Reports on Prison Privatization

(compiled by the Private Corrections Institute, by date)

Colorado Report of the Auditor, Private Prison Procurement, Department of Corrections: November 2006, 36 pages. Scathing report on former CDOC employee working for GEO while still employed by state.

Central North Correctional Review and Comparison to Central East Correctional Centre: Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, April 18, 2006, 23 pages. Report that led to Canada taking over its only private prison from MTC.

Policy Lock-Down: Prison Interests Court Political Players: Money in State Politics:  April 2006, 95 pages. Companies involved in building, financing and operating private prisons gave $3.3 million over two election cycles, channeling nearly two-thirds of the money to candidates and party committees in states with some of the toughest sentencing laws. This report looks at overall giving, as well as contributions by the companies and their lobbyists in 10 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.

Memorandum of Investigation Into the Operation of the Hernando County Jail (CCA): April 6, 2006, William Cato, Assistant State Attorney, 12 pages. Report into inmate suicides and administrative issues at the Hernando County Jaiol.

Gwinnett County (Georgia) Sheriffs Department, Professional Standards Unit, Investigation Case Number 05A-039: January 2006, 17 pages (w/o attachments). Report of investigation into the death of Harriet Washington in the hands of Prison Health Services.

Arkansas Division of Youth Services, Internal Affairs Investigation: December 20, 2005, 13 pages. Escape from Cornell's Alexander Youth Center; Damning report on how two juveniles escaped while Cornell staff were asleep, not making rounds, late making notification of escape, falsifying records, etc.

Charge Committee Report, Baltimore City Grand Jury; Offender Health Care at the Baltimore City Detention Center: September 2005, 32 pages. Grand jury report on Prison Health Services problems and Correctional Medical Services recommendations.

Qualifications, Screening, Salaries, and Training Affect Quality and Turnover of Juvenile Justice Employees: Report No. 05-46; Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis & Governmental Accountability; September 2005, 16 pages: damning report on the state of private juvenile detention centers in Florida.

Department of Corrections: "It Needs to Better Ensure Against Conflicts of Interest and to Improve Its Inmate Population Projections": September 2005, 62 pages; California State Auditor report on two contracts -- one for GEO Group and the other for CiviGenics.

Inspecting Private Prisons: August 24, 2005, 22 pages. An evidence-based critique of the Prison Inspector's call to introduce private prisons in Ireland.

Contract Management of Private Correctional Facilities: June 30, 2005, 64 pages; Must read scathing audit by the Florida Department of Management Services' Office of Inspector General into poor oversight, overpayment and possible criminal activity by the Correctional Privatization Commission, CCA and GEO.

New Mexico LFC Hearing Report:  June 14, 2005, 14 pages. Prepared by Renada Peery, Fiscal Analysis, on the problems with siting a GEO prison in Clayton, New Mexico.

Report of the State Auditor, Private Prisons Department of Corrections: April 2005, 84 pages; Another must read scathing report on Colorado's lack of oversight over for-profit prisons.

Cost-Saving or Cost-Shifting: The Fiscal Impact of Prison Privatization in Arizona: February 2005, 17 pages; Kevin Pranis, Justice Strategies; An in depth look at past research on Arizona private prison cost studies and reports that research used to justify the expansion of private prisons is methodologically flawed, outdated, and in one case, discredited by the researcher's financial ties to the private prison industry.

Brush Correctional Facility, Colorado monitoring reports for Hawaii and Wyoming: various reports showing not much oversight while inmates were being sexually abused. WY January 25, 2005, 2 pages; WY February 24, 2005, 3 pages; HI February 26, 2005, 8 pages; HI May 14, 2005, 8 pages.

Private Punishment: Who Profits?: January 2005, 16 pages; Prison Reform Trust; Briefing paper assesses the impact, and raises questions about the benefits, of privately financed, designed, built and operated prisons.

Unusual Incident Review: December 21, 2004, 12 pages with cover; Bay County Correctional Program Manager; Staff review of hostage situation at CCA's Bay County Jail.

Opinion of the Attorney General for the State of Kentucky: December 7, 2004, 7 pages; Attorney General Stumbo's office response to Rep. Rocky Adkins on whether the state could privatize a publicly build prison in Sandy Hook, Kentucky.

Setting the Record Straight: A Response to PCDI's October Newsletter: November 2004, 10 pages; Rebuttal by the Private Corrections Institute to the Lamar, Colorado Prowers County Development, Inc.'s October Newsletter promoting Cornell's prison proposal. Exposes misinformation, misleading quotes and shoddy research.

Memorandum of Agreement between the United States and Santa Fe: November 1, 2004, 36 pages. Agreement on jail conditions, particularly medical care, at MTC's  Santa Fe County Jail.

After Action Report, Inmate Riot: Crowley County Correctional Facility; October 1, 2004, 178 pages; Colorado DOC scathing report on CCA's July 20, 2004 riot; high turnover, partial staffing, indecisive and/or inexperienced staff, etc. well worth the read! 

Final Report on Whistle-Blower Investigation; September 2004, 14 pages; Florida Department of Children and Families, Office of  Inspector General summary report on Liberty Behavioral Health Corp.'s Florida Civil Commitment Center; scathing report on nepotism, cover-ups, mismanagement, drug smuggling, money laundering and un-professionalism.

District of Columbia Jail: Management Challenges Exist in Improving Facility Conditions; August 2004, 68 pages; GAO report on CCA run jail.

Left at the Altar: Cornell's History of Broken Promises: August 2004, 8 pages. A compilation of arguments correcting the gaps in Cornell's response to a request for qualifications issued by Lamar. Colorado ad hoc prison committee. A lot of good information on how bad Cornell is.

Arizona Department of Corrections letter to CCA; June 22, 2004; James L. Kimble, Contract Beds Administrator; overview of problems at CCA's Oklahoma Diamondback CF.

Improving Accountability, Contract Management & Fiscal Oversight at the Department of Corrections; May 26, 2004, Executive Summary, 6 pages; Elizabeth M. Ready, Vermont State Auditor; Scathing report on oversight of CMS and CCA.

Final report of the New York State Commission of Correction on the death of inmate Brian Tetrault; February, 2004; Letter Sheriff Harry Buffardi from the New York state commission on correction concerning the death of Brian Tetrault death from physician-induced causes.

Final Report of the Palm Beach County Grand Jury, Investigation of Florida Institute for Girls; January 29, 2004,  Executive Summary 6 pages; Damning report of abuse at Premier Behavioral Services facility.

Corrections Corporation of America: A Critical Look At Its First 20 Years; December 2003, 81 pages; an in-depth look at the scandals, deficiencies, and overstatement of performance in more than a dozen states; Grassroots Leadership.

Recidivism: An Analysis of Public and Private State Prison Releases in Florida;  December 2003, a joint study conducted by Florida State University, Florida Department of Corrections and the Florida Correctional Privatization Commission. 37 pages. No difference between the public and private prisons.

Investigation of McPherson and Grimes Correctional Units; November 25, 2003, 30 pages; A letter to Governor Huckabee from R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General about the investigation at McPherson and Grimes Correctional Units.

Private prisons opposition letter; November 17, 2003; A letter by Barbara A. Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes, both United States Senators, to John Ashcroft opposing privatization in the Maryland area.

Performance Audit, Tennessee Dept. of Corrections, Comptroller of the Treasury; September 2003, 100 pages; A blistering report on lack of CCA, CMS oversight, etc.

Government's Management of Private Prisons; September 2003, 21 pages; A summary from a report by Abt Associates for the National Institute of Justice.

The Development of Last Resort: The Impact of New State Prisons on Small Town Economies; August 2003; A report by Terry L. Besser, Department of Sociology of Iowa State University and Margaret M. Hanson.

Report: Conditions/Incidents at Charles Hickey School; May 29, 2003; A report by Philip J. Merson on the more than 20 suspected child abuse/neglect cases at the Charles Hickey School for the year 2003.

The United States of America v. The State of Arkansas; The Arkansas Department Of Human Services; and The Arkansas Division Of Youth Services; Action brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the United States.

The United States of America v. The State of Arkansas; The Arkansas Department Of Human Services; and The Arkansas Division Of Youth Services; Introductions and definitions of the above lawsuit.

Report: Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center; March 6, 2003; 36 pages; A report by the Department of Justice on the investigation of conditions at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center.

Report: Santa Fe County Detention Facility; February 17, 2003; A report by Steven Kopelman Santa Fe County Attorney on the lack of necessities at the Santa Fe County Detention Facility.

Independent State Auditor's Report on Certain Activities of Spectrum Health Systems, Inc.; January 1, 1992 to December 31, 2002.

The National Institute on Money in State Politics: A Contributing Influence: The Private-Prison Industry and Political Giving in the South;  April 28, 2002; A report by Edwin Bender on the private prison industry's influence in southern politics.

Report: Arkansas Department of Education; January 2, 2002 A follow up report stating the areas of non-compliance

Report: Arkansas Department of Education on Alexander Youth Services Center October 5, 2001; Report of non-compliance at the center, which is operated by Cornell

Jail Breaks: Economic Development Subsidies Given to Private Prisons; October 2001; Good Jobs First; 88 pages: This report outlines the large amount of subsidies received by the for-profit private prison industry.  Great reading.

Briefing Report-Florence Correctional Facility; April 30, 2001; Report of the Hawaii monitors for the CCA Florence Correctional Facility.  This one rocks!  Must read.

Florida Department of Children & Families Office of Inspector General; Response to Allegations Involving Inappropriate Behavior on Behalf of Staff at the Martin Treatment Center for Sexually Violent Predators; November 20, 2000; 4 pages. Report on VERY inappropriate actions by Liberty Behavioral Healthcare staff at retirement party. These folks were hired to oversee sexual predators?

Santa Fe County Grand Jury Report on the Santa Fe County Detention Center Tour of Facility; November 17, 2000; 2 pages; Chief Judge Michael E. Vigil: Grand Jury report on conditions in the Cornell run detention center.

Victor Cullen Academy Performance Audit; October 23, 2000; Office of Audits, Office of Professional Responsibility and Accountability; Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice; Executive Summary; 6 pages: Damning report on CSC's youth facility.  Must read.

Washington State Attorney General's Opinion AGO 2000 No. 8; 8 pages;  ROBERT J. FALLIS: AG's opinion that counties cannot privatize jail operations in Washington State.

Correctional Services Commissioner's Report on the Metropolitan Women's Correctional Centre's Compliance With its Contractual Obligations and Prison Services Agreement; 19 pages; Sept. 13, 2000: Report findings.  The Victorian Government of Australia's report on the CCA women's prison that lead to the take over by the government.

Private Prison Review Report No. 99-33: Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability; February 2000; 25 pages: Analysis by Florida Legislative research department outlining troubles at CCA’s Lake City Correctional Facility.

.Emerging Issues on Privatized Prisons; February 2000; Bureau of Justice Assistance; state of the state of the industry.

US Department of Justice Report on Northeast Ohio Correctional Center: John L. Clark; November 25, 1998: Review of CCA problems at NEOCC facility with D.C. inmates including assaults, escapes, murders and other problems.

Review of Bay Correctional Facility and Moore Haven Correctional Facility Report No. 87-68; Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability; April 1998; 65 pages: Analysis by Florida Legislative research department showing that CCA’s Bay CF costs the State more to run and that Wackenhut’s Moore Haven does not meet the 7% cost savings requires by law.

Private and Public Prisons Studies Comparing Operational Costs and /or Quality of Services; United States General Accounting Office; August 1996; 41 pages: Analysis by the Federal Government showing no cost savings by for-profit private prisons.

Privatization and Contracting in Corrections: Results of an NIC Survey; US National Institute of Corrections; February 1996: Special issue report on the privatization of corrections