State sends out inquiries about the privatizing of prisons


Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 11:18 AM MST


The Arizona Department of Administration released a Request for Information Monday, seeking to determine if there is interest from private prison companies to operate Arizona prison complexes in Douglas and Safford.


The RFI is in response to HB2010, approved last year as part of the FY2010 budget.

“We will know before the end of February whether there is any interest by private companies in operating these two prisons,” ADC Director Charles L. Ryan said. “We will await the responses and conduct an evaluation before proceeding.”

The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Capital Review narrowed the scope of the RFI to exclude prison complexes with maximum and close custody beds. ASPC-Safford/Ft. Grant and ASPC-Douglas are the only two complexes that fall into that scope, Ryan said. The Safford and Douglas prisons house only minimum and medium custody inmates, the criteria approved by JCCR.

 Responses to the RFI are due Feb 23.

 

Comments

    To anonymous wrote on Feb 12, 2010 10:56 PM:

    " I understand that with the economy, this is the way things are. My concern are for the staff that work at the prison. Are they going to be offered positions with the same wage and benefits as when it was (I am phrasing this as if they would become privitized because if they don't and state state run prisons then what we say is moot)when they were state employees?
    Second, if it does occur, will the employees be offered positions at other prisons as state employees in lieu of being rifted?
    If they are not offered, wouldn't it sound a little off base that here are seasoned officers that are being laid off and not offered transfers, while the department still runs an academy to fill those positions with brand new staff? Aren't we just begging for another Lewis incident to occur? "

    anonymous wrote on Feb 10, 2010 3:47 PM:

    " Unfortunately the way the economy is, with economizing down being the state of affairs, many officers will need to start revising their resumes.

    It is the way things are going. "

    To Concerned wrote on Feb 9, 2010 9:29 AM:

    " The exact questions were asked in December the the response was "no way."

    As with all elected officials, they forget that they were voted in and can just as easily be voted out.

    Remember all the elected officials when it comes time to vote. We need a better way to lead our schools, city and county. If they won't stand up for us, it is up to us to sit them down - hard. "

    Concerned wrote on Feb 7, 2010 8:59 AM:

    " I am concerned. What will happen to our town if the prison is sold? What will happen to the employees? Will all them be kept - probably not. When these questions were asked of Legeslatures in December - Manny Alvarez had no idea. He has no idea what is going on or what he voted for. Remember this during the next election. They promise things while they are running but once elected they forget the people who elect them. "

    What happened wrote on Feb 3, 2010 6:58 PM:

    " Wasn't there a question asked and answered during a meeting in the first part of December where legislators said that the Douglas Prison was not for sale and would never go out to private prison contract?

    What is to come of the current employees? Will they be replaced by cheaper labor that have no concept of how to work in a prison?
    They say that Douglas and Safford were selected because they do not have any special bed units. As far as I know the classification of Emergency Bed Unit has not been removed from one of the units in Douglas. Or is it Cochise and Graham Counties don't have enough political clout to keep this travisty from happening.

    And they say politics is a lost art. "

    How quick it turns wrote on Feb 3, 2010 6:57 PM:

    " Wasn't there a question asked and answered during a meeting in the first part of December where legislators said that the Douglas Prison was not for sale and would never go out to private prison contract?

    What is to come of the current employees? Will they be replaced by cheaper labor that have no concept of how to work in a prison?
    They say that Douglas and Safford were selected because they do not have any special bed units. As far as I know the classification of Emergency Bed Unit has not been removed from one of the units in Douglas. Or is it Cochise and Graham Counties don't have enough political clout to keep this travisty from happening.

    And they say politics is a lost art. "

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