Private Prison In The State Of Idaho
This article explores the private prisons in the State of Idaho and discusses its historical background.
As of 2016, the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) had a contract with a single private prison company, Management and Training Corporation. The department contracted with the company to administer one institution: the Correctional Alternative Placement Program.
In addition, it was first opened in the summer of 2010. It is basically a 432-bed facility focusing on treatment programs for offenders with cognitive impairments. The state of Idaho has 36 prisons spread throughout 44 counties.
However, in 2020, the prison population was 5,610. As of December 31, 2020, the State of Idaho correctional authorities had custody of 8,171 offenders incarcerated in nine state prisons, as well as private prisons or local jails.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF PRIVATE PRISONS IN IDAHO
The state of Idaho's first private jail, the Idaho Correctional Centre, opened in July 2000, with Corrections Corporation of America as the operator. The state spent $29 million each year on the mixed-security jail.
The FBI and the Idaho State Police both initiated investigations. And a growing number of cases involving violent episodes, chronic understaffing, and false record-keeping exposed serious operational flaws.
Moreover, Idaho has also sent inmates to private prisons in neighboring states. Between 1998 and 2008, Idaho sent inmates to Prairie Correctional Facility (Appleton, Minnesota), Newton County Correctional Centre (Newton, Texas), Dickens County Correctional Centre (Spur, Texas), Val Verde Correctional Facility (Del Rio, Texas), Bill Clayton Detention Centre (Littlefield, Texas), and North Fork Correctional Facility (Sayre, Oklahoma). This cycle came to an end in July 2009.
IDOC exported around 200 offenders to the Kit Carson Correctional Centre in Burlington, Colorado, in July 2012, a contract that terminated in mid-2016 and resulted in the closing of that institution.
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Correctional Alternative Placement Program (CAPP)
The Correctional Alternative Placement Programme (CAPP) facility was launched on July 1, 2010. It was developed by the Management Training Corporation, which presently runs the program.
Moreover, CAPP provides rigorous treatment programs for drug misuse and cognitive difficulties for up to 438 low to moderate-risk male convicts in need of substance abuse therapy. It also accommodates three types of convicts: probationers, parolees, and inmates with retained authority.
Visiting Rules And Timings
Before visiting an inmate in the Correctional Alternative Placement Programme, all visitors must be approved by the CAPP. You must thoroughly fill out the form and submit it to CAPP Visiting at their mailing address.
However, visitors are only permitted to carry photo identification, money for vending machines, vehicle keys, and a diaper bag if they are accompanying young children. The diaper bag may include diapers, wipes, a pacifier, two bottles of formula, milk, water, or juice, and a container of baby food or cereal may be included in the diaper bag.
Prescription medicine that must be used during the visit or kept on hand in case of an emergency, such as inhalers for asthma attacks, must be prescribed to the visitor, kept in the container recommended, and not expired.
A single or suitable dose will be allowed to accompany the visitor into the visiting area only after the staff has confirmed to who the medicine was given and that it is not expired.
Cell phones, beepers, laptops/computers, cameras, and other electronic devices are prohibited. Tobacco products are not permitted on IDOC property, including parking lots. Tobacco is not allowed in any location. Thus, Tobacco items must be kept in a secured vehicle at all times.
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No outside food or drink is permitted. Visitors can buy meals and drinks for themselves and the inmates. Visitors must leave with unopened food and beverages. Visitors are required to bring their own money or vending machine card.
List Of Private Prisons In Neighbouring States
Prairie Correctional Facility
The Prairie Correctional Facility is a 1,600-bed abandoned private jail near Appleton, Minnesota. The city of Appleton erected Prairie, which opened empty in 1992. The city negotiated a deal with the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in March 1993 to fill all 516 beds.
Moreover, the city had erected a jail, which was now vacant. The jail was twice extended throughout the years, housing convicts from Colorado, Idaho, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Washington, and Minnesota, and was an essential local employment.
Newton County Correctional Centre
Newton County Correctional Centre, originally Fillyaw Correctional Centre, was a privately operated jail in Newton County, Texas, and was controlled by Newton County.
From 1995 until its final closure in 2012, the county partnered with the Bobby Ross Group, Correctional Services Corporation, the GEO Group, and other prison operating organizations.
Furthermore, it has held detainees for a number of state correctional departments (Virginia, Oklahoma, Missouri, Montana, Hawaii, Arizona, and Idaho), as well as for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other organizations.
Dickens County Correctional Centre
Dickens County Correctional Centre, for example, has a diverse range of convicts. People who have been arrested and are awaiting a trial or punishment are held in jails or similar to Dickens County Correctional Centre.
These institutions often house persons who have been convicted of a misdemeanor offense and are serving terms of one year or less. Finally, many institutions, such as Dickens County Correctional Centre, are used to transport prisoners to other facilities, such as state prisons, after they have been convicted.
Val Verde Correctional Facility
The Val Verde Correctional Facility is a privately owned and managed prison in Del Rio, Val Verde County, Texas. It is run by the GEO Group under a contract with the county.
In exchange, the county has agreements with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Marshals Service, and US Customs and Border Protection. This institution was opened in 1998 and has a capacity of 1407 male and female inmates.
In July 2007, the Idaho Department of Corrections sent around 60 convicts to Val Verde. Almost half of them had been transferred from another GEO Group facility in Texas due to cruelty.
The next month, two convicts died of dehydration, while two more were hospitalized due to a mysterious illness. Hence, the Idaho inmates were released no later than July 2009.
North Fork Correctional Facility
North Fork Correctional Centre is a medium to high-security male correctional institution in Beckham County, Oklahoma, located east of Sayre. Corrections Corporation of America owned and operated the jail from its inception in 1998 until 2015.
Between 2006 and 2015, the jail hosted offenders from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as part of an initiative to reduce prison congestion in California.
Following a year of shutdown beginning in 2015, the institution was reopened under lease and is again run by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Kit Carson Correctional Facility
The Kit Carson Correctional Centre was a privately owned, medium-security state prison for males in Burlington, Kit Carson County, Colorado. It was owned and run by CoreCivic. The highest capacity of the institution was 1488 prisoners.
With just 580 convicts and a falling population, the institution became the focus of state budget disputes in April 2016. The state declared in June 2016 that it would not renew its contract for this institution beyond the end of July, thereby shutting down the jail and displacing 142 local residents.