Appraisal Error Costs GA County $250K in Tax Revenue
The jail in discussion had its worth lowered to $55 million from $97 million after an appraisal review. The difference in the worth of the prison means a reduction in $250,000 in tax revenues for the county, leaving a huge dent in their anticipated county budget. While the actions taken by Cornell Companies was totally legitimate and a standard business practice. What is important to note here is how much of a vested interest this county had on the income from their private prison. Counties should be aware that a private prison is not the fail-safe method of income that the companies build them up as. Luckily, Charlton County made some tough decisions to counteract the income loss before it happened. Let this story serve as a warning for counties that are looking to construct a new prison with the hopes of it providing a constant improvement to the county revenues.
If you are interested in the details of the error, you can read a statement from the Board of Assessors here. You can also read more about the situation here.
More Allegations of Sexual Abuse, This Time in D.C. Prison
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| The Washington D.C. CTF (image via CCA) |
The first inmate was serving a sentence for prostitution and she enrolled in a support class at the facility to help her "turn her life around." The employee in charge of the support session then allegedly paid the woman's "sugar daddy" outside of the prison in exchange for sexual encounters. This happened four times, and left the woman feeling "cheap, used, and abused," and reminded her of her life outside prison—a life she greatly wanted to leave behind. When she submitted complaints to the facility and agreed to testify in front of a grand jury, the guards moved her to an isolation unit where she was denied phone calls and even had a hard time talking with her lawyer.
The other inmate who reported sexual abuse alleged that she was touched inappropriately while being escorted to a meeting with her lawyer multiple times, paired with verbal abuse. She also states that she was secretly video taped while she changed clothing. When she reported the harrassment, she was moved to a facility two hours away and kept in 24-hour a day lockdown.
Both women sued the Distrit of Columbia, the Office of the Attorney General, and CCA for violations of their constitutional rights. The second inmate also sued for invasion of privacy. They both seek a jury trial and $20 million in damages.
What strikes me the most about these allegations is that both women were moved to solitary confinement after they reported their problem. According to the Prison Litigation Reform Act, the first step an inmate must take before outrightly suing a party based on a prisoner injustice is to "exhaust all administrative remedies," which includes (but is not limited to) reporting the incident to the facility based on their in-house complaint system. It appears that both women did this, but were then moved to constant solitary confinement, an action that makes it harder and almost impossible to complete the remainder of the litigation pre-requisites and to communicate with their legal counsel. Doing so denies them their right to a due process.
There is no word yet as to the outcome of the lawsuits as they are still pending. I will provide any updates about these lawsuits here.
Grayson County Debate Finds an Answer
From Texas Prison Bid'Ness — After a lawsuit, a review and estimate, a cancelled bond vote, two potential locations, and many other small battles, the Grayson County debate over whether or not to privatize their downtown jail or build another, separate private facility was put to an end by County Judge Drue Bynum on February 24th. Bynum was one of the four who voted affirmatively to hold a bond vote to the public, a bond vote that was very ambiguous and eventually thrown out. A press conference, held by Bynum, yielded this information ("Grayson County Jail bond election cancelled," KXII, 24 February, 2010):
Judge Drue Bynum says enough is enough,and at a press conference today he said a bond issue to build a public jail is now also off the table. The future of the Grayson County jail is a seemingly never ending debate.
"This has become a volatile issue," said Judge Drue Bynum...
"...I have heard from the people, they are tired of wrestling this bear, we have been dealing with this issue since 2001," said Judge Bynum.
The jail does need major renovations, but according to Commissioner Gene Short, The County is scheduled to pay off several debts in the coming months, freeing up money that can go toward remodeling the existing facility, without raising taxes...
..."We need to get past this and get a jail that is downtown, close to the courts, and is run by the Sheriff," said Magers.
While getting a new jail built was the goal of many county leaders, Judge Bynum says the cost has become too high to continue.
"We have got to figure out how to make lemonade out of lemons, and I am not going to go forward with an idea or an agenda at the sake of splitting this county open," said Bynum.
Because the county has yet to say that they won't ever build a private prison, the debate is technically still alive. The choice that was made in this situation, was to not build a new jail at all (public or private) until they renovate their existing jail and pay off some outstanding debt. After this is accomplished, it is still possible that they could build a new private facility. That is an unknown at this point. What is known is that there will not be a new jail at all until the aforementioned goals are reached. However, I imagine that if a new jail is built in the coming years, that it will be a public prison "run by the Sheriff" rather than run by a company.This was a good choice by the Judge and Commissioners. Paying off their existing debt is the responsible action to take, rather than forcing through a private jail project. It was a rocky road to come to this point, and I would bet that the topic will arise again within the next five years once tempers have fallen. However, a congratulations is due to the people and officials of Grayson County for finding a responsible plan to jail renovation rather than constructing a totally new, privately-operated facility with the thinking that it will bring jobs and money at no cost to the county.
I will keep my eyes open for any new developments over the years.
Waco Sheriff Immune to Recent Attorney General Ruling
To be honest I'm not totally surprised at this defense. A scheme like this, to be a known practice for so long and still continue, would need some strong legal footwork, which it clearly has.McLennan County Judge Jim Lewis told News Channel 25 the ruling was based on a "fee" opinion and not a "supplement" opinion, and a fee is based on the number of inmates being housed in the jail. "The supplement doesn't matter whether you have one or one thousand inmates, so that's the difference is what our attorneys tell us," Lewis explained.
When asked if the attorneys said that after today's ruling, Lewis answered "No, that's what they told us all along".
Lewis also said Sheriff Lynch isn't paid by Civigenics, "the fee is not paid to him by the company, the fee is paid to the County and the Commissioners Courts elects to supplement the Sheriff's salary. It's important to understand that," Lewis said. "He's not receiving a fee by any stretch of the imagination."
The County Judge said applying Wednesday's ruling out of Austin to McLennan County's situation is like "comparing apples to oranges". "We're doing everything the attorneys are telling us to do," Lewis added. (KXXV Channel 25, "Attorney General ruling could revive Sheriff pay controversy,"17 February, 2010)
Hawai'i Inmate Found Dead in a CCA-Operated Arizona Jail
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| A Hawai'i inmate was found dead with stab wounds in an Arizona prison run by CCA (image via CCA). |
This stabbing is another instance, similar to the recent Arizona riot, where Arizona's state resources and funding are spent in order to solve problems at private jails, thus adding to the expense of the allegedly cheaper detention option."We are sending a team of investigators, three internal affairs investigators from our office and a gang intelligence coordinator that will be departing [February 21st] for the Saguro Correctional Facility," [Hawai'i Public Safety Director Clayton] Frank said (KITV)....A team of state Public Safety investigators will conduct a review of the death to determine what happened, and whether security procedures at the prison need to be enhanced to prevent further deaths. Local Arizona police are also investigating.
Nunuha, who was incarcerated for three counts of second-degree burglary, was scheduled to return to the Islands in a few months to prepare for his release on Oct. 31.
Davina Waialae, Nunuha's mother, said yesterday that she believes her son had some involvement with a gang at the prison, but was not violent and was trying to get his act together before being released. She last spoke to her son on Jan. 23 in a video conference.
"He was almost ready to come home," she said.
Waialae said she believes another Hawai'i gang targeted her son.
She also said that she isn't pointing any fingers in the wake of the death, but will let investigators find the people responsible while she worries about her remaining family.
"I try to express to my family that it's not worth being mad at these people for what has happened," Waialae said. "We're trying to deal with it the best way we can."
Nunuha, the oldest of six children, had a 5-year-old son. The inmate had been at Saguaro for about four years, his mother said. (Honolulu Advertiser, "Hawaii burglary inmate found slain in Arizona prison cell")
Williamson County, TX Updates Hutto Contract
These amendments are helpful in that they increase transparency and contractually prohibit children from detainment in the facility. While this does not undo immigrant family detention altogether, it is a step towards achieving this goal.Three amendments were made, including specifying that the county may offer public disclosure with “notice” — as opposed to the former “approval” required — to ICE and conferring with ICE public affairs. This change was made in Article Two, Paragraph E of the agreement.
The second change was made in Article One, Paragraph A of the agreement to amend the purpose of the facility. After the facility stopped admitting families in August, it has become a female-only center. In addition to only admitting “alien females,” the amendment specifies that these alien females must be legal adults - 18 years of age or older.
The third change relates to the age requirements for the center. Article 3, Paragraph B now specifies that if an alien female is discovered to be under the age of 18, they must be removed as soon as possible but within 48 hours. The average amount of time for removal is currently about 12 hours after discovery.
Dan Rather and Reeves County Detention Center
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| Dan Rather reports on GEO's Reeves Facility (image via Getty Images). |
Texas Attorney General Determines Sheriff Kickbacks Illegal
Texas 2010-2011 Budget Calls for Private Prison Funding Reduction
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| Texas Department of Criminal Justice seal (image via TDCJ). |
Fight Erupts in MTC's Arizona Facility
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| Outside state resources were called into assist with the disturbance (image via KOLD). |
State tactical responses to fights and disturbances are one of the hidden costs with private prisons. Private prison guards are often less experienced to stop riots and fights than state police or SWAT officers and often rely on the state to provide the security when situations get hairy. I will post more on this story as the situation is sorted out.A private prison in Arizona is on lockdown after a brawl broke out that involved as many as 150 minimum-security inmates and left a staff member and 12 prisoners with minor injuries.
The Arizona Department of Corrections said the fight broke out before 10 p.m. Wednesday but was contained within an hour.
A 20-member tactical unit from Arizona State Prison Complex-Tucson responded to help put down the disturbance.
The Marana Community Correctional Treatment Facility near Tucson houses 500 inmates and is owned and operated by Management and Training Corp., based in Centerville, Utah.
The cause of the fight is under investigation.
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