Private Prisons In The State Of California

If you are interested to learn about the private prisons in the state of California? This article provides everything you need to know about California state`s private prisons.

Private Prisons In The State Of California
Private Prisons In The State Of California

Private businesses that manage federal prison complexes accommodate almost 8% of the US jail population. And the number keeps on increasing. America has the world's highest jail population, with 2.2 million people imprisoned, and private prisons are keen to grow that statistic so they can make more money.

Up to 9,000 California state inmates are incarcerated in private prisons, with the great majority in Arizona and Mississippi. In addition to the two out-of-state prisons, California has contracts with eight in-state institutions of varying sizes.

Moreover, California also employed privatized and leased prisons. According to Joe Orlando, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, who is also in charge of the state's 180,000 inmates, the state continues to use private prisons to lower its overall prison population to comply with a court order.

A Brief Overview Of California’s Prison System

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is in charge of the following prisons in the state of California:

  • The CDCR operates 35 adult prisons in California, with a total capacity to accommodate  85,083 prisoners.
  • The CDCR also manages and runs 34 state prisons.
  • The CDCR also assists the California City Correctional Facility, which is licensed.

Furthermore, CoreCivic was part of an effort to relieve overcrowding in state jails in 2013. Women were housed in two facilities, the California Institute for Women and the Central California Women's Facility.

However, men and women were also housed in separate areas of Folsom State Prison. San Quentin State Jail, which started in 1852 and is California's oldest operating state jail, was founded by men imprisoned on the Waban.

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List Of Private Prisons In California

California City Correctional Facility

CoreCivic's California City Correctional Prison (CAC) is a security prison. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation now staffs and operates it as a level II (low-medium) security prison for men.

The facility was initially constructed on speculative grounds, with no customer contract to fill it. The building was finished in 1998. It began housing federal detainees for the US Marshals Service and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2006. The federal government used the site until 2013.

In 2013, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation began leasing the facility in response to a federal order to relieve overcrowding at the state's prison facilities.

North Lake Correctional Facility

North Lake Correctional Facility is a privately held medium- and maximum-security men's prison in Baldwin, Lake County, Michigan. The facility is run by GEO Group under contract for the Michigan Department of Corrections. And the prison currently houses 1741 inmates.

Wackenhut developed the facility in 1999 to accommodate Michigan's minor offenders. In the late 2000s, the GEO Group, Wackenhut's successor company, increased the prison's capacity from 500 to 1,700 beds.

280 high-security offenders convicted of crimes in Vermont arrived at the Baldwin facility in June 2015 from various out-of-state prisons in Arizona and Kentucky. County Commissioner Dan Sloan indicated that the migration of out-of-state criminals to the jail might result in up to 150 new employment.
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Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility

Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Institution was a privately run state correctional institution for males in Eagle Mountain, California. It is a contemporary California mining ghost town.

In 1988, the Utah-based prison operator Management and Training Corporation established the jail in a renovated retail center to house 436 low-risk convicts under contract with the California Department of Corrections. The jail has become the major employment in the area.

Red Rock Correctional Center

The Red Rock Correctional Facility, situated in Eloy, Pinal County, Arizona, is a medium-security, privately owned and run state prison for males. The facility is owned and maintained by the Corrections Corporation of America under contract with the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Moreover, the Red Rock Correctional Center was opened in December 2006 and has a working capacity of 1596 medium-security offenders. Before 2014, the institution hosted convicts from California, Alaska, and Hawaii, as well as US Marshals Service detainees.

CCA also operates three additional prisons nearby, including the Eloy Detention Centre, the La Palma Correctional Facility, and the Saguaro Correctional Centre.

North Fork Correctional Facility

North Fork Correctional Centre is a medium to high-security male correctional institution in Beckham County, Oklahoma, situated east of Sayre. In addition, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) owned and operated the facility from its birth in 1998 until 2015.

Between 2006 and 2015, the jail hosted offenders from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The main purpose behind this initiative was to reduce prison congestion in California. Following a year-long closure that began in 2015, the institution was reopened under lease and is now operated by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

Florence Correctional Facility

Florence Correctional Centre (FCC) is a medium-security jail for males owned by CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America) in Florence, Arizona. The company's current contracts at this facility are with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the United States Marshal Service (USMS), and the City of Mesa.

Additionally, the facility was opened in 1999. It now has a capacity of 1824 people. Approximately 550 beds are reserved for ICE prisoners, and the Marshal Service has almost 1234 beds, whereas the City of Mesa has roughly 80.

CCA signed a contract with the Alaska Department of Corrections in 2005 to house more than 30% of the state's inmates in FCC. Many of these Alaskans were being held in detention awaiting trial. This deal was eventually completed.

Mesa became the first city in Arizona to authorize a private jail to hold misdemeanor prisoners in 2017. Of course, this sparked some criticism, but the mayor promised residents it would save the city money.

The city and CoreCivic agreed on a three-year contract. And each year, around $2 million is spent. Hence, Florence became home to several state, federal, and private prisons.

Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility

Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility (TCCF) is a private prison for males. It is authorized by the Tallahatchie County Correctional Authority and operated on behalf of the Mississippi Department of Corrections by CoreCivic, previously the Corrections Corporation of America.

Since its inception with 352 convicts, the prison's capacity has nearly tripled, reaching 2672 inmates by October 2008. It has hosted offenders from Wisconsin, Colorado, Hawaii, Wyoming, Vermont, and California, as well as Louisiana and Mississippi inmates.

In 2010, the institution functioned as a county jail and accommodated over 1,000 California inmates. It has not held Mississippi state convicts since 2013.

Moreover, the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility (TCCF) first opened its doors in March 2000 with 352 inmates. And it is one of six private prisons built to house state inmates. Three were still working for the state as of early 2017.

La Palma Correctional Facility

The La Palma Correctional Facility is a privately owned and operated medium-security male detention facility in Eloy, Pinal County, Arizona. It is operated under contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

This facility, built in 2008, currently shelters 3060 immigrants. Additionally, La Palma is located near three other CoreCivic-run prisons: the Eloy Detention Centre, the Red Rock Correctional Centre, and the Saguaro Correctional Centre.

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