to house 900 juvenile detainees and could be expaned to accomadate a total of 1,400 juveniles.

According to the information above, CCA owns or manages over 13,200 beds in Texas. That is quite a number. We will keep you posted as CCA continues to update investors on it's profits.