Texas Prison Bid'ness

UPDATE, July 28, 11:50am: Former Texas Prison Bid'ness blogger and current Texas Tech law student Andrew Strong attended today's auction and the facility was sold apparently for $6 million to an unknown, online bidder.  More info as we get it. 

The troubled Bill Clayton Detention Center goes on the auction block today at 11am central time. 

I just wrote a piece over at Grassroots Leadership's new organizational blog. As we've reported before Littlefield has been paying back loans it floated to build the prison facility well before its closure in 2008. That year, the state of Idaho pulled its prisoners from the facility, then operated by GEO Group, after the suicide of Randall McCullough, who, according to news reports, had spent more than a year in solitary confinement. GEO was later hit with a massive lawsuit over in the McCullough case.

Since the facility's closure, Littlefield has had its bond ratings dropped and turned to two different private prison companies in an effort to fill the prison beds.  One has to wonder why, given this history, a different owner would be more successful in turning this "turn-key detention center" into a financial success.

I'll also be attempting to live tweet the auction (using @Grassroots_News) if I can get access to the auction online (still working on it).  We'll provide you details as they come.