Mississippi Hall of Shame

Adams County Correctional Facility
Natchez, Mississippi
CCA
April 21, 2009 Natchez Democrat
Eric Staiger just moved to Natchez and now he and his family need a place to live. Staiger is a newly hired assistant warden at the Correction Corporations of America facility and has not been able to find rental housing since he began searching prior to his move to Natchez. “It’s been a challenge so far,” Staiger said of locating a rental house for himself, his wife and their two kids. He started his search on the Internet before he left his home in Ohio. “I thought it would be easier,” he said. “Now I’m just relying on word of mouth and working with my Realtor.” And Natchez Realtor Sue Stedman said while she’s thrilled to see job growth in the community, she isn’t surprised by Staiger’s struggle. “There aren’t many rentals out there right now,” Stedman said. “And some people are going to notice a shortage.” But Stedman said while rentals can be hard to come by, the sale market in Natchez is doing well. Stedman said the number of houses for sale in the area has reached pre-Katrina levels. But that won’t help Staiger. CCA Warden Vance Laughlin said upper level management at the prison is being hired from within the company. Laughlin said his group of managers is coming to the area with the intent of being promoted out of Adams County, and are not in the market to buy a house. “They need rentals,” Laughlin said.

March 15, 2009 Natchez Democrat
Last week, as most of the Adams County Supervisors were in town taking care of county business, one supervisor was in the nation’s capital taking county business to a whole other level. Supervisor Darryl Grennell was in Washington D.C. for the National Association of Counties’ Legislative Conference, and in the midst of lectures and meetings Grennell was able to meet with some of the nation’s higher-ups to talk county business. On Monday, Grennell was able to meet with U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran to discuss several issues pertinent to Adams County. “I think it was a very productive meeting,” Grennell said. “He was very receptive.” Grennell said while no formal actions came from the meeting, he was glad to have had the opportunity to make Cochran aware of what’s going on in Adams County. Grennell said he and Cochran were able to discuss the repair projects at Marblestone Alley and West Stiers Lane, acquisition of federal stimulus money for road repairs in the county and the new Corrections Corporation of America prison. “Basically he said he’d make some phone calls on the county’s behalf,” Grennell said. “It went well.” While work on the Marblestone Alley and West Stiers projects isn’t new, Grennell said he was grateful to have had a chance to talk about stimulus funding and the CCA prison. The county hasn’t gotten any firm commitments on stimulus funding and the prison is currently without prisoners since it has not secured any contracts that would provide inmates. “Hopefully this can get the ball rolling,” Grennell said. Supervisor Mike Lazarus said he hopes the county will be able to see positive results from Grennell’s visit. “It’s always good to have connections,” Lazarus said. “It’s big. It keeps our name at the top of the list when projects come up. It’s very helpful for us.”

January 8, 2009 Natchez Democrat
On Dec. 1 Corrections Corporation of America completed construction at its new prison on U.S. 84, but the facility is without prisoners. Warden Vance Laughlin said the facility looks great. The halls are quiet, the beds are empty and there aren’t any guards on duty. And that won’t change anytime soon. Laughlin said he’s not expecting any inmates until at least June. The hold up comes from a missing, but crucial, federal contract. Once in place, it’s the contract that will fill the jail with the all-important prisoners. The contract, which was originally expected to be in place by Oct. 1, is “delayed indefinitely,” Laughlin said. Laughlin said he’s hoping it will be in place by the first quarter of this year. But once the contract is in place it will be at least 120 days before the prison sees its first inmate. That 120-day period will be used for hiring and training guards and other employees. And there’s no clear answer on exactly what’s stalling the contract. Laughlin said he thinks the general economic slow-down has had an impact on the contract. Additionally, the money to be used for the contract has not been finalized. CCA marketing director Steve Owen said he attributes some of the delay to administrative changes as high up as the White House. Owen said those changes have an impact on Congress, which ultimately controls the budget for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. And Congress has yet to finalize the bureau’s 2009 budget. “Government contracts can move slowly,” Owen said. “Sometimes these things can just drag out.” But the slow pace of progress isn’t reason for concern, Owen said. Owen said he’s confident the federal contract will come through — but if it doesn’t there are other options. “Still our focus is on what we pitched the facility for,” he said of CCA’s intent to pursue a federal contract. Both Laughlin and Owen said if the federal contract fails, the prison can, and will, pursue other contracts.

November 3, 2008 Natchez Democrat
If country music songs are to be believed, prison cells are the loneliest places to be, but being warden of a prison with no prisoners isn’t much fun either. Vance Laughlin, warden of the new Adams County Correctional Facility, told members of the Rotary Club of Natchez that he’s got plenty of time on his hands in the next couple of months. Just call if you need a hand with anything, he told the crowd, joking, at least a little. Laughlin said Wednesday that a delay in granting a federal prison contract means the new facility is vacant for just a little while longer. Originally, Corrections Corporation of America, the owner of the private prison, expected the contract would be announced Oct. 1, Laughlin said, but now it looks like it will be in the first quarter of 2009. Originally, CCA had announced they would start accepting job applications in October, but Laughlin said the delay in the contract has delayed the need for hiring just a bit longer. “We’re (still) coming,” Laughlin said. “Once we start hiring, it’s going to be very, very visible … lots of big ads … just give us some time.” The time is no problem, Laughlin said, in fact he said he’s looking at it as a positive factor. “From my perspective, as warden, it gives me another two to three months to get things set up,” he said. Construction on the $140 million, 2,500-bed facility is expected to be complete by Dec. 1, he said. But even if CCA receives the much-anticipated contract to house illegal immigrant prisoners — ones who will likely be deported after their sentences are served — the first prisoner would not report to the facility until 120 days after the contract is awarded. But, Laughlin said, CCA would begin screening applicants the very next day after the contract is awarded. “We’re very hopeful for this contract, but we could not get it,” he said. “If so, we have a plan B and we have a plan C. “The (Federal) Bureau (of Prisons) is a very important customer so they get first shot,” he said.

April 21, 2008 AP
Gov. Haley Barbour has signed into law a bill that gives a privately owned jail in Natchez the authority to house federal and state inmates. The Adams County Correctional Center is currently under construction and is slated to be completed in December 2008. Barbour said signing "this legislation is appropriate as the state continues to find alternative housing solutions for our growing inmate population." Governor. The correctional facility is located on more than 140 acres in southwest Mississippi near Natchez. It is owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America.

August 1, 2007 Clarion Ledger
A 1,668-bed private prison being built in Adams County secured the final $500,000 in matching funds today to extend the Natchez sewer lines to the site. The Delta Regional Authority will provide that money for the Corrections Corporation of America prison, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2008. Funding for the sewer project will accelerate completion of the project, which is expected to create approximately 300 jobs. The funding was announced today in a joint news release from Sens. Thad Cochran and Trent Lott, Gov. Haley Barbour and 3rd District U.S. Chip Pickering. "Southwest Mississippi is an important part of our state and this new facility will help create economic confidence in the area by generating hundreds of new jobs," Cochran said in the news release. Lott noted in the news release that the sewer project has an additional benefit. "Anytime you expand or upgrade water or waste water service, it is a well-placed, long-term investment in the community that can promote new residential and commercial growth," he said.

12, 2007 Natchez Democrat
The board of aldermen agreed on a more binding agreement between the city and county governments regarding water and sewer services to a private prison Tuesday. Walter Brown, who represents the private prison company CCA and the city waterworks, asked the aldermen to sign an interlocal agreement. The agreement would spell out more specific responsibilities of the parties involved, Brown said. The city and county are applying for grants to fund the water and sewer infrastructure to the proposed prison near Cranfield. An interlocal agreement would help secure those grant monies, Brown said. The project will still require no city or county taxpayer money, he said. The interlocal agreement would simply say, “We’re doing our part of the project, and they’re doing theirs,” Brown said. Because CCA wants to meet the GO Zone deadline to benefit from financial incentives, time was short, Brown said. “CCA still wants to take the deed by July 1,” Brown said. “We’re really under the gun to meet their timeline.” Some of the parties involved, such as Adams County Water Association and the county have asked for changes to the original draft of the agreement, he said, so he did not have the final document at Tuesday’s meeting. That didn’t sit well with Alderman James “Ricky” Gray. “It’s kind of unusual for me to sit up here and vote for something I haven’t seen and the city attorney hasn’t read over,” Gray said. “I like to read over something before I vote and sign it.” Since time was of the essence, Alderman Jake Middleton suggested the board give the mayor and board attorney authorization to review the document before they signed it. “I don’t think they’re going to sign off on something that’s not beneficial,” Middleton said. Brown said he would be happy to get copies of the draft to anyone interested. The board voted authority to the mayor to sign the agreement.

May 3, 2007 Natchez Democrat
The new prison needs $4 million in water and sewer infrastructure, but if all goes as planned, the county and city won’t have to shell out a penny of their own. If plans fall through, the money may come out of taxes the company would be paying to the county. Adams County Water Association plans to provide the water, and Natchez Water Works will provide the sewer for the Corrections Corporation of America private prison near Cranfield. However, they need the money for things like labor, pipes and a water tank. So the city and county are looking to get money through grants that private CCA can’t get. The county board of supervisors approved the project Tuesday and asked the Southwest Mississippi Development District to hunt for grants and loans. Such grants could come from several places, including federal funds and the Delta Regional Authority, attorney Walter Brown said. Hopefully, the grants won’t require matching funds, said Brown, who represents CCA locally and Natchez Water Works. “A 10 percent match is normally required, but we’ve asked for it to be waived,” Brown said. “If not, we’ll figure out how to handle it. Most logical would be a tax increment financing bond.” Such a bond would use the company’s future taxes to pay off the debt. That way, the county isn’t losing any money it currently has, Brown said. Previously, CCA and county representatives said no city or county money would be required if the prison located in Adams County. That worries Supervisor Henry Watts. “Full disclosure is always my concern — full disclosure on the front end, letting the supervisors know,” Watts said. “Give us a good idea what kind of money the taxpayers of Adams County are having to put up, not only on the prison but on any proposal.” Tuesday’s supervisors meeting was the first time Watts said he had heard the county might need to play a role in the prison project. “It was the first time I’d heard we were actually going to have to put up money,” Watts said. “Am I scared of that? No. But right now, we have no idea how much money we’d have to put up.”

Central Mississippi Correctional Facility
Rankin, Mississippi
Wexford (formerly run by Correctional Medical Services)
For Jamie Scott, an $11 Robbery in Mississippi May Carry a Death Sentence, By James Ridgeway and Jean Casella
December 2, 2008 Clarion Ledger
William Morris Byrd Jr. had been in and out of prison most of his life, but Charlotte Boyd, his sister, said he did not have to die there. Byrd, 53, died Nov. 21 after what Boyd described as months of wasting away at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl. While the family is waiting for the autopsy, Boyd said the initial cause of death is Crohn's Disease, a chronic but treatable inflammation of the digestive path that she said had blocked her brother's esophagus. "He literally starved. We watched him turn into a skeleton," she said. Byrd was serving a lengthy sentence for rape and was not eligible for parole until 2020. Boyd realizes her brother may not be a sympathetic figure to most, but after reading a story last week in The Clarion-Ledger, she said her brother may not be alone. "If they are doing him that way, they are going to let somebody else die, too," she said. "Even a dog needs medical attention." Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Byrd received appropriate medical care from the prison. "We provided timely, quality medical care for the inmate," he said, "as we do for all of our inmates." Mississippi's per-capita death rate for prisoners has spiked in recent years. In 2001, the state's death rate was at the national average, but in 2006 Mississippi's inmate death rate was the second highest in the nation. In 2007, inmate deaths rose again. The majority of those deaths are from natural causes, and former inmates and family members of current inmates say medical care in the state's prison system is inadequate. Epps blames the higher death rate on several factors, including an increasingly aged prison population and generally unhealthy lifestyles that have made the state a leader in medical problems like heart disease and diabetes. Epps expressed confidence in MDOC's medical contractor, Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Wexford Health Sources, but the Legislative Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review last year released a report criticizing the prison system's response to chronic-care issues. PEER also found that Wexford's medical staffing was not in compliance with the terms of its contract with the state. The report found 13 percent staffing shortages at the MDOC prisons in Pearl, Parchman and Leakesville. Officials at MDOC referred questions about current Wexford staffing levels to the contractor. Wexford did not return a telephone call Monday but last week referred questions to MDOC. Senate Corrections Chairman Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, said the increase in the prisoner death rate is worth keeping an eye on, but he said Epps' explanation of the increase is plausible. It's something lawmakers would want to pay attention to and monitor, "get a little more information on," he said. "It didn't come across as there was any kind of serious problem of neglect." But the rising number of deaths worries people like Diane Rowell, whose hypoglycemic son is in South Mississippi Correctional Facility serving a short sentence for a parole violation. She said her son has lost weight and complains of being tired. "It worries me. I cry a lot about it," she said. "I know they broke the law, but they are still human beings."

July 16, 2005 Clarion Ledger
A state prisoner suffering from life-threatening illnesses has been denied medical treatment for more than a month, a lawsuit claims. The lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Jackson, seeks immediate medical treatment for Raymond Winne of Gulfport, an inmate at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County. The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees an inmate the right to receive necessary medical attention, the suit says. Named as defendants are the correctional facility Superintendent Margaret Bingham and Correctional Medical Services, Inc., which provides medical treatment for state inmates. The lawsuit comes after an American Civil Liberties Union class- action lawsuit was filed in June on behalf of roughly 1,000 inmates in Unit 32 at the state Penitentiary in Parchman. The lawsuit's allegations include that inmates in the super maximum security unit are subjected to inadequate medical, mental health and dental care. In 2003, the ACLU filed a lawsuit and won improvements in Unit 32 for death row inmates.

Delta Correctional Facility/LeFlore County Jail
Greenwood, Mississippi
CCA
February 15, 2010 Greenwood Commonwealth
Joseph Leon Jackson Jr., a former inmate at Delta Correctional Facility who escaped from custody in June during a visit to a Greenwood optician’s office, and his alleged accomplice will face trial on Sept. 20 in Nashville, Tenn. Jackson and his cousin, Courtney Logan, were accused of shooting a Nashville police officer during a traffic stop. The two are facing charges of attempted murder and evading arrest for the June 25 shooting of Sgt. Mark Chesnut. Both pleaded not guilty in November and declared they were indigent. A judge appointed defense attorneys to represent them. Chesnut, 44, has returned to light duty with the police department since the shooting. Police say Chesnut stopped the men on Interstate 40 near Bellevue, Tenn., hours after Logan helped Jackon escape. Chestnut was shot five times while checking the suspects’ driver’s licenses. Jackson, 30, and Logan, 25, were caught a short time later after Chestnut backed his car away from the shooters and radioed descriptions of the men and the car they were driving. Chesnut has also filed a civil suit against Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the Delta Correctional Facility, alleging the company failed to follow its own security policies and was responsible for the shooting. CCA has denied liability in the shooting. Chestnut is seeking $14 million and his wife, Michelle Chestnut is seeking $2.5 million.

February 5, 2010 Greenwood Commonwealth
The Leflore County Jail is awaiting autopsy results for an inmate who died Thursday in his cell. Eddie Moore, 43, 214 E. Percy St., did not respond when called to eat at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Sheriff Ricky Banks said. The jail issued a medical alert and tried unsuccessfully to revive Moore. MedStat also responded and finally the coroner. The body has been sent to Mississippi Mortuary Services in Jackson for an autopsy, which Banks said is required for all inmates who die in jail. Moore had been arrested about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and charged with public drunkenness, public profanity and disturbing a family. Banks said Moore had been arrested five times in the past year and a half on similar charges. “From what we know about him, he has a history of seizures,” Banks said. “He’s been in and out of here a good bit.” A nurse checked Moore when he entered jail Wednesday and said he was quite drunk but did not have any other apparent symptoms, according to the sheriff. Banks said corrections officers said when Moore came in he was typically drunk and would sleep for quite a while. He had been counted in several bed checks but was not called upon to respond until the chow call, Banks said. Moore was alone in a two-bunk cell, Banks said. Corrections Corp. of America contracts with Leflore County to run its jail. CCA also operates the state-owned Delta Correctional Facility at the same location on Baldwin Road. Banks said it was the first death of a prisoner at the jail since the facility moved from the courthouse in 2004.

January 22, 2010 Tennessean
A jury will decide the fate of two men accused of shooting a Metro police officer during a traffic stop last summer. The trial of Joseph Jackson Jr. and Courtney Logan has been scheduled for Sept. 20, Judge Seth Norman said. The pair did not appear in court on Thursday for the short hearing. "Typically when all the attorneys are going to do is set a date, both sides have already decided they're going to trial," Davidson County District Attorney spokeswoman Susan Niland said. "The hearing only takes about 30 seconds at the most." Jackson and Logan are accused of attempted murder and evading arrest in connection with the June 25 shooting of Metro police Sgt. Mark Chesnut. The men entered pleas of not guilty to the charges in November. Both declared that they were indigent, and a judge appointed defense attorneys to represent them. Chesnut, 44, is still recovering and has returned to light duty with the Metro police department. On the day of the shooting police say Chesnut stopped the men on Interstate 40 near Bellevue just hours after Logan helped Jackson, his cousin, escape from a prison in Mississippi run by the Corrections Corporation of America. While Chesnut was checking their licenses, according to police, Jackson walked up to the car and shot Chesnut, who suffered life-threatening injuries. Chesnut was shot five times. Jackson, 30, and Logan, 25, were caught a short time later after Chesnut backed his car away from the shooters and radioed in descriptions of the men and the car they were driving. Chesnut, a 22-year police veteran, has since filed a civil suit against CCA, alleging the company failed to follow its own security policies and was responsible for the shooting. Chesnut is seeking $14 million and his wife, Michelle Chesnut, is seeking $2.5 million.

December 9, 2009 Tennessean
The Corrections Corporation of America has responded to allegations that Sgt. Mark Chesnut's shooting was because of its negligence, saying that it wasn't reasonable to foresee that their escaped prisoner would shoot him. What happened to Chesnut, the private prison giant said in its response to the lawsuit, is part of the risk inherent to being a police officer. Chesnut filed suit in October, alleging that Nashville-based CCA's negligence contributed to him being shot multiple times. Joseph Jackson Jr., who was serving a life sentence at a CCA-operated prison in Greenwood, Miss., and his cousin Courtney Logan have been charged with attempted murder in the shooting. David Raybin, Nashville attorney representing Chesnut, declined to comment on the response. CCA spokesman Steve Owen also declined to comment. Jackson had escaped from prison hours earlier — with the help of Logan — after Logan showed up armed to Jackson's off-site doctor's appointment, police say. Chesnut alleged in the suit, filed by Raybin, that Jackson was told in advance about the appointment and had access to cell phones to arrange the escape. CCA denied in the court filings that Jackson was told in advance about his doctor's appointment by a prison nurse or that he had access to a cell phone. They also denied that the armed guard went for her cell phone instead of her gun, though they admitted that the gun and phone were taken from her by Jackson and Logan. The company overall denied that its actions caused Chesnut's shooting and said the liability rests more with the two men charged. Chesnut, who is still recovering, has returned to work on light duty.

November 10, 2009 WSMV
The two men accused of trying to kill a Metro police officer during a traffic stop received public defenders at a Tuesday arraignment. Courtney Logan and Joseph Jackson were in court, where attorneys entered not guilty pleas in their defense. Investigators said Logan helped Jackson escape police custody in Mississippi in June. When Sgt. Mark Chesnut pulled the pair over for a traffic violation in west Nashville, Logan is accused of grabbed a gun and shooting Chesnut several times. Logan and Jackson both face charges of attempted first-degree murder. Chesnut filed a lawsuit Oct. 30 against Corrections Corporation of America for $14 million. CCA operates the prison that held Jackson before his escape in June. According to the lawsuit, Jackson was given two weeks advance notice of the appointment and was able to access a cell phone to plan the escape with Logan. The weapon used to shoot Chesnut was taken from one of the CCA guards who accompanied Jackson to the appointment. Chesnut's attorney said the entire incident wouldn't have occurred if CCA hadn't been negligent with its policies.

November 10, 2009 NewsChannel 5
The two men accused of critically injuring a Metro police officer during a traffic stop have been scheduled to answer to the charges in court Tuesday. Joseph Jackson and Courtney Logan will be arraigned Tuesday on attempted first degree murder charges. Police said Jackson, an escaped inmate from Mississippi, shot Sgt. Mark Chesnut several times in June 2009 while the officer was sitting in his patrol car on Interstate 40 near Bellevue. Chestnut had just stopped the pair for a seatbelt violation. Chesnut has since returned to work following his recovery. Chesnut also filed a $14 million lawsuit against the Corrections Corporation of America, claiming they are responsible for his injuries because Jackson escaped from custody under the supervision of their guards at a doctor's appointment.

October 30, 2009 Tennessean
Sgt. Mark Chesnut, the Metro police officer shot by an escaped prisoner in June has filed suit against the Corrections Corporation of America, alleging the company is responsible for the failures that led to the escape and subsequent shooting. Chesnut was critically injured on June 25 when he was shot five times during a traffic stop. Police later arrested Joseph Jackson, Jr., who escaped from prison in Mississippi earlier that day, and his cousin Courtney Logan, accused of helping Jackson escape, for the shooting. Chesnut is still recovering from the injuries. CCA spokesman Steve Owen said the company has not been served with the suit and is not in a position to comment. According to the lawsuit, filed late Friday by Nashville attorney David Raybin, the company was negligent in following its own policies to prevent and respond to an escape. Chesnut is seeking $14 million from the Nashville-based private corrections giant, and his wife, Michelle Chesnut, is seeking an additional $2.5 million. “They give (Jackson) advanced warning, the means to escape, they give him a gun and he’s out in a few hours shooting a police officer,” Raybin said. “To me, it’s foreseeable that any police officer who stopped these guys was in mortal danger.” Jackson had two weeks notice that he was going to an off-site doctor’s appointment and didn’t prevent him access from cell phones that he used to plan his escape, the lawsuit said. The advance notification was against the policies of CCA, which operated the Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, Miss., where Jackson was held. Police said that Logan entered the doctor’s office during the scheduled time to help Jackson escape. Logan fired several shots into the ceiling, and ordered everyone to get down. The lawsuit adds new details about the escape, saying that Jackson, who was in prison for violent offenses and serving a life sentence, was escorted by an armed female guard and two unarmed male guards. When Logan pulled the gun, according to the lawsuit, the armed guard reached not for her gun but for her cell phone. Jackson took the gun and the phone, and the two fled toward Nashville. Just a few hours later, they were pulled over by Chesnut. “For the few extra dollars it might have cost this for-profit institution to have a house call, Sgt. Chesnut wouldn’t have eight bullets in him,” Raybin said. Chesnut was running Logan’s driver’s license when Jackson walked back to talk to the officer. He walked away, but came back and drew the gun he took from the CCA guard, shooting Chesnut five times. Two bullets lodged in his bulletproof vest, but he was struck by the other three. Despite the injury, Chesnut threw the car into reverse when the gunman returned and radioed in the shooting, giving a description of the suspects and the car to officers that were looking for them within minutes. They were arrested within hours by Metro police and taken into custody without incident. “He radioed in not only to report own injury, but in hope that other officers could stop these guys,” Raybin said. “It’s about as heroic a thing as I’ve ever seen.” CCA was under heavy criticism for security in February 2008, when Terrell Watson escaped from the Metro Detention Facility in Nashville. When Watson was discovered missing, jail employees notified authorities and put the jail on lockdown, and an exhaustive search inside the prison and around the grounds went on for two days. They didn’t file an escape warrant that would let other police agencies know he was an escaped prisoner for two days. The internal procedure to handle a possible escape dictates only that police should be notified, CCA officials said at the time.

September 26, 2009 AP
An escaped inmate from a Mississippi prison and another man have been indicted on attempted first-degree murder charges in the wounding of a Nashville police officer during a traffic stop. Joseph Jackson, 29, the escapee, and Cortney Logan, 25, of Louisville, Ky., were indicted by a Davidson County grand jury in the June 25 shooting of Sgt. Mark Chesnut. Chesnut, 44, was shot in the abdomen after he pulled Jackson and Logan over along Interstate 40 west of downtown Nashville. Chesnut has been in a rehabilitation center since then and says he'd like to return to work. Jackson was serving a life sentence at the Delta Correctional Facility for two aggravated robberies and aggravated assault. According to Mississippi prison officials, Jackson escaped earlier June 25 during a visit to an eye doctor in Greenwood, Miss. Police have said Logan entered the office, fired a shot into the air and one of them took a weapon from Jackson's guard.

September 9, 2009 Greenwood Commonwealth
Another violent incident involving a Delta Correctional Facility inmate serving a life sentence has brought increased intensity to concerns about the level of prisoner held there. Leflore County Supervisor Wayne Self said during a board meeting Tuesday that an inmate assaulted a guard at the medium-security Greenwood prison a couple of weeks ago. Accounts of the altercation leaked out of the facility, and Self heard about it recently, he said. He called for the Board of Supervisors to put standards in place for Corrections Corp. of America, the private company that manages Delta Correctional for the state. “I don’t think a life-sentence or two-or-three-life-sentence person should be at that facility,” Self said. “I just don’t think it’s safe out there — not only for a lot of the officers that’s there, but I don’t think it’s safe for this community.” The supervisors passed an order Aug. 24 requesting Chris Epps, who is the Mississippi Department of Corrections commissioner, and CCA officials to appear before it to explain how classification works at Delta Correctional. Self asked County Administrator Sam Abraham to get Epps and CCA personnel to come to the next board meeting on Monday. Steve Owen, director of marketing for Nashville-based CCA, said this morning that company guards treat every inmate as potentially dangerous, regardless of classification. “We train our folks to be extra safe and to be prepared,” he said. Owen, a former corrections officer, said inmates classified as minimum-security often pose a greater threat than those classified as medium-security. “The sentence alone isn’t the only factor,” he said. The June escape of Joseph Leon Jackson Jr. from a Greenwood eye doctor’s office prompted the initial inquiry. Jackson, who was serving a life sentence at DCF for armed robbery, later shot a Nashville, Tenn. police officer during a traffic stop. He remains jailed in Tennessee along with Courtney Logan, his cousin who helped spring him, on charges of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. CCA officials have remained tight lipped regarding the escape, but Epps told the Clarion-Ledger that Jackson used a cell phone to craft his scheme. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is leading an investigation. Self echoed comments made last week by Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks that inmates who receive life sentences have their status level reduced based on good behavior. “This is a serious issue that’s going on out there at that facility that I think we need to try to get our hands on before it goes too far,” Self said. District 2 Supervisor Robert Moore asked Board Attorney Joyce Chiles to prepare advice on how the county can influence its contract with Delta Correctional and the agreement CCA has to manage the prison.

August 25, 2009 Greenwood Commonwealth
The Leflore County Board of Supervisors is asking the head of the state Department of Corrections and the private company that runs Delta Correctional Facility to appear before it and explain what classifications of inmates are housed at the Greenwood prison. Supervisor Preston Ratliff said the coordinated June escape of Joseph Leon Jackson Jr., who was serving a life sentence for armed robbery, raised concerns that more dangerous criminals are present than the specified medium security. “What happened in Nashville could have easily happened in Greenwood,” Ratliff said, referring to the Nashville police officer whom Jackson has admitted to shooting after fleeing Mississippi. The board voted Monday to request an explanation from MDOC Commissioner Christopher Epps and Corrections Corp. of America officials from its Nashville headquarters. “It might be a good idea at some point for them to come and address the local community and assure them that they done closed the gate,” Supervisor Robert Moore said. “Couldn’t hurt, could it?” The local CCA warden, Danny Scott, appeared before supervisors earlier this month but provided few answers.

August 4, 2009 Greenwood Commonwealth
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is in charge of finding out how an inmate planned an escape from a Greenwood eye doctor’s office June 25, according to Delta Correctional Facility’s warden. When asked Monday outside a Leflore County Board of Supervisors meeting about the results of an internal investigation into Joseph Leon Jackson Jr.’s escape, Warden Danny Scott referred questions to MBI. Jackson, who was serving a life sentence at DCF for armed robbery, was sprung by his cousin, Courtney Logan, from The Eye Station on Park Avenue during a routine exam. Logan fired a shot into the building’s ceiling and helped Jackson free himself from shackles. They fled in a Dodge Magnum. Some five hours later, Nashville Police Sgt. Mark Chesnut was shot five times after making a traffic stop of the vehicle. Jackson later admitted to the shooting, which was captured on video from Chesnut’s cruiser. Jackson and Logan face charges of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Supervisor Preston Ratliff said Monday that citizens had voiced concerns to him since the escape about the level of inmates housed at the prison. After Scott told him Delta Correctional is a medium-custody facility, Ratliff asked how that status is defined. Scott responded only that “in MDOC, inmates are either minimum, medium or a higher custody level, and our inmates that we receive from MDOC are medium custody inmates.” Ratliff then asked if the length of convicts’ sentences had anything to do with classification. Scott said inmates are assessed after they are sentenced. “When inmates are classified, their length of sentence and their history of offenses is taken into consideration,” he said. The prison is run by Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corp. of America (CCA). CCA officials were at the meeting to amend their annual contract to house state prisoners. The money is routed from the state through the county and requires supervisors’ approval. The board approved increasing the daily charge per state prisoner from $32.07 to $32.56 beginning Aug. 1. The rate change will not affect what the county pays CCA, which also contracts to manage the Leflore County Jail. County Administrator Sam Abraham said the county’s rate had already been increased for next year.

July 14, 2009 Nashville City Paper
Moments after Metro Police Sgt. Mark Chesnut was shot five times by an escaped Mississippi convict on June 25, accomplice Cortney Logan smiled before getting into a rental car along with his cousin and speeding away, according to police. “I’ve seen the video,” Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas said of the onboard video camera, which captured virtually the entire traffic stop made by Chesnut on I-40 near Bellevue. “It’s disturbing. It’s very disturbing that [Logan] could call himself a human with the face he made.” Logan and alleged trigger man Joseph Jackson had their preliminary hearings in General Sessions Court on Tuesday where Judge Leon Ruben forwarded the case to the Davidson County Grand Jury. The pair stand charged of attempted murder of a police officer. Chesnut remains in stable condition and has been moved from Vanderbilt University Medical Center to a rehabilitation facility. He is expected to make a full recovery, according to Metro Police. It was Jackson who approached Chesnut during the traffic stop while the 22-year police force veteran sat in his unmarked car. According to Metro Detective Norris Tarkington, Jackson first approached the car to see if there was another officer present and then circled back a second time with a 38-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun. Jackson then fired five shots at Chesnut. Two of those shots were absorbed by protective body armor, but three hit Chesnut’s arm and abdomen area. Jackson dropped the gun inside the police car and ran back to the rental car, which Logan had allegedly rented to help his cousin escape from a Mississippi prison. Tarkington said the video on Chesnut’s camera shows Logan smiling and “almost laughing” before boarding the rental car and driving away. Logan and Jackson were apprehended a short while later and are being held in lieu of $3 million bond. During his testimony at the preliminary hearing, Tarkington shed some light on Jackson’s escape from the custody of prison guards employed by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America. According to Tarkington’s testimony, Logan entered a Greenwood, Mississippi optometrist office where Jackson was receiving care. Logan fired two shots into the ceiling and demanded at gunpoint that a CCA guard remove the handcuffs from Jackson. Logan then took one of the CCA guard’s weapon, which was the Smith and Wesson gun used to shoot Chesnut. Multiple investigations by state and local authorities in Mississippi continue into Jackson’s escape from custody. Jackson was serving a life sentence for robbery and aggravated assault.

June 28, 2009 Hattiesburg American
IT SOUNDED LIKE THE SCRIPT FROM HOLLYWOOD. But it was real. Here's the scenario: Mississippi inmate Joseph Jackson, 29, serving a life sentence for armed robbery and aggravated assault at the Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, was taken to a Greenwood optometrist's office Thursday after he had complained about having eye problems. Shortly after arriving at The Eye Station guarded by at least three armed transportation officers, an armed man walked into the office, fired his gun into the air and ordered everyone on the floor. They grabbed one of the officer's guns and fled in a waiting car. Witnesses said another person was in the car. Mississippi law enforcement agencies began an intensive search for the men but Jackson and his accomplices managed to leave the state and make their way to Tennessee. The scene then shifted to Nashville, where the rental car in which Jackson and Courtney R. Logan, 25, of Louisville, Ky., were in was stopped by Sgt. Mark Chesnut on Interstate 40 Thursday afternoon. Logan, who was driving the car, was not wearing a seat belt. According to The Tennesseean newspaper in Nashville, while Chesnut, a 22-year police veteran, checked the license plate on a computer, Jackson walked back to the officer's car and shot him multiple time through the passenger window. He dropped the gun on Chesnut's front seat. It was described as a routine stop that turned into something that was anything but routine. Chesnut was shot in the abdomen. Jackson and Logan fled but were later cornered by police and surrendered. Chesnut remained in critical condition on Saturday. Nashville police later said that Jackson confessed to shooting Chesnut because he "didn't want to go back to prison." The incident raises some serious questions, such as: How could the three armed transportation officers allow Jackson's armed accomplice to get inside the optometrist's office? Why was Jackson brought to a private optometrist instead of having an optometrist go to the correctional facility? A prison spokesman said the transportation procedure is under investigation. We would hope so. Prison officials need to alter their procedures to ensure that the public and law enforcement officials are not put at risk.

June 27, 2009 Greenwood Commonwealth
Police are continuing the search for a third suspect wanted in connection with the freeing of an inmate from a Greenwood eye doctor’s office Thursday. Joseph Jackson, 29, who was serving a life sentence for armed robbery and aggravated assault at Delta Correctional Facility, and Courtney R. Logan, 25, of Louisville, Ky., have been charged with attempted murder and weapons charges in the case. The Tennessean reported Saturday that Jackson and Logan are cousins. Jackson admitted to Nashville police Thursday night that he shot Sgt. Mark Chesnut after Chesnut pulled Logan over for not wearing his seat belt, according to a release issued Friday by the Nashville Police Department. Chesnut, who was wearing a Kevlar bullet-resistant vest, was struck at least once in the abdomen. The Tennessean also reported that Logan attempted suicide early Friday morning in his Nashville jail cell and is under a suicide watch. Jackson has been charged with attempted murder, unlawful gun possession by a convicted felon, being a fugitive from justice and theft of a correction officer’s gun. His bond was set Friday at $3.36 million. Logan has been charged with attempted murder and unlawful gun possession by a convicted felon. His bail was set at $3.1 million. A hearing for the men is scheduled for Wednesday. A third suspect, seen leaving in the car from The Eye Station, has not been identified. Jackson was one of two inmates taken to office on Thursday by three armed transportation officers who were employees of Delta Correctional Facility. He had complained of an eye problem, according to Carolyn McAdams, public information officer with Delta Correctional Facility. While Jackson and the other inmate were waiting inside, a man armed with a handgun came in and fired several rounds into the ceiling of the building and then ordered everyone to get on the ground. Steve Owen, a spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America in Nashville, Delta Correctional’s parent company, told the Tennessean that inmates are taken off grounds for specialized doctor visits because the prison’s medical facilities contain only basic equipment. “For obvious reasons, protocol is that inmates are not notified of such information until the day of the appointment, at which time they are notified just enough in advance to get it cleared (and) dressed before being transported,” Owen told the newspaper. “As far as we know right now, everything that was done followed policy and procedure,” Owen told the Tennessean. “Of course, all the circumstances and what might have contributed to it (the escape) are under investigation right now.”

June 27, 2009 WZTV
Authorities say one of the men charged with shooting Sergeant Mark Chesnut tried to hang himself Friday with some string from a laundry bag. Correctional Officers stopped Courtney Logan before he was successful. "When a person comes in off the street with such a violent act and charged with such a crime close to those of us in the business, very, very proud of the way our folks handled it," said Sheriff Daron Hall. Logan faces attempted murder charges along with Joseph Jackson in Thursday's shooting along I-40 in Bellevue. Authorities say Jackson shot Sergeant Chesnut multiple times in the abdomen and arm after he pulled the pair over for a seatbelt violation. Chesnut remains in critical condition at Vanderbilt Medical Center where a steady stream of officers continue to visit him. He's expected to have surgery sometime in the next few days. "Mark was a friend of mine and the prognosis sounds good and my thoughts and prayers continue to be with them," said Captain Todd Henry. Chesnut could not have known at the time he was pulling over two men police say are wanted for serious crimes in Mississippi. Authorities say Logan busted Jackson out of state custody during an optometrist visit. He was under the supervision of three armed Corrections Corporation of America Guards at the time. "It seems pretty obvious this was a well conceived plan," said Spokesperson Steven Owen. "Come storming in with a firearm and certainly by all accounts our officers followed the policies as it relates to the transport itself and the reaction under the circumstances."

June 26, 2009 WSMV
The company that operates the Mississippi prison where a man escaped and later was arrested in the shooting of a Metro officer admits there was some sort of breakdown that allowed Joseph Jackson to escape custody. Police and prison officials are trying to determine how Jackson, and his suspected accomplice, Courtney Logan hatched a daring plan that led to Jackson's escape from custody and ultimately the shooting of Metro officer Sgt. Mark Chestnut on Thursday. "Without a doubt, there is a breakdown somewhere. We definitely want to determine where that is," said Steven Owen of Corrections Corporation of America, the company that operates the Mississippi prison that housed Jackson. Metro police said Jackson and Logan know each other from living in Louisville, Ky. The Channel 4 I-Team obtained a list from who has visited Jackson at the Delta Correctional Facility in Mississippi where he was imprisoned. Logan's name doesn't show up as visitor or even an approved visitor. Inmates are not allowed e-mail, and all mail, except for legal documents, is read by prison staff. As for phone calls, how did Logan know that Jackson would be at an eye doctor appointment to not only stage the escape but have clothes ready for him to change into? "Without a doubt, he knew how to be there. This was obviously a very elaborate plan that was carried out," said Owen. This is not the first time a CCA inmate has escaped from an outside medical unit. In fact, the last time it happened was in Jackson, Tenn., in 2005. The escapee was caught and prison employees were later disciplined. "When something like this happens, we try to learn from it and take the appropriate steps to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Owen. Metro police said the information about Jackson's escape was entered into a national database of escaped inmates, but it was unclear if a description of the car that the suspects were driving was sent out. Both of the suspects' bonds have been set for more than $3 million. Jackson was charged with attempted homicide of a police officer, gun charges and for being a fugitive from justice. A hearing for the men was scheduled for July 1.

June 25, 2009 Nashville City Paper
Metro police say two suspects — one an escapee from Mississippi — taken into custody in the shooting of veteran officer Mark Chesnut have lengthy criminal records. The two were arrested at Hermitage and Fairfield avenues less than an hour after the incident. Joseph Jackson, 29, who allegedly escaped from a private prison facility in Greenwood, Miss., was serving a life term for armed robbery and aggravated assault. Officials say his accomplice, Courtney Logan, stormed an eye doctor's office Thursday morning and broke Jackson out of custody. Both men are from Louisville, Ky. The pair took off in a black Dodge Magnum — the same kind of vehicle they were driving when officer Chesnut was shot about 1:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon. "Courtney Logan essentially busted into the office fired several shots in the roof, ceiling fan tile area, made everyone get on the ground and freed Joseph Jackson from custody," said Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas. Chesnut, 44, was driving an unmarked car as part of an interstate highway traffic enforcement effort, Metro Police spokesperson Don Aaron said, adding it is unclear why he stopped the vehicle. "These were some dangerous, dangerous, dangerous people who cowardly attacked Sgt. Chesnut while he sat in his car running their license plate," Serpas said. Chesnut, a 22-year veteran of the Metro Police Department, was wearing body armor. John Morris, director of Vanderbilt Medical Center's Trauma Division, said Chesnut was shot in the stomach, colon, gall bladder and liver. "This is a life-threatening injury," said Morris. "He's on the ventilator, he's on life support, but we're all very hopeful that ultimately he will return home to his family and ultimately return to work." Chesnut's wife and family had been on vacation in Alabama and were airlifted to Nashville by a THP helicopter. Police say Jackson will be charged with attempted murder, stealing a Mississippi correction officer's gun, unlawful gun possession by a convicted felon. Logan will be charged with attempted murder and unlawful gun possession by a convicted felon. He had been convicted in Kentucky of robbery, theft and evading police.

June 25, 2009 News Channel 5
Metro police have taken into custody the two suspects in the Metro Sgt. shooting, arresting them at Hermitage Avenue and Fairfield Avenue. One of the suspects was an escaped inmate from Mississippi. Joseph Jackson, 29-years-old, escaped from a private prison facility in Greenwood, Mississippi. Jackson was serving a life term for armed robbery and aggravated assault. He escaped Thursday morning during a doctor's appointment. Officials there said an unknown accomplice stormed the doctor's office and was able to free Jackson. The pair took off in a black Dodge Magnum - the same kind of vehicle they were driving when officer Chesnut was shot late Thursday afternoon. Within an hour of Sergeant Mark Chesnut being shot the suspects were chased down. The two men were escorted by several patrol cars to the criminal justice center in Downtown Nashville for questioning. They have not yet been charged, but police expect it will likely be soon. Officers said both suspects are from Louisville and both have criminal backgrounds.

February 22, 2007 WMC TV 5
A jailer at the Leflore County jail has been arrested and charged with introducing contraband after money and marijuana was found in his mashed potatoes. 37-year-old Robert Earl Hannon, a Corrections Corporation of America jailer, was arrested over the weekend. Sheriff Ricky Banks says an unknown woman brought Hannon's lunch to him. Upon examination, authorities found 200 dollars and two ounces of marijuana inside his mashed potatoes. Hannon was released on a 15-thousand dollar bond Tuesday. Hannon was arrested by agents from the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics following an investigation into how contraband is entering the facility. Investigators became suspicious when Hannon made a statement that he didn't eat potatoes but had a large portion delivered to him at the jail.

May 23, 2006 Greenwood Commonwealth
Leflore County has taken another step to comply with a federal court order regarding prisoners in its jail. The Leflore County Board of Supervisors will pay half of the additional cost of the construction of a 45-foot-long concrete wall at the combined Leflore County Jail and Delta Correctional Facility complex on Baldwin Road. The wall will separate the jail's inmates from the the inmates of the privately-run prison, said Leflore County Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham. The project will cost the county $1,850. Corrections Corporation of America, which operates Delta Correctional Facility, will pay the other half, according to Abraham.That's on top of about $27,140 that has already been spent on the wall jointly by the county and CCA. Abraham said the county and CCA are awaiting bids for additional fencing needed to complete the jail work. He said that in addition to complying with requirements of the 1971 federal suit Gates v. Collier, which set guidelines for county jails and state prisons, the work will conform to the state fire code.

October 25, 2005 Greenwood Commonwealth
A new contract between Leflore County and Corrections Corporation of America outlines plans for tighter security at the Leflore County Jail. The Board of Supervisors renewed the agreement Monday after Willie Perkins, its attorney, said he is comfortable with the contract. The contract calls for upgrading the jail's security system, building management walls between each cell block and extending the deadline for American Corrections Association accreditation. The issue over accreditation was largely responsible for the delay in contract renewal. Accreditation means the jail would meet national criteria for safely operating a jail. The corrections company will pay the annual $15,000 fee, but it ultimately cost the county with other increases. In the earlier, one-year contract, the county asked for accreditation, "within a reasonable amount of time." The correctional association argued accreditation for a small jail would be a waste of taxpayer's money.

October 4, 2005 Greenwood Commonwealth
The contract between Corrections Corporation of America and Leflore County continues to be pushed back after four months of negotiations. On Monday, The Board of Supervisors approved another extension of the contract until Oct. 10 as the board attorney and CCA ironed out their differences. Within that contract was a clause stipulating that the jail acquire accreditation by the American Corrections Association, "within a reasonable amount of time." Jeb Beasley, who represents the company, said to comply with accreditation standards would cost much more than the annual $15,000.

September 28, 2005 ZWire
Corrections Corporation of America and the Leflore County Supervisors can't seem to find a solution to the issue of national accreditation for the Leflore County Jail. Supervisors want the question answered before they agree on a new contract for CCA to operate the jail. Accreditation means the jail would meet national standards established for operation of a jail, including safety of prisoners and education of corrections officers. The American Corrections Association would provide accreditation for the jail. "Accreditation is a certificate that basically verifies you are staying within the standards," said Jerry Parker, warden of the jail and its neighbor, Delta Correctional Facility. But the jail's designation comes with a $15,000 yearly fee, which CCA says would be better spent elsewhere. For instance, said Parker, the 12-year-old indoor locks could be replaced for the cost.

September 7, 2005 Greenwood Commonwealth
A representative of an architectural firm has received the authority to negotiate with Malouf Construction over the cost of the Leflore County Justice Center project. Also Tuesday, the supervisors delayed a decision on whether to allow the removal of a clause in the county jail's contract that requires accreditation by the American Correctional Association. Jerry Parker, warden of Delta Correctional Facility, which houses the jail, asked the board that the clause be removed. Parker said that the jail adheres to the ACA standards already and that removing the accreditation requirement would save $10,000 that could be used to improve the jail. Improvements he suggested included an upgrade of the security system and construction of an interior wall to separate pods. Removing the requirement wouldn't change the way the facility operates, Parker said. Plus, he added, jails of this size seldom are accredited anyway.

August 24, 2004 Greenwood Commonwealth
The Leflore County Board of Supervisors will likely consider raising taxes to meet expenses relating to the operation of the new county jail, says Sam Abraham, chancery clerk. "It is going to be hard not to suggest an increase," Abraham told the the board Monday. Abraham estimated the additional cost of the jail at $300,000 to $400,000. "This is the cost for having a jail that is in compliance. The county taxpayers are going to have a heavy burden unless someone collects a lot of money from somewhere else. We're looking at ways to collect additional money," Abraham said. The jail expenses run $25 per day per inmate as managed by the Corrections Corporation of America.

April 4, 2004 Greenwood Commonwealth
Prisoner rights attorney Ron Welch says he is tickled over the reopening of Delta Correctional Facility. He is wondering, though, how Mississippi intends to jam 950 inmates in a space designed for 780 and stay in compliance with a federal court order that regulates prison conditions.

December 8, 2003 Greenwood Commonwealth
Delta Correctional Facility will be reopened, although what form it will take is still uncertain, a Greenwood state legislator announced today. "It will be reopened," said state Sen. Bunky Huggins, R-Greenwood, a member and former chairman of the Corrections Committee. Huggins made the remarks during the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce's annual Legislative Review/Preview Meeting. Other state legislators at the meeting were Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood; Rep. May Whittington, D-Schlater, and Rep. Bobby Howell, R-Kilmichael. Delta Correctional Facility was closed in September 2002 at the direction of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Its closing resulted in the loss of 204 jobs in the county. Governor-elect Haley Barbour campaigned on a pledge to reopen the prison. The Republican has claimed that the state could save money by moving inmates out of state-owned facilities into private prisons and regional jails.

May 7, 2003
The latest design for converting part of a now-vacant prison into a jail and sheriff's department for Leflore County requires at least two major changes left out of a cheaper plan proposed earlier by the state. Architects and county supervisors agreed last week that the renovation of a portion of 1,000-bed the Delta Correctional Facility complex will require replacing the entire lock system of Building F and overhauling at least 14 cells. Those changes, plus repairs, account for the jump in price from $1.6 million to the current $4 million, county officials say. The state prison, which had been operated by a private company, closed last year and the inmates were sent to other facilities. "The architect the state sent down did what I would call a 'courtesy survey,"' said Board of Supervisors President Robert Moore. "He didn't do any in-depth walk through." In an August letter sent to state Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps, Ocean Springs architect William V. Lack sized up renovations to the facility for a county jail and construction of a new sheriff's department at $1.6 million. However, that estimate was "based on the assumption that all systems (mechanical, electrical, plumbing, locks, etc.) are in working order and could be restored to like new condition with minor effort," Lack wrote. (Clarion-Ledger)

March 6, 2003
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove on Wednesday signed a bill transferring part of the Delta Correctional facility to Leflore County. The state shut down the Delta prison last summer in an effort to downsize the state's prison system. The conversion to county use is expected to cost $1.6 million, as opposed to an estimated $6.5 million to build a facility. (The Clarion Ledger)

November 6, 2002
Leflore County supervisors are negotiating with state officials to possibly use former Delta correctional Facility as a county jail. Supervisors, who toured the empty prison last week, voted Monday to move on an official offer Gov. Ronnie Musgrove made last month to gibe the county use of the facility. The Delta Correctional Facility closed Oct.9. Musgrove cited a lack of funding because of his veto of the Corrections Department budget for private prisons when he closed the private prison that once housed more than 800 inmates and employed 200 workers. (Clarion Ledger)

October 11, 2002
With Gov. Ronnie Musgrove determined not to use the $54.7 million appropriated for private prisons, state corrections officials are dipping into money meant for regional jails, medical care and other obligations to pay those bills. Mississippi Department of Corrections confirmed that last week they transferred a $23 million second allotment, scheduled to be spent starting Jan. 1, on those other services and contractual obligations, to allow private prisons to begin receiving the money. The governor has frozen the private prisons funds pending the appeal, said Lee Ann Mayo, spokeswoman for Musgrove. "I know that (MDOC) will continue to fill their contractual obligations," she said. (Clarion Ledger)

October 10, 2002
As Delta Correctional Facility prepared to close Wednesday, training officer Danny Fairley took out his camera to snap one last picture. "I want you to say one word, and don't choke when you say it-- Musgrove," Fairley said to 23 remaining workers and two inmates at the private prison. "And that is for the record," he told a Clarion-Ledger reported as the others, who were eating their lunch, laughed. Such was the mood on a rainy, gray day as the last of the CCA employees railed against Gov. Ronnie Musgrove for closing the prison. Delta Warden Don Grant said he can't believe that state will let the 1,000 bed facility remain empty. Musgrove said Delta was closed because the state has too many prison beds and that the state's resources need to go to education and jobs. "Philosophically, I don't believe in creating jobs based on having people commit more crimes," Musgrove said. "That is not the direction we should take in our state. "Delta's last 50 prisoners got into vans and buses Wednesday bound for Parchman, South Mississippi Correctional Institute and regional jails in Carroll, Holmes, Winston, Stone, Leake and Jefferson counties. Epps said there is a chance Leflore County could reopen part of the Delta facility instead of building a county jail. Leflore County is under a court order to relieve overcrowding with a new 150-bed jail by July 2004 and had been looking at building a $6 million facility. (Clarion Ledger)

October 4, 2002
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove says closing Delta Correctional Facility is part of a plan to shrink the state corrections system and invest more in education - a transfer that will eventually replace the prison jobs and others leaving Leflore County. Musgrove, speaking Tuesday at the WIN Job Center in Greenwood, asked business leaders, elected officials and citizens to band together to create positive economic development. The prison industry is not part of that picture. "I don't believe philosophically in creating jobs based on having people commit more crimes," Musgrove said. Still, with the prison's closure compounded by the loss of jobs at Irvin Automotive and Uniek Inc., the state needs to do more, said state Sen. David Jordan. "I feel that special consideration ought to be given to the poorest region of the state of Mississippi," he said. "I agree with you; it shouldn't be built on the backs of prisoners. But that's all we could get." Prior to the meeting, Musgrove accused the Legislature of taking money away from education and funneling it into prisons at a time when the national crime rate is down. He referred to his veto of legislation in 2001 that would have added 1,000 more prison beds. "While we already had too many prison beds, the Legislature was still trying to build more." He estimated savings of about $4 million to result from Delta Correctional's closure and the renegotiation of other private prison contracts. That will happen, he said, as the state Department of Corrections continues to reduce its incarceration costs, which have been cut about $1,500 per prisoner a year. (Clarion Ledger)

September 20, 2002
Delta Correctional Facility in greenwood will lay off 59 workers today as the private prison heads toward closure next month. The layoffs follow inmate reductions from 843 to 412 since Sept.9. The staff had numbered 192, but will now fall to 67 at the prison in Greenwood, which is already experiencing job losses. The entire facility is expected to be empty by Oct.9. State officials are closing the facility because there's no need for a medium-security prison in the system at the moment, said Chris Epps, acting corrections commissioner. Total savings for closing Delta for 18 months could be close to $1 million Epps said. That dispute aside, Musgrove still has authority to close the Delta facility since the prison didn't have a requisite number of guaranteed inmates after June 30, according to its contract. Steven Owen, spokesman for Nashville-based Correctional Corp. of America, said his company will operate the prison in an exemplary manner until the final inmates leave. Owen has heard that MDOC has plans to reopen Delta, but he does not know if CCA will be involved. (Clarion Ledger)

September 16, 2002
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court could mean the state's private prisons may go months without being paid. Musgrove is appealing a Sept.3 ruling by Coahoma Circuit Judge William Willard that found Musgrove's partial veto of a $54.7 million appropriation for private prisons was invalid. Musgrove maintains the money was obliterated by his partial veto. And if the governor authorizes spending any of the $54.7 million in private prison funds Willard ruled as appropriated, Musgrove's Supreme Court appeal likely is moot. Legislatures say they will not consider another private prison appropriation in the special session that began Sept.6 - a session Musgrove had originally called expressly to seek passage of his $48 million private prison package. Money coming from other budget sources in the Mississippi Department of Corrections for private prisons will run out in the next few months, officials say. Steven Owen,a spokesman for Nashville-based Corrections Corp. of America, which runs Delta, said his company will be paid according to contract. The state could have effectively closed Delta without canceling its contract. Delta is not guaranteed any inmates by contract after June 30, 2002, so the state can withdraw inmates until there are none remaining. (Clarion Ledger)

September 6, 2002
House and senate leaders say they won't bring a prison spending bill up for consideration, killing one of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's top wishes in a special legislative session. Musgrove targeted Delta Correctional Facility in Leflore County for closure as he renegotiated contracts with five privately managed prisons. He wanted lawmakers to cut the appropriations to the private prisons from $54.7 million to $48.6 million to match the contracts renegotiated with Corrections Corporation of America and Wackenhut. State corrections officials say Mississippi's prison system has too many medium-custody beds like those at Delta Correctional. Musgrove had asked lawmakers to back his decision by cutting spending to the private facilities. Earlier this week, a chancery judge ruled that Musgrove had unconstitutionally vetoed part of a prison spending bill in the spring. Because the veto was invalid, money is available to operate private prisons, the judge said. Atty. Gen. Mike Moore has said Musgrove can close the Delta facility without any legislation. MDOC officials told members of the House Penitentiary Committee that the shutdown of the facility is going ahead. "There's no reason to have those beds filled when it's not necessary," Rick McCarty, deputy corrections commissioner for administration and finance, said Thursday. McCarty said the state owns the facility and will keep some employees on hand to make sure utilities continue to operate. (Go Memphis.com)

September 5, 2002
Mississippi Department of Corrections officials are going ahead with the transfer of inmates out of the privately run Delta Correctional Facility in Leflore County. Coahoma County Chancery Judge William Willard ruled Tuesday that Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's partial veto in April of the $54.7 million budgeted for private prisons was unconstitutional. Willard siad the contract between Delta Correctional and the MDOC was still in force. A one-year provision in the contract that guaranteed a minimum of 843 inmates expired June 30. Delta Correctional authority officials are hoping lawmakers will reinstate the guarantee during the special session of the Legislature that begins today. State Sen. David Jordan (D-Greenwood) said that was unlikely because Musgrove controls the agenda of a special session. :Unless the governor has a change of heart about the facility then there's not much anyone else can do," Jordan said. Willard did not bar MDOC from transferring state inmates to other facilities. MDOC spokesman Jennifer Griffin on Wednesday said the agency was proceeding with its plans to move inmates. The prison is operated by Corrections Corp. of America (CCA) of Nashville. (Go Memphis.com)

September 4, 2002
A judge ruled Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's partial veto of funding for private prisons, ruling a contract with a prison the governor had targeted for closure remains in force. Musgrove said he would appeal Tuesday's ruling. But he backed off an ultimatum that he would hold up debate on medical lawsuit reform at Thursday's special legislative session unless lawmakers pass an alternative prison appropriation. The Legislature never tried to override the veto because state Attorney General Mike Moore advised that it was not valid. On Tuesday, Coahoma County Judge William Willard ruled in a breach of contract suit by the Delta correctional Facility Authority that the money set aside by the Legislature remains in the budget. The governor, however, still maintains legislators need to pass a new $48.7 million appropriation for the private prison. Moore called the situation "nonsense." "The appropriation bill reads that up to $54.7 million may be spent for private prisons," Moore said. "Since $48 million is less than $54 million, spend that amount. Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, said the vote isn't necessary. "They need to look at what it really costs to close Delta," Jordan said. "Epps testified that the state could not house inmates as cheaply as Delta, so why close it?" But Musgrove still has the authority to close Delta because the contract does not provide for a minimum number of inmates after June 30, 2002. The state also could have negotiated lower per-diems for prisoners above 500, which Musgrove did, without canceling contracts, according to contract terms. During a press conference Tuesday, Moore passed out letters from the Department of Corrections to Walnut Grove Youth Facility and East Mississippi Correctional Facility that indicated such transactions were under way in May, before contracts were cancelled at the end of June. (Clarion Ledger)

September 3, 2002
As lawmakers prepare to convene in a special session Thursday, they're keeping on an eye on today's expected court ruling on whether Gov. Ronnie Musgrove had the right to partially veto a prison appropriations bill. Judge William Willard is expected to rule today whether Musgrove's partial veto of a $54.7 million private prison appropriation bill is valid. Legislators did not override the veto during this year's general session after receiving an opinion from Attorney General Mike Moore that the veto was invalid. But Musgrove insists the veto is valid, and he renegotiated four private prison contracts and cancelled one with the Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, which he plans to close, at least temporarily. The governor is putting a proposed $48.6 million private prison appropriations bill at the top of the special session agenda beginning Thursday. In testimony during the hearing in Willard's court, now acting Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps acknowledged the contract allowed for MDOC to renegotiate lower rates for more than 500 inmates at private prisons without canceling contracts. In addition, MDOC has had the power since June 30 to withdraw prisoners without a contract cancellation. State Sen. Willie Simmons said even if the judge rules the veto invalid, lawmakers should look at changing the prison legislation to free up the $6 million in renegotiated contracts. If they don't, then the $6 million in saving could only be spent with the Department of Corrections and not other agencies that may need the money, said Simmons, D-Cleveland. "We still have some work to do, in my opinion, even if the judge rules it is not a legitimate veto," Simmons said. (Clarion Ledger)

August 30, 2002
Mississippi Department of Corrections officials say they are working on a transfer plan for the 794 inmates now housed at a private prison in Leflore County. Deputy Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said he does not expect the prison to complete the shutdown process by the original target date of Sept. 20. Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and the MDOC are involved in a court fight over closing the Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood. Delta Correctional administration have said that so far about 40 of the 200 employees at Delta Correctional have been offered jobs at state facilities. (Clarion Ledger)

August 27, 2002
A Coahoma County judge says a ruling on a motion in a lawsuit filed against Gov. Ronnie Musgrove cannot legally stop the governor from effectively shutting down a private prison in Greenwood. A lawsuit was filed to keep the prison open by the Delta Correctional Authority, which operates the private prison. Willard said any ruling he makes about the validity of Musgrove's partial veto is irrelevant to the fate of the Delta Correctional Facility. The state's contract with the private prison still allows Musgrove to remove as many prisoners as he wants, Willard said. "If I rule that Governor Musgrove acted improperly, all that would do would be to re-implement the contract," Willard said. "And the governor and the Department of Corrections could do whatever they deem fit as long as it's within the terms of the contract. " (AP)

August 27, 2002
The clock is ticking on the fierce battle over the closure of Delta Correctional Facility. Judge William Willard Monday set a noon Friday deadline for final filings he will use to reach a decision by Sept. 3 on a breach of contract suit against Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and the state Department of Corrections. That deadline was set over objections from attorney John Maxey, representing Musgrove and MDOC, but at the insistence of Attorney General Mike Moore. Moore, intervening for the state, accused Musgrove of setting special session for Sept. 5 so legislators would not have a court decision on the validity of Musgrove's closing of Delta after canceling its contract due to a lack of funds. Willard must decide if Musgrove's partial veto of a $54.7 million private prison appropriation bill is valid. Musgrove upheld its validity, declared the money unappropriated and canceled the contract of Delta and four other private prisons. The governor renegotiated lower future rates with four prisons, but set Delta for closure by Sept.20. (Clarion Ledger)

August 24, 2002
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove is calling lawmakers into special session Sept. 5 to address rising medical malpractice premiums and general civil justice reform — but he says they can't take up those issues unless they pass his private prison appropriation bill first. The move prompted an angered Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck to accuse the governor of playing games, while House Speaker Tim Ford said he was "bewildered." Musgrove said Friday he is asking legislators to pass a $48.6 million appropriation bill for the state's private prison contracts during the special session — the same bill that failed to pass during last month's special session. Only if he is able to sign that bill will he expand the session to include the issue of medical malpractice premiums for doctors who can't find or afford insurance. "It's absolutely essential to deal with the first issue before we get to the second issue," Musgrove said at a news conference at Mississippi Blood Services, where he donated blood. Ford said there was no guarantee the private prison appropriations bill would pass the House, where it failed 44 to 71 during the last special session. The Senate passed the bill 34 to 14. "I'm certainly not opposed to that bill, but the members obviously voted against it," he said. But House Penitentiary Chairman Bennett Malone, who voted against the bill last month, said he's prepared to support it now. He said he sent a letter to other House members urging them to do the same. The governor, who says the veto remains valid, then canceled five prison contracts, stating a lack of appropriated funds. He re-negotiated four contracts at lower rates for additional inmates and set the Delta Correctional Facility for closure. The dispute has since been taken to court. A hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday in Coahoma County on a lawsuit filed by the Leflore County Prison Authority to keep the Delta prison open. Musgrove said Friday that the private prisons are currently not being paid. Musgrove has said closing the Delta prison and renegotiating the contracts will yield a $6 million savings. Of that savings, however, $5 million is one-time money derived by purchasing a surety bond to prevent the state from making a bond payment on the prison. The money will have to be repaid in the future. But House Judiciary B Committee Chairman Ed Blackmon, also a member of the tort reform committee, said he has no problem with Musgrove's plan. "The governor has limited powers in this state and he's using what limited powers he has," said Blackmon, D-Canton. "And I don't criticize him for that." (Clarion Ledger)

August 23, 2002
A hearing set for today in Clarksdale on a lawsuit against Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and the state Department of Corrections over the planned closure of a private prison has been delayed as state officials seek to resolve the dispute out of court. Judge William G. Willard, who was appointed to hear the Delta Prison Authority's breach of contract claim over the closing of Delta Correctional Facility after Leflore County Chancery judges recused themselves, granted a continuance Thursday until 9:30 a.m. Monday. That could give officials more time to work out a compromise. Attorneys held a conference call with Willard on Thursday and more talks are planned today. (Clarion Ledger)

August 22, 2002
Attorney General Mike Moore has asked a judge to rule that the state Department of Corrections doesn't have the authority to cancel a contract with a private prison in Greenwood. Moore filed the court motion Wednesday, just two days before a judge is set to hear a breach of contract suit filed against Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and the Department of Corrections by the Delta Prison Authority. Moore said he still hopes the case is settled out of court. The motion was filed in Leflore County Chancery Court, but the case will be heard in Clarksdale. The attorney general contends Musgrove's veto of a provision earmarking up to $54 million for private prisons is void. Arguing the money was no longer available, Musgrove renegotiated cheaper contracts with four private prisons and ordered the closure of Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood. (Clarion Ledger)

August 14, 2002
Sen. Rob Smith, D-Richland, said Epps is willing to take the job despite three lawsuits facing the department and the fact Musgrove has just one year left in his term. The state faces lawsuits from the Leflore County Prison Authority over the scheduled Sept.20 closing of Delta Correctional Facility and suits from prisoners' right attorney Ron Welch and the American Civil Liberties Union over prison conditions. "Anyone who came in from the outside could find themselves on the street after a year if the governor is not re-elected or has a change of heart," Smith said. "Epps could provide continuity." South Mississippi Correctional Institute in Leakesville received American Correctional Association accreditation in May, with Parchman and Central Mississippi Correctional Facility to follow by October. "Accreditation makes our facility safer for inmates, guards and the public," Epps said. "There are hundreds of standards that must be met." (The Clarion Ledger)

August 13, 2002
Johnson's last day on the $85,000-a-year job is Aug,30. His departure comes as he and Musgrove are embroiled in legal battles as well as a stand-off with the state Legislature over closing the Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood. The governor also renegotiated lower per-inmate, per-day rates with four private prisons in efforts to save the state money. State prisoner rights attorney Ron Welch said leading the Corrections Department "takes a lot of skill politically, administratively and intuitively." Welch is asking a federal court in Greenville to prevent MDOC from closing the Delta prison and to rule the Musgrove's April veto of a $54.7 million appropriation bill for private prisons is invalid. Welch said he hopes the governor appoints a new commissioner from within the department who would be familiar with the issues it faces. (The Clarion Ledger)

August 7, 2002
An Aug.14 trial date has been set for a lawsuit seeking a halt to the closing of a private prison in Leflore County. The Delta Correctional Authority, a five-member board that oversees Delta Correctional Facility, filed the lawsuit in chancery court after Gov. Ronnie Musgrove announced plans to close the facility. The authority says it never received a certified letter from the state providing notification of the impending closure. The letter is required by state law, according to the lawsuit. The governor's plan also would be a breach of contract, said Edgar Bland, chairman of the Delta Correctional Authority board of directors. Musgrove attempted this year to veto $54.7 million for private prison contracts. The governor declared the private prison contracts void July 1 because lawmakers did not override his veto, and he said the money was left unappropriated. The governor then re-negotiated lower per-prisoner, per-day rates with four private prisons and moved to close the delta Facility. Prisoner rights attorney Ron Welch also has filed a lawsuit against Musgrove to keep Delta Correctional open. (The Clarion Ledger)

August 1, 2002
State prisoners' rights attorney Ron Welch said he is resorting to "sabotage" against the Mississippi Department of Corrections and Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Welch, whose filing to reopen the Gates vs. Collier federal lawsuit on prison overcrowding was in the media Tuesday the morning lawmakers defeated a reduced funding bill for private prisons, laughed when told Musgrove's attorney, Peyton Prospere, considered his timing "like sabotage." "That is exactly what it was," Welch said. "I am proud he recognized it." A second motion Welch sent Wednesday to federal court in Greenville seeks to prevent MDOC from closing Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood and asks for a declaratory judgment that Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's April veto of a $54.7 million appropriation bill for private prisons is invalid. But Attorney General Mike Moore, who would have to defend the state against such a declaratory judgment, says the veto is partial and invalid because it included only a provision to prevent Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson from moving money to other areas of the budget. Johnson, incensed at Welch's newest court filing, says the state will seek sanctions against the prisoners' rights attorney. "It is frivolous and has nothing to do with Gates vs. Collier," he said. "We have paid him $678,000 in the last five years to sue us. "I don't know if he wants to get his name in the news or is just trying to have a record earnings year, but I am beginning to doubt his motives." "We are asking the court to make (the state) prove that shutting down Delta will not have a negative impact on prisoners," he said of Wednesday's motion. "It is my duty to look after their well-being, yet the state did not tell me about closing Delta until the last minute." (The Clarion Ledger)

July 31, 2002
Mississippi lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a proposal to reshuffle the state's prison budget to match Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's plans to close a 1,000 bed, privately run prison in the Delta. While the Senate approved a reduction in the state's $233 million prison budget by $6 million, a coalition of Delta, black and even some Republican lawmakers in the House blocked the proposal with a 64-51 vote. Their actions capped a one-day, three-issue special session called by the governor. But the impasse over the state's prison budget-specifically a section that deals with prisons run for the state by contract with private companies-immediately raised the specter of litigation and/or another special session as early as this fall. "It's unfortunate that a majority un the House choose to fund private prison beds that aren't needed," Musgrove said. In 2001, the governor vetoed efforts to build still more privately run prisons. And critics have complained for years that new prisons were increasingly being viewed by local officials as a toll for economic development. As the 2002 legislative session concluded, the governor vetoed part of the state's $233 million prison budget that pertained to private prisons. Specifically, he vetoed a provision that prevented him form transferring $54 million appropriated for privately run prisons to fund beds at state-run institutions. Based on his belief that his veto stood, the governor terminated contracts with Wackenhut and Corrections Corporation of America to run five prisons. He negotiated new contracts his administration claims will save $6 million this year. Part of those savings comes from plans to close, beginning next month, the 1,000-bed medium security Delta Correctional Facility in Leflore County, run by Corrections Corporation of America. By the end of the day Tuesday, Atty, Gen. Mike Moore confirmed that the governor had authority to re-negotiate private prisons contracts and even to close the Delta Correctional Facility. (GoMemphis)

August 30, 2002
The governor's special session is quickly approaching and, by some accounts, is becoming less about issues and more about a political quagmire. While lawmakers mull over medical malpractice proposals, saying he should be prepared to take the blame if tort reform is not addressed. Musgrove said the prison bill needs to be passed because the state Department of Corrections has no spending authority, and he is using his right to steer the agenda for the special session. "The governor has the constitutional authority to expand the call whenever he deems appropriate," said Musgrove spokeswoman Lee Ann Mayo. During the general session, Musgrove vetoed the MDOC budget set-aside for private prisons. Legislators did not seek to override the veto because Attorney General Mike Moore said it was invalid. The governor, who says the veto remains valid, the canceled five prison contracts stating a lack of appropriated funds. He renegotiated four contracts at lower rates for additional inmates and set the Delta Correctional Facility for closure. Musgrove has said closing the prison and renegotiating the contracts would save $6 million. (Clarion Ledger)

July 31, 2002
Mississippi is in possible legal jeopardy after legislators Tuesday voted down a Department of Corrections appropriations bill state officials said would save $6 million in 2003, officials said. The 71-44 vote in the house against the bill to reduce private prison funding from $54.7 million to $48.7 million was seen by some as a backlash against Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who cancelled five contracts July 1, renegotiated four and moved to close Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood by Sept.20. House speaker Tim Ford, D-Baldwyn, who voted for the bill, said the vote could result in legal action against the state because legislators refused to validate Musgrove's negotiations. Moore agreed. "The state could be sued," he said. "We have had calls...from private prison operators. The setback will not prevent Musgrove from closing Delta or from going forward on the renegotiated per-diem rates, but the Mississippi Department of Corrections must pay for private prisons with other revenues. "It's unfortunate that the majority of the members of the House chose to fund beds we don't need versus saving $6 million for the people of Mississippi," said Musgrove, who lobbied the Senate to turn a 25-20 vote against the bill to a 24-14 approval before the house action. "They voted against the $6 million, against appropriating money for private prisons and the opportunity to operate more efficiently by putting inmates in appropriate beds." (The Clarion Ledger)

July 27, 2002
Renegotiation of the state's private prison contracts will save taxpayers $9 million and increase efficiency in the Mississippi Department of Corrections, officials said Friday. Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who cancelled contracts at the state's private prisons July 1, said successful bargaining with private prison operators has assured the best use of public dollars. Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson confirmed MDOC's intentions to close Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood by Sept. 20 and send more inmates to four other private facilities at a reduced cost. Musgrove wants legislators attending a special session Tuesday to approve a private prison appropriation of $6 million less than the $54.7 million appropriated in April. The governor said $3 million of the savings will be realized in 2004. Rep. Bennett Malone, D-Carthage, who chairs the House Penitentiary Committee, says he believes Musgrove's plan will work. But the MDOC had recruiters at Delta on Friday to talk with prison staff employed by CCA about state employment. (The Clarion Ledger)

July 26, 2002
Mississippi prison officials will close Greenwood's Delta Correctional Facility by Sept. 20. Warden Don Grant told The Clarion-Ledger on Thursday that he received a letter from the Mississippi Department of Corrections this week detailing closure plans for the 1,000-bed facility. But Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson said Thursday that closing the facility, operated by Corrections Corporation of America, is part of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's efforts to save the state at least $6 million. Musgrove began renegotiating private prison management contracts after voiding the pacts June 28. He said he could do so because the Legislature failed to override his April 9 veto of a $54.7 million private prison appropriation. Closing Delta "will address the excess of medium-security beds in the system," said Johnson of the state's 2,600 empty prison beds. "It will give us the opportunity to redistribute prisoners based on our needs." (The Clarion Ledger)

July 25, 2002
State Department of Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson said Wednesday the state is considering closing Greenwood's Delta Correctional Facility, one possible outcome of the governor's efforts to renegotiate private prison contracts. "It's on the table, certainly," Johnson said. Johnson gave few details, but said he hoped Gov. Ronnie Musgrove would announce soon, if not today, the results of negotiations he has held with private prisons. Musgrove has said that renegotiating the contracts would save Mississippi taxpayers between $6 million and $12 million in 2003, and plans to call a special session to address the issue. "I think things will make more sense when that announcement comes out," Johnson said. (Clarion Ledger)

July 22, 2002
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove is apparently weighing his options about the state taking over the operation of Delta Correctional Facility, said state Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood. As recently as Thursday, Musgrove had told Jordan of his intention for the state to take over the 1,000 bed facility. Jordan told the Greenwood voters league Wednesday night the governor is likely waiting to see what state Attorney General Mike Moore is going to do in response to a termination letter that was sent to the six privately run prisons. Jordan, president of the Voters League, was joined at the league's meeting by Don Grant, Delta Correctional's warden and Phillip McLaurin and Jacquelyn Banks, the facility's assistant warden. Many of those in attendance at the meeting were Delta Correctional employees who came dressed in their Corrections Corporation of America uniforms. A showdown between the Legislature and Musgrove over the six privately run prisons in the state started when Johnson sent the letters terminating contracts with the prisons effective July 1. The Attorney General has said Musgrove cannot end the contracts summarily. Musgrove has claimed he wants to trim the budget for the private prisons by $6 million to $12 million by taking over the private prisons, he said. "If they come in and take this facility over, how are they going to save money, when their employees get 5.7 percent more in salaries than we do? I'm not a rocket scientist and don't claim to be one, but I can add two and two and it equals four", Grant said. (Greenwood Commonwealth)

July 19, 2002
Corrections Corporation of America said yesterday that its contract to manage a Mississippi prison has been terminated. Mississippi ended the contract for the Nashville-based company to manage the 1,016-bed Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, as part of a move to return privately operated prisons in Mississippi to state control. (Tennessean)

July 14, 2002
State Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, says he met with Gov. Ronnie Musgrove about the prison last week and the takeover is a "foregone conclusion." Gov. Ronnie Musgrove plans to announce this week a state takeover of Delta Correctional Facility, according to state Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood. The plan would save jobs of employees there and open 150 beds for Leflore County inmates, Jordan said. "We are negotiating with the private prison companies, and as soon as we complete the negotiations a public announcement will be made," said John Sewell, a spokesman for the Governor's Office. Musgrove has canceled all contracts with private prisons, saying he can save Mississippi $6 million to $12 million. The Mississippi Department of Corrections is working with a $19.2 million shortfall. Jordan's announcement clashes with an MDOC order, which came in April, barring the county from using beds at Delta Correctional. A medium security prison, Delta Correctional does not have the capacity to house inmates convicted of violent crimes or awaiting trial. Supervisors had looked into converting the prison into a jail facility, a transformation that would save time and money compared with building a new jail. At this point, the prospect of the county using Delta Correctional brings up a number of questions. "I'm not really sure who would manage it," said Abraham, who posed the idea to supervisors earlier this year. "Would state manage it or would we manage it? Would we be guaranteed those beds forever or for two years? There are a lot of questions." And the county is running out of time to look for answers. (The Tennessean)

July 8, 2002
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's attempt Monday to cancel state contracts with five privately-run prisons has left a Leflore County state legislator looking for answers. State Sen. Bunky Huggins, R-Greenwood, said he has been discussing the situation with state Attorney General Mike Moore among others. Musgrove's actions, he said, were irresponsible because they unnecessarily put the public at risk and gave the Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America, the company that runs DCF, little assurance it would be paid for continuing to operate the prison. Huggins said Musgrove did guarantee later that the prison companies would be paid for their services. The governor also has suggested bringing the existing private prison guard force in as state employees through an executive order, Huggins said. (Common Wealth)

East Mississippi Correctional Facility
Meridian, Mississippi
GEO Group (formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections)
April 1, 2006 Meridian Star
A former guard at East Mississippi Correctional Facility at Lost Gap received a three-year suspended sentence this week in Lauderdale County Circuit Court for helping two prisoners escape last year. Tomeka Lashae Brown, 26, of Porterville pleaded guilty Monday to aiding the escape of a felon. Prisoners Gregory Malone, 26, and Christopher Roy, 24, escaped Oct. 17 after apparently using a saw blade to cut their way out of the facility. They were captured about 24 hours later at a hotel in Northport, Ala., near Tuscaloosa. Malone was serving a life sentence for a capital murder in Hinds County. Roy was serving a life sentence for a murder in Jackson County. In her petition to plead guilty, Brown admitted driving the two men to Tuscaloosa and paying for their motel room. Brown was indicted by a Lauderdale County grand jury in November; Lost Gap prison officials announced she had been fired in December. Circuit Judge Lester Williamson Jr. handed down the sentence, which could have been as severe as 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Roy and Malone were each indicted on a charge of escape, which could add five years to their life sentences. A third inmate, 24-year-old Kenneth Johnson, was indicted on a charge of aiding the escape of a felon; he is serving a 71/2-year sentence for a burglary in Lawrence County. None of these cases has been resolved. The Geo Group Inc., a Florida-based company, operates East Mississippi Correctional Facility, which can house as many as 1,000 inmates, under a contract with the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The prison specializes in housing prisoners with psychiatric problems.

March 31, 2006 WREG
A former Texas prison official has taken over as warden of the privately run East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Lauderdale County. Yesterday was the first day on the job for 51-year-old Dale Caskey, who recently retired after 30 years with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Caskey replaced interim warden Darryl Anderson. Caskey's last assignment in Texas was as warden of the Hughes Unit, a maximum-security facility in Gatesville, Texas. The East Mississippi Correctional Facility, located in the Lost Gap community, houses inmates with mental disorders. It's owned by The Geo Group, formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corporation.

December 16, 2005 Clarion Ledger
Two guards have been terminated and a supervisor resigned in the wake of the October escape of two inmates serving life sentences for murder at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian. "The message is that if you don't follow policy and procedures, you will be terminated," Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said. Epps said guard Tomeka Brown was fired for providing transportation from the Mississippi/Alabama line to Tuscaloosa for escaped inmates Gregory Malone and Christopher Roy. Epps said Brown apparently had a personal relationship with Malone. Brown, who was indicted last month, is charged with accessory before the fact to escape for aiding an abetting the inmates. She is out on a $100,000 bond. Epps said guard Lakeisha Gowdy was fired after an investigation determined she had not physically counted inmates to ensure they were actually in the cells. Sgt. Cheryl Thornton resigned before being terminated, Epps said. In Thornton's case, daily physical counts of inmates weren't being performed as required, Epps said. The two inmates used a saw blade to cut their way out of the facility.

November 25, 2005 WREG
Lauderdale County authorities say there appears to be no foul play in death of an East Mississippi Correctional Facility inmate. The body of 32-year-old Reginald Williams, of Meridian, was found hanging in his cell yesterday. The sheriff's department is investigating the death and waiting for autopsy results from the Mississippi Mortuary in Pearl.

November 19, 2005 Meridian Star
It's the mid-1990s. The number of inmates in Mississippi's penal system is increasing, and state officials need to build more prisons - or contract with private companies to build more prisons. Meanwhile, Lauderdale County and Meridian officials are looking for ways to improve the local economy and create jobs. It seemed like a good match. The state needed a place to build a prison and Lauderdale had a readily available workforce and land that needed no rezoning. When city and county officials began putting together a proposal, they hoped the new prison would provide an influx of jobs that would only increase over time. They also hoped it would help Naval Air Station Meridian. New U.S. Navy regulations prohibited student pilots from performing maintenance tasks at the base. It was hoped that non-violent prisoners could do some of the work - saving the base $300,000 to $500,000. The Wackenhut Corp., now The Geo Group Inc., won the contract to build and operate East Mississippi Correctional Facility in southwest Lauderdale County's Lost Gap community. The facility accepted its first prisoners in April 1999. Measuring outcomes: District 2 Supervisor Jimmie Smith said the initial estimate was that the facility would create up to 350 jobs. It currently employs 220 people in positions ranging from security officers to medical staff to administrators. The partnership between the Navy base and the prison never happened, according to Susan Junkins, public affairs officer at NAS Meridian. "To the best of my knowledge I have seen no impact that it has made to my business," said David Hamilton, owner of the Best Western in Meridian. Ray Joyner, manager of the Howard Johnson motel in Meridian, concurred: "I can't tell any difference in business. It certainly doesn't seem any different, but I wouldn't call it a major tourist attraction or industry, either." Wayne Gasson, chief of labor market information with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, said given the relatively small number of jobs available, it is hard to gauge the prison's economic impact. "If a facility like this one opened or closed, it would be significant to the people that worked there - but as far as it impacting an entire area, it probably isn't going to have much of an impact," Gasson said. The East Mississippi Correctional Facility at Lost Gap employs 220 people. Interim Warden Darryl Anderson reports that the annual turnover rate at the facility is 65 percent. Here's a look at positions available and their hourly pay range. Security posts $7-$10.95 Clerical staff $7-$10 Food service $7-$15.35 Program staff $11.06-$18.45 Maintenance staff $9-$17 Medical staff $7.35-$20.95

October 29, 2005 Meridian Star
Residents of the Lost Gap community were uneasy in April 1999, when the first prisoners began arriving at East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a private prison that brought inmates with mental disorders to their quiet area of southeast Lauderdale County. Since then, there have been bumps in the road - violence inside the prison, deaths, indictments of inmates and, most recently, escapes. When two convicted murderers escaped from the EMCF this month, it sparked a wide mix of emotions among residents of Lost Gap. In addition to the escapes, EMCF has been the site of at least five incidents of inmate-on-inmate violence since 2002. Three of these incidents led to inmates' deaths. Also, in February 2002, inmates created a two-hour disturbance when they refused to return to their cells. Correctional officers were forced to use chemical agents to subdue them, and 29 inmates were transferred to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman as a result. Current District 2 Supervisor Jimmie Smith, who was also on the board at the time of the contract's approval, estimated the facility would create 350 jobs. Lost Gap resident Robert Maxey doesn't share Florey's optimistic view. "Sure, it provides a few jobs, but you can find jobs in lots of other places. I really don't see the benefit in having it here," Maxey said. Community residents tried to derail the project, but to no avail. When Maxey's wife, Barbara, was given a tour of the facility in 1998, she was told that escapes would be impossible. Her skepticism at that remark was confirmed on Monday, Oct. 17, however, when convicted killers Gregory Malone, 26, and Christopher Roy, 24, with the apparent assistance of a prison guard and a fellow inmate, escaped through sawed window bars. "My granddaughter was scared to death," Mrs. Maxey said. "If they hadn't captured the two men, she likely would have never gone outside again.

October 30, 2005 AP
With two murderers escaping in the past month, residents here have begun carrying weapons and apprehensions have grown about the East Mississippi Correctional Facility. The private prison, opened in April 1999, houses prisoners with mental disorders in southeast Lauderdale County. On Oct. 17, convicted killers Gregory Malone, 26, and Christopher Roy, 24, escaped from the facility, allegedly with the assistance of a prison guard and a fellow inmate. The men escaped through sawed window bars. They were caught about 24 hours later. That was the second escape this year - Earl Blue escaped from the facility on April 8. He was caught hours later, but residents are not satisfied with the level of safety. The prison has had patterns of violence within its walls leading to both deaths and indictments of inmates. The facility has had five incidents of inmate violence since 2002 - three of which resulted in inmate deaths. Many residents have opposed the presence of the EMCF since it was proposed in the mid-1990s. "It's made a lot of people more apprehensive," said John Griffin, 67, a retired Marine and former Lost Gap fire chief. "My mother-in-law lived here when they first brought the prison here, and she was scared to death. And now you've got more people walking around carrying a gun because of the place. I don't go out of this house without carrying a gun."

October 23, 2005 Clarion Ledger
A second prison employee is being eyed in an investigation of two convicted murderers' escape from the East Mississippi Correctional Facility last week. A prison guard has been charged, but Chris Epps, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, said Saturday "there's been some conversation about another employee." "We won't know until the investigation is concluded. I would hope within a couple weeks we should have everything wrapped up," he said. On Friday, inmate Kenneth Nelson Johnson Jr., 23, who is serving a 7 1/2-year sentence for a burglary conviction in Lawrence County, was charged with two counts of accessory before the fact. He is the fourth person charged in relation to the escape. Gregory Malone, 26, and Christopher Roy, 24, both serving life sentences for murder, fled Monday from the prison on Old U.S. 80 West at the Lost Gap community. They were captured about 24 hours later at a hotel in Northport, Ala., near Tuscaloosa. Prison guard Tomeka Brown, 25, of Porterville, was arrested and charged with two counts of accessory before the fact. She posted $100,000 bond from the Lauderdale County jail Thursday. Epps has said Malone and Roy did not share a cell. He said he believes someone helped the escaped convicts by sawing window bars, allowing them to get to the prison's roof and escape after cutting a set of camera wires. Neither he nor Calhoun knows how wide a net the investigators will have to cast, Epps said. Despite the conversations about a possible second employee, no employees other than Brown have been arrested or disciplined, Epps said. Lauderdale County and Epps' office are coordinating the investigation.

October 22, 2005 Meridian Star
An East Mississippi Correctional Facility inmate was charged Friday with helping two fellow prisoners escape earlier this week. Kenneth Nelson Johnson Jr., 23, who is serving a 71/2-year sentence for a burglary conviction in Lawrence County, was charged with two counts of accessory before the fact. He is the fourth person to be charged in connection with the Monday escape. Lauderdale County Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun said he expects others to be charged as the investigation continues. Porterville resident Tomeka Brown, 25, a correctional officer at the private prison for inmates with mental problems, was arrested at the same hotel later Tuesday and charged with two counts of accessory before the fact. She posted $100,000 bond and was released from the Lauderdale County jail Thursday. Officials with the Department of Corrections, which contracts with EMCF parent company The GEO Group Inc. to house state prisoners, could not be reached for comment Friday. State Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps told reporters earlier this week that Malone and Roy did not share a cell. Epps said he believes someone helped the escapees by sawing window bars, allowing them to get to the prison's roof and escape after cutting a set of camera wires.

October 19, 2005 Meridian Star
Two inmates who were captured after escaping from the East Mississippi Correctional Facility on Monday have been transferred to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Gregory Malone, 26, and Christopher Roy, 24, who were serving life sentences at the Lost Gap prison, were captured by deputy U.S. marshals early Tuesday morning at an Econo Lodge in Northport, Ala., near Tuscaloosa. The two were discovered missing shortly after 12:50 a.m. Monday at the privately operated prison for inmates with mental health problems. Prison employee Tomeka Brown, who investigators believe played a key role in the inmates' escape, is currently in custody at the Lauderdale County Detention Facility. Brown, 25, of Porterville and a correctional officer at EMCF, has been charged with two counts of accessory before the fact. She was behind held on $100,000 bond Wednesday. Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps has said that other employees of the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, including interim Warden Darryl Anderson, could face disciplinary action. However, MDOC officials wouldn't be more specific Wednesday.

October 19, 2005 Clarion Ledger
Two convicted murderers and a Mississippi corrections officer accused of assisting in their escape from a Meridian prison were arrested in Alabama, Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said Tuesday. Investigators believe Tomeka Lashae Brown helped Gregory Malone and Christopher Roy rent a room at the Econo Lodge Hotel at 1930 McFarland Blvd., in Northport, Ala., Sollie said. The inmates were discovered missing from the East Mississippi Correctional Facility early Monday morning. Brown, 25, of DeKalb is charged with two counts of accessory before the fact. All three are being held without bond at the Tuscaloosa County Jail. Malone, 26, and Roy, 24, will face charges of felony escape, Mississippi officials said. Sollie would not give any other details on Brown's alleged role in the inmates' escape from the prison, which houses inmates with mental health problems. Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Tuesday some employees - including interim Warden Darryl Anderson - may be fired upon completion of an investigation. Epps said he had "grave" concerns about hourly inmate counts, and window and bar checks. He said he believes someone helped Malone and Roy, who were not housed together, by sawing window bars, allowing them to get to the prison's roof and escape after cutting a set of camera wires. "You have to check those bars every 24 hours with a rubber hammer. The way they were able to saw out of that prison, it didn't happen overnight," he said. Epps said security cameras show the inmates leaving around 1 a.m.

August 12, 2005 Sun Herald
Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie says three men have been charged with murder in the stabbing death of an inmate at East Mississippi Correctional Facility are charged in the murder of fellow inmate Stanley Johnson. Sollie said Friday that John Pickens, 35; John Sparkman, 30; and Kelvin Cage, 36, each face a charge of murder in the stabbing death of Johnson on Sunday. Sollie said all three are inmates at the privately run prison. Sollie said the killing apparently dates back to a disagreement between Pickens and Johnson, when the two were incarcerated in the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. "All indications are this was a planned assault on the victim," the sheriff said.

August 10, 2005 Clarion Ledger
Lauderdale County authorities said Tuesday they hope to make an arrest today in the stabbing death of 43-year-old Stanley Johnson inside the East Mississippi Correctional Facility. "We are anticipating an arrest in the next 24 to 48 hours," Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said. Johnson was serving a life sentence for a 1985 rape conviction in Sunflower County. Warden Larry Greer said Johnson was attacked about 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the privately run prison and died several hours later in a local hospital. Sollie and Greer said several prisoners have been questioned in the stabbing. No weapon has been found, and officials won't go into specifics about their investigation. This is the second time in three years an inmate has been killed in the prison. In 2002, 58-year-old Lonnie Grisham was found bludgeoned to death in his cell. Information on whether Grisham's killer was prosecuted wasn't available Tuesday. The prison is run by the GEO Group Inc., a Florida-based company formerly known as Wackenhut. The GEO Group runs private prisons in 14 states, as well as in South Africa and Australia. In Mississippi, the company also runs the Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs, which was the site of the beating death of an inmate by another prisoner in 2001.

August 9, 2005 WAPT
An investigation continues into the stabbing death of an inmate at the privately run East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Lauderdale County. The inmate, 42-year-old Stanley Johnson, was serving a life sentence for a rape conviction in Sunflower County. Lauderdale County Coroner Clayton Cobler reported that Johnson died Sunday at a Meridian hospital from stab wounds in the chest and both thighs. An autopsy has been ordered. East Mississippi Correctional Facility is located off U.S. Highway 80 in the Lost Gap community. It's privately owned by GEO Group, formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp.

August 8, 2005 Sun Herald
An inmate at the privately run East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Lauderdale County has died of stab wounds, says county Coroner Clayton Cobler. Wackenhut operates the facility, a 750-bed prison that opened in April 1999 off U.S. 80 near the Lost Gap community. Cobler said 42-year-old inmate Stanley Johnson was stabbed three times in an incident Sunday. He said Johnson died at a Meridian hospital. Cobler said an investigation is underway. Prison officials have declined to comment.

April 11, 2005 Greenwood Commonwealth
A state inmate serving a 40-year sentence for armed robbery in Leflore County was apprehended without incident Sunday afternoon by the Forest Police Department, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Earl Blue, 27, who escaped from East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian on Friday, will be taken to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. East Mississippi Correctional Facility is a privately run correctional facility operated by Wackenhut Corrections Corporation of Palm Beach, Fla.

February 26, 2003
Prison emergency personnel used chemical agents to get 29 prisoners to return to their cells at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility Tuesday evening, officials said. Nobody was seriously injured in the disturbance, which lasted for two hours according to a statement by Wackenhut Corrections Corp., a private prison management company that operates the 750-bed prison. (AP)

August 21, 2002
Authorities believe an inmate who died at the East Mississippi correctional Facility at Lost Gap was attacked by another prisoner. Lauderdale county chief deputy Mike Mitchell on Tuesday identified the dead inmate at Lonnie Grisham, 58, of Tippah County. East Mississippi Correctional Facility is a 100-acre prison opened in April 1999. It is operated by Wackenhut Corrections. (AP)

August 23, 2002
The death of an inmate at a Lost Gap prison facility has been ruled a homicide, authorities said. Sheriff Billy Sollie said a state pathologist determined blunt force trauma to be the cause of death of Lonnie Grisham, 58. Sheriff's deputies said they found Grisham's bruised and bloody body in his cell Monday. No weapons were found in the cell. Sollie said Grisham's roommate Tyrone J. Wilson was being held in isolation. Wilson, 29, is being questioned about the death, authorities say. East Mississippi Correctional Facility, in the Lost Gap community west of Meridian, is a 100-acre prison opened in April 1999 by Wackenhut Corrections. The prison is designed to house inmates with special needs, including those with psychiatric illnesses. (Clarion Ledger)

August 21, 2002
Authorities say an inmate is a suspect in the death of his cellmate at East Mississippi Correctional Facility in the Lost Gap community. Mitchell said the blood and bruises on the body indicated the death appeared to be caused by blunt force trauma. The death marks the third apparent inmate-on-inmate attack at Lost Gap prison since May. An inmate was stabbed in the chest with a piece of sharpened metal broken off a cyclone fence in mid-May. The victim was treated for a puncture wound to the chest at Rush Foundation Hospital. In late June, an inmate was stabbed in the jaw with a similar weapon. The inmate recovered from his wounds. (AP)

East Point Christian Academy
(formerly known as Bethel Boys Academy)
Lucedale, Mississippi
April 11, 2005 Clarion Ledger
A manhunt for a missing student continued late Sunday in the wake of a weekend melee that left a dormitory building ravaged, seven cadets injured and nine cadets arrested at Eagle Point Christian Academy, a private school for troubled teen boys in Lucedale. Four students, or cadets, ran away from the school Sunday afternoon. Three were caught less than a mile from the rural campus, but a fourth remained at large, George County Sheriff Garry Welford said Sunday night. The sheriff said it's unknown if the school, directed by John Fountain of Lucedale, will be in session today. The situation began at 10:57 p.m. Friday, when the Sheriff's Department received a 911 call from the school, formerly known as the Bethel Boys Academy, Welford said. Deputies found a dormitory with shattered windows and overturned beds. Students told Welford that a rumor had been circulating that state investigators might arrive at the school over the weekend. Students told him that caused some cadets to riot, Welford said. The dormitory has been shut down because it's so badly damaged, Welford said, and until cleanup is completed, the school building is being used as sleeping quarters. Efforts to reach Fountain on Sunday were unsuccessful. He took over Bethel Boys Academy from his father, Herman Fountain, nearly two years ago. Bethel Boys Academy has a history of abuse allegations and state investigations dating to 1988, when 72 children were removed by state welfare officials. In 1990, a judge closed the school, then owned by Herman Fountain Sr. In 1994, Fountain reopened it as Bethel Boys Academy. Early this year, the school changed its name to Eagle Point Christian Academy. John Fountain said the name change is an effort to disassociate the school from the past allegations.

George-Greene Correctional Facility
George, Mississippi
Corrections Management Services
March 13, 2003
The warden of the George-Greene Correctional Facility has been relieved of his duties. George County Sheriff Don Parnell said Michael Bernhardt was not complying with Mississippi Department of Corrections procedure. After consulting with a representative of Corrections Management Services Inc., Parnell decided that Bernhardt's services were no longer needed. (Clarion Ledger)

Grenada County Detention Center
Grenada, Mississippi
GEO Group (formerly Correctional Services Corporation)
May 19, 2008 AP
A federal judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Carroll County in 2006 by the estate of a woman who died in the back of a sheriff's deputy's squad car. The family of Debbie Loggins had sought $10 million from the county. U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled this past week that Loggins' death did not result from force used by three deputies when they arrested her Sept. 17, 2005. A $15 million lawsuit against the deputies - Michael Spellman, Charles Jones and David Mims - was dismissed in December 2006. "She died, and it was unfortunate, absolutely tragic, that one would pass away, but it had little to do with the actions of the officers," said Michael Wolf, a Jackson attorney who represented Carroll County and the deputies. Loggins, 33, of North Carrollton, had been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. She was unconscious when she arrived at a private prison in Grenada, authorities said. Deputies had arrested Loggins, the mother of six, after responding to a report of two women fighting. Two hours later, Loggins was dead. Authorities said an autopsy showed no signs or evidence of trauma.

May 28, 2006 Daily Star
The operators of the Grenada County Jail have told county officials they plan to give it back to the county in 120 days. Geo Group, Inc., the leaser of the local correctional facility, met with Grenada County officials last week to discuss the financial shortfalls which the leaser is suffering. "We have had an initial discussion with the county and we are hoping to come to a resolution beneficial to both parties," said Pablo Paez, the Director of Corporate Relations with The Geo Group. Geo took over the county jail last year when the Florida based Correctional Service Corporation's (CSC) contract ended. Paez said yesterday that Geo is working with the county but no final decision has been made yet. Grenada County Board of Supervisors President Columbus Hankins said Geo did give a notice and they were asked to submit a proposal to the county if they had any adjustments that were to be made. "We are seeking bids for a new leaser even though it is still in the early stages," said Hankins. Hankins said it would be too expensive for the county to run the jail and the sheriff and the county is too busy to do so.

November 29, 2005 Greenwood Commonwealth
Carroll County District Attorney Doug Evans soon will receive the results of the state Highway Patrol's investigation into the death of Debbie Denise Loggins, a patrol spokeswoman says. "All investigative findings, including autopsy results, will be forwarded to the district attorney's office within the next few days," Delores Lewis said in a written statement Monday. She had been arrested for fighting and was driven from the sheriff's office in Carrollton to Grenada. She was, according to Lewis, "unresponsive upon arrival at Grenada County Correctional Services Corp., a private prison in Grenada."

November 29, 2005 Sun Herald
An autopsy is complete on the body of a North Carrollton woman who died in September after being found unconscious in the back of a Carroll County Sheriff's deputy's car, the Mississippi Highway Patrol says. "All investigative findings, including autopsy results, will be forwarded to the district attorney's office within the next few days," Highway Patrol spokesman Delores Lewis said. Debbie Denise Loggins, 33, had been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. She was unconscious when she arrived at a private prison in Grenada, authorities said. Sheriff Don Gray has said he is confident the final autopsy report will show Loggins' death was not due to excessive force while she was in the custody of his deputies.

March 24, 2005 Sun Herald
The family of an inmate who died this past weekend during an apparent fight at the Grenada County Detention Center has filed a lawsuit against the operators of the lockup. The jail is operated by Correctional Services Corporation, a private prison company headquartered in Sarasota, Fla. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday against CSC in U.S. District Court in Oxford. It seeks unspecified damages. CSC will have 20 days to respond. Grenada County Sheriff Alton Strider identified the dead inmate as Kenneth Kendall, 22, of Grenada. He said Kendall was killed Sunday night in his cell. An autopsy has been ordered. Kendall was serving a 30-day sentence for failing to pay fines, authorities said. Jay Westfaul, an Oxford attorney representing the Kendall family, said Thursday that the sheriff and Grenada County are not defendants in the lawsuit but that may change once the investigation and autopsy are completed. "Jails and prisons should be run by governmental entities not private corporations out to make a profit," Westfaul said in a statement. Westfaul said the lawsuit alleges the facility was understaffed at the time of the incident and that Kendall was placed in an area with "hardened criminals, many of whom were being held for capital murder."

March 22, 2005 ZWire
A young man killed during an attack in the county jail was serving time for contempt of court, according to authorities. The inmate beaten to death at Correctional Services Corporation (CSC) had been in jail for the charges related to fines owed to the city. According to Grenada County Sheriff Alton Strider, Kenneth Kendall, 22, of Grenada was being held at CSC on contempt fines. Kendall died in what the sheriff called an altercation with other inmates in his cell. According to Grenada County Justice Court Clerk Brenda Mullen, a simple assault charge against Kendall had been remanded by the county; he remained in jail on the charge from the Grenada Police Department. The investigation is continuing. Information about charges related to the death was not available at press time.

Hinds County Jail
Hinds, Mississippi
Wright Security
December 17, 2002
A Hinds County jail inmate who got past a security guards assigned to watch him at a Jackson hospital and ran off naked was captured Monday, officials said. "Jordan was last seen running naked across the parking lot," Sheriff Malcolm McMillin said before Jordan was captured. Wright Security guards inmates when they are hospitalized, Pickett said. Stanley Wright, the company owner, couldn't be reached for comment Monday. (Clarion Ledger)

Jackson County Adult Detention Center
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Aramark
February 26, 2009 The Mississippi Press
State health officials said they have not yet determined the cause of a salmonella outbreak earlier this month at the Jackson County Adult Detention Center, but that the illness has been contained. State Health Department spokeswoman Liz Sharlot said Wednesday that the investigation into the cause may take up to four weeks to complete. Aramark spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis said the food service company is working with state health officials in the investigation. Aramark has been the food service provider for the jail for at least 16 years, and the company purchases and prepares all food at the jail, according to the county. "There were 80 inmates who complained of flu-like symptoms, but there were only four that the hospital determined had salmonella," Jarvis said. She noted the illness could have come from something other than a food item, such as improper hand washing or improper storage of food. "We are looking at everything," she said. Sharlot confirmed 80 inmates complained of symptoms between Feb. 6 and 14 but couldn't say how many of those had salmonella.

February 19, 2009 The Mississippi Press
State Health Department officials were trying to determine Wednesday what gave 80 maximum-security inmates food poisoning beginning last week and resulted in five prisoners being taken to a local hospital this week. Liz Sharolt, director of communications with the state Health Department, said there were 80 prisoners in the Jackson County Adult Detention Center complaining of gastrointestinal illness, or salmonella sickness, from Feb. 6-14. "But, the illness has run its course, and there are no new cases to report," she said. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said Wednesday five inmates were taken to Singing River Hospital on Monday, where it was confirmed that they had a salmonella-related illness. The sheriff said four prisoners were treated and released Monday, but one inmate remained hospitalized Wednesday afternoon. The inmate was in good condition Wednesday, Byrd said, and should be released soon. "They mainly suffered from diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and throwing up," Byrd said. He added that two prisoners experienced a low-grade fever. Byrd said he believes the bacterial food-borne illness was not caused by peanuts or peanut butter, but possibly by lettuce. He added that ARAMARK World has been the food service provider for the jail for at least 16 years. The company purchases and prepares all food at the jail. Byrd said the international company is conducting an independent investigation. Officials with ARAMARK's home office in Philadelphia, Pa., were unavailable for comment Wednesday.

September 27, 2006 The Mississippi Press
Overcrowding at the Jackson County Adult Detention Center should ease in the near future. The Jackson County Board of Supervisors approved an additional steel fabricated facility on the ADC grounds in Pascagoula. The $1.2 million facility will house 116 inmates. It is expected to be ready in five months. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said relief from overcrowding is a critical issue. "We're just doing what we have to do to maintain what we have. It's very stressful. We have done shakedowns where we have found weapons which is very dangerous to officers. We had a contract employee with Aramark, we just caught her last week bringing drugs into the facility. Everyday is a challenge just to maintain things on a day to day basis," Byrd said.

Leflore County Jail
Greenwood, Mississippi
CCA
February 5, 2010 Greenwood Commonwealth
The Leflore County Jail is awaiting autopsy results for an inmate who died Thursday in his cell. Eddie Moore, 43, 214 E. Percy St., did not respond when called to eat at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Sheriff Ricky Banks said. The jail issued a medical alert and tried unsuccessfully to revive Moore. MedStat also responded and finally the coroner. The body has been sent to Mississippi Mortuary Services in Jackson for an autopsy, which Banks said is required for all inmates who die in jail. Moore had been arrested about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and charged with public drunkenness, public profanity and disturbing a family. Banks said Moore had been arrested five times in the past year and a half on similar charges. “From what we know about him, he has a history of seizures,” Banks said. “He’s been in and out of here a good bit.” A nurse checked Moore when he entered jail Wednesday and said he was quite drunk but did not have any other apparent symptoms, according to the sheriff. Banks said corrections officers said when Moore came in he was typically drunk and would sleep for quite a while. He had been counted in several bed checks but was not called upon to respond until the chow call, Banks said. Moore was alone in a two-bunk cell, Banks said. Corrections Corp. of America contracts with Leflore County to run its jail. CCA also operates the state-owned Delta Correctional Facility at the same location on Baldwin Road. Banks said it was the first death of a prisoner at the jail since the facility moved from the courthouse in 2004.

August 13, 2009 Greenwood Commonwealth
A man arrested in June for aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon was inadvertently released from custody Monday, but his mother later returned him to jail, Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks said. Cedric Gordon, 30, 505 Cypress Ave., was returned to the Leflore County Jail around noon Tuesday, the sheriff said. Gordon, who goes by the street name “Main Jones,” is the suspect in the June 16 shooting of Christopher Young in the 200 block of Noel Street. In addition to aggravated assault and the weapons charge, Gordon was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence on June 17. Banks said the mix-up on Gordon’s jail status started Monday when Gordon was taken to Greenwood Municipal Court in connection with the domestic violence charge. Once his case was heard, the court sent a fax ordering his release from jail, the sheriff said. Corrections Corp. of America, which runs the Leflore County Jail, released Gordon around 10:30 p.m. Monday, Banks said. Banks said the slip-up could have been avoided if jailers had looked at the docket before releasing Gordon and noticed the more serious charges still pending against him. On Wednesday, Gordon was awaiting transfer to a Mississippi Department of Corrections facility before his trial for aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Marshall County Correctional Facility
Marshall County, Mississippi
GEO Group (formerly known as Wackenhut)
April 19, 2009 AP
The Mississippi Supreme Court has reinstated a lawsuit filed by a former inmate at the Marshall County Correctional Facility over conditions at the private prison. The Supreme Court said Thursday that a Marshall County judge erred in dismissing the lawsuit. The justices said the judge erroneously considered Dennis Dobbs' lawsuit as an appeal of his assault conviction in Clay County. Dobbs has completed his sentenced and has been released, according to court records. Dobbs had sued in 2006 over conditions at the prison near Holly Springs. He complained of a lack of air conditioning and fire safety concerns. The Supreme Court says Dobbs' lawsuit for what he characterized as "inhumane" conditions at the Marshall County prison should be heard.

April 5, 2001
An autopsy shows a 24-year-old inmate from Shannon, Mississippi died of head injuries apparently inflicted during a confrontation with other prisoners, state officials say. Daniel Underwood was pronounced dead this past weekend at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis. Chris Epps, the Corrections Department's deputy commissioner of institutions, said Monday an investigation showed Underwood was attacked by another inmate at the Marshall County Correctional Facility on March 27. Epps said a second inmate apparently assisted in the attack by standing in a position that kept security personnel from seeing the incident. The Marshall County prison is managed by Wackenhut Corrections Corporation. (AP)

August 8, 2001
Hours before they made controversial 11th-hour changes to legislation this year that would guarantee private prisons more state funding, two key state senators dined at an upscale restaurant here with executives and lobbyists from one of those prison companies. "I try to report everything I do - what I pay for," said Al Sage, a lobbyist for Wackenhut Corrections Corp., which runs a private 1,000-bed prison in Holly Springs. Sage readily acknowledged the dinner but said he didn't pay for it. So he didn't report it. Rather, said Sage, executives from Wackenhut picked up the tab for Sens. Jack Gordon (D-Okolona) and Bunky Huggins (R-Greenwood) - two of three senators who had to approve the crucial change in the final version of the bill. And since Wackenhut officials, not Sage, purchased the meal, it won't appear on any disclosure forms until 2002 at the earliest. Companies that hire lobbyist file annual reports every January. (AP)

March 28, 2001
The president of the company running Marshall County Correctional Facility says Mississippi should honor its commitment to fill the 1,000-bed private prison--even though the state's corrections commissioner says it doesn't have the inmates to do so. Wayne Calabrese, president and chief operating officers of Florida-based Wackenhut Correction Corp., said Tuesday that the number of inmates at the prison is important to operations. "I think it's fair to say the state invited private companies into the state of Mississippi to design, build and operate facilities to the states specifications and size. We want to make sure the price we gave the state, which was based on full or nearly full occupancy, is in fact what we receive," Calabrese said. Taxpayers would have to pay about $2 million a year to private prisons and about $4 million to 10 regional prisons for "ghost inmates" according to Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson. Johnson said the state doesn't have inmates to meet the obligations under bill. (Clarion Ledger)

Mississippi Department of Corrections
Wexford (formerly run by Correctional Medical Services)
December 2, 2008 Clarion Ledger
William Morris Byrd Jr. had been in and out of prison most of his life, but Charlotte Boyd, his sister, said he did not have to die there. Byrd, 53, died Nov. 21 after what Boyd described as months of wasting away at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl. While the family is waiting for the autopsy, Boyd said the initial cause of death is Crohn's Disease, a chronic but treatable inflammation of the digestive path that she said had blocked her brother's esophagus. "He literally starved. We watched him turn into a skeleton," she said. Byrd was serving a lengthy sentence for rape and was not eligible for parole until 2020. Boyd realizes her brother may not be a sympathetic figure to most, but after reading a story last week in The Clarion-Ledger, she said her brother may not be alone. "If they are doing him that way, they are going to let somebody else die, too," she said. "Even a dog needs medical attention." Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Byrd received appropriate medical care from the prison. "We provided timely, quality medical care for the inmate," he said, "as we do for all of our inmates." Mississippi's per-capita death rate for prisoners has spiked in recent years. In 2001, the state's death rate was at the national average, but in 2006 Mississippi's inmate death rate was the second highest in the nation. In 2007, inmate deaths rose again. The majority of those deaths are from natural causes, and former inmates and family members of current inmates say medical care in the state's prison system is inadequate. Epps blames the higher death rate on several factors, including an increasingly aged prison population and generally unhealthy lifestyles that have made the state a leader in medical problems like heart disease and diabetes. Epps expressed confidence in MDOC's medical contractor, Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Wexford Health Sources, but the Legislative Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review last year released a report criticizing the prison system's response to chronic-care issues. PEER also found that Wexford's medical staffing was not in compliance with the terms of its contract with the state. The report found 13 percent staffing shortages at the MDOC prisons in Pearl, Parchman and Leakesville. Officials at MDOC referred questions about current Wexford staffing levels to the contractor. Wexford did not return a telephone call Monday but last week referred questions to MDOC. Senate Corrections Chairman Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, said the increase in the prisoner death rate is worth keeping an eye on, but he said Epps' explanation of the increase is plausible. It's something lawmakers would want to pay attention to and monitor, "get a little more information on," he said. "It didn't come across as there was any kind of serious problem of neglect." But the rising number of deaths worries people like Diane Rowell, whose hypoglycemic son is in South Mississippi Correctional Facility serving a short sentence for a parole violation. She said her son has lost weight and complains of being tired. "It worries me. I cry a lot about it," she said. "I know they broke the law, but they are still human beings."

November 23, 2008 Clarion Ledger
Mississippi's inmate mortality rate was second in the nation in 2006, the most recent year for which national data are available. And according to a review of state-level reports, Mississippi's mortality rate rose in 2007. It's a situation that is raising legal concerns with lawmakers and moral questions with prison-reform advocates. Mississippi Department of Corrections officials say the high rate of in-custody deaths is the result of a number of factors: aging prisoners, drug and alcohol abuse prior to incarceration and the generally unhealthy lifestyles of Mississippians. But Patti Barber, executive director of the prison-reform group Mississippi CURE, said the state does a poor job of looking after the chronic health needs of inmates. "We are getting tons of letters from inmates, for instance, who have been diagnosed with diabetes. They are not getting their (blood) sugar checked daily, as they are supposed to," she said. "Things just plain aren't getting done." That is what the Mississippi Legislature's Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review found last December when it released a report on inmate health care. The PEER report found inmates did not receive timely medical treatment from MDOC's medical contractor, Pittsburgh-based Wexford Health Sources, and that Wexford did not meet medical care standards set forth under its contract with the state. In addition, the PEER committee found Wexford did not adhere to its own standards in following up on inmates with chronic health problems. Wexford, which took over inmate care in 2006, referred all questions to MDOC. Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said he is satisfied with the contractor's performance. Not maintaining suitable health care puts the state in greater legal liability, said Rep. Harvey Moss, D-Corinth, chairman of the PEER committee when the report on inmate health care was released. "We're trying to keep the inmate care up and keep the state out of trouble from a lack-of-care standpoint," he said. A search of the federal court system found more than a dozen open lawsuits filed by inmates against MDOC on medical issues. A Clarion-Ledger analysis of inmate death data found the number of prisoners dying increased in 2003 and reaching its peak last year with 78 deaths. The system is projected to lose another 64 inmates this year, based on the rate of deaths. Mississippi is second only to Tennessee in per-capita deaths among inmates, based on the latest national data. Five years earlier, the state ranked 23rd and was at the national average. "It alarms me very much," Barber said of the inmate death rate. "We have to find out where this responsibility is falling between the cracks."

January 14, 2008 Clarion Ledger
A health-care company contracting with the Mississippi Department of Corrections has been lax about providing some inmates with timely medical treatment among other problems, a legislative oversight group says. The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review also says the piecemeal contract with Wexford Health Services cost the state $1.1 million more than it would have for the same company's turnkey model. The department is facing a shortfall of more than $19 million this year, some of that for overspending in medical costs, and PEER is recommending the state auditor investigate. But Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said the only issue he's had with Wexford concerns the way the company keeps records. And, he said, PEER's findings don't take into account the savings the department has seen in medical costs throughout the years, despite the increasing number of sick and aging inmates it is holding. Some lawmakers say they're prepared to give the department a deficit appropriation. "I'm not trying to beat up on PEER," Epps told The Clarion-Ledger. "All I'm saying is if you don't deal with this stuff every day, you're not comparing apples to apples." Issued to lawmakers last month, the PEER report reviews inmate medical expenses in fiscal year 2007, which began July 1, 2006 - the same day Wexford's contract with the state began. The Pittsburgh-based company provides Corrections with only routine care, with the department handling specialty services and care for inmates referred to hospitals. A turnkey model was used previously in which another company provided services to all state institutions except the private prisons the department contracts with. Epps said the department switched from that model to keep costs down. "The medical care at the department is better than I've ever seen it, and I've been here 26 years," Epps said. But the PEER report said the current agreement is costing the department $1.1 million more than it would with Wexford's turnkey model, and the department spent $2.8 million more than its appropriation in fiscal 2007. Spending more money isn't earning the state better services either, the group says. The report indicates that during a five-month review period in the same fiscal year, Wexford was short on staff, and some employees without "proper credentials" provided medical care to inmates. Also, PEER said many sick-call requests were not sorted by priority within 24 hours after they were submitted, which could have delayed treatment. Several deficiencies with the way medical records are stored were cited in the report as well, including no separation between physical- and mental-health records, which could affect the continuum of care. "These are people who have violated laws, but we are still responsible for their care and that's just the way it is," said Max Arinder, PEER's executive director. "We need to get these things remedied, or it could lead to some legal problems."

June 22, 2005 Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. - The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the St. Louis-based health care provider for inmates at Mississippi's Parchman prison, alleging prisoners have been misdiagnosed and received inadequate treatment. The federal lawsuit against Correctional Medical Services, Inc., one of the nation's largest for-profit medical providers for prisoners, was filed Wednesday on behalf of 1,000 inmates at Parchman's Unit 32. Other defendants are Chris Epps, the commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, deputy commissioner Emmitt Sparkman and other agency officials. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Greenville. "We're hoping that the lawsuit is going to make a big difference in conditions in Unit 32, which we really do think are so grossly inhumane as to amount to torture," said Margaret Winter, associate director of the National Prison Project of the ACLU.

June 22, 2005 ACLU National Prison Project
WASHINGTON, DC-Citing the extreme health risks faced by nearly 1000 men confined in a Mississippi prison, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Holland & Knight today filed a lawsuit against one of the country's largest for-profit medical providers for prisoners. "Correctional Medical Services has a national reputation for providing prisoners with grossly inadequate medical care," said Margaret Winter, Associate Director of the ACLU's National Prison Project and lead attorney in today's lawsuit. "We believe that Correctional Medical Services' already poor reputation will sink even lower when its treatment of Mississippi prisoners with life-threatening conditions and serious mental illness is exposed to public view and judicial scrutiny." Correctional Medical Services, Inc. (CMS), a for-profit private corporation, currently holds contracts in 27 states, including Mississippi. In April 2003, the state of Mississippi contracted with CMS to provide medical, mental health and dental care to prisoners incarcerated at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Today's complaint, filed on behalf of about 1000 men confined in Parchman's Unit 32, the prison's supermaximum security unit, builds upon litigation brought in 2002 on behalf of death row prisoners housed in the same unit. Among other issues, it charges that officials with the Mississippi Department of Corrections and CMS routinely deny prisoners access to humane treatment. Jeffery Presley, 24, contracted a serious "staph" infection while in Unit 32. A CMS doctor initially misdiagnosed his condition as a spider bite. Over several days, Presley's condition grew worse and he pleaded for additional medical treatment. His infected joint became grotesquely swollen and leaked blood. Ultimately, the doctor removed a section of Presley's infected leg and prescribed Tylenol to dull his pain. In another incident, a disturbed, deaf-mute prisoner was left for months in his cell on the special needs psychiatric tier, without a mental health evaluation or any attempt to communicate with him. His cell became filthy and he was allowed to remain unwashed for weeks. Correctional staff threw things at him to get his attention, and when he threw things back, he was cited for rule violations. "Treating people suffering from mental or physical illness with disrespect and indifference is abhorrent," said Stephen F. Hanlon, a partner with Holland & Knight and co-counsel in the case. "Correctional Medical Service's improper actions in Mississippi and in other parts of the country violate the Constitution." The Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure had disciplined and temporarily restricted the medical licenses of at least three physicians at the Parchman prison. The CMS medical director was cited for habitual drug use, and the prison's chief psychiatrist was restricted because of a history of patient sexual exploitation and sexual harassment. Elsewhere, CMS has established a pattern of hiring doctors with troubled backgrounds. According to a 1998 investigation by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, nine CMS doctors working in Missouri had been disciplined by licensing boards. In Michigan, where the company provides care to prisoners statewide and the ACLU has litigated issues regarding inadequate medical care, CMS has come under scrutiny for its attempts to save money by limiting prisoners' referrals to outside medical specialists. A federal court found that excessive delays in providing prisoners with referrals contributed to three deaths during an 18-month period. Five other prisoners who died during the same time period also experienced significant delays in treatment. "CMS has a shameful record of jacking up corporate profits by turning a blind eye to the urgent medical needs of sick prisoners," said Winter. "I am hopeful that today's lawsuit will make it impossible for this company to keep on conducting 'business as usual' in Mississippi prisons." Today's lawsuit, Presley v. Epps, was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi by attorneys Winter and Gouri Bhat of the ACLU's National Prison Project, Hanlon and Cecily Baskir of Holland & Knight LLP, Mississippi civil rights attorney Robert McDuff and Ranie Thompson of the ACLU of Mississippi. To read today's complaint, go to: <http://www.aclu.org/Prisons/Prisons.cfm?ID=18558&c=26>. To read about the ACLU's other work regarding Correctional Medical Services, go to: <http://www.aclu.org/Prisons/Prisons.cfm?ID=18367&c=26>.

Mississippi Legislature
May 7, 2006 Clarion Ledger
As a direct consequence of "get-tough-on-crime" legislation adopted over a decade ago, the private-prison industry and related companies have become increasingly active as campaign contributors in Mississippi politics. A new study conducted by the Institute for Money in State Politics documents that Mississippi is one of 10 states where "industry giving is high and the states had either enacted tough sentencing laws, turned to private prison to help ease prison overcrowding in recent years or considered significant changes to corrections policies." The report found that in 2002 and 2003, prison-industry contributors gave a total of $63,250 to 27 Mississippi candidates and the state Democratic Party. Democrats got $28,850 of the donations while Republicans got $31,900 over the two-year period. Major recipients included current Republican Gov. Haley Barbour at $10,800, Republican Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck at $10,500, state Rep. Tommy Reynolds, D-Water Valley, at $10,000, and former Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove at $7,500. A half-dozen state legislators and one state Supreme Court candidate rounded out the donation recipients, including state Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg. Donors listed in the report included private prison companies Wackenhut Corrections and its lobbyists at $21,250 and Corrections Corporation of America and its lobbyists at $17,700. Another major donor cited in the report was Carothers Construction, a Mississippi construction company that has built or expanded six prison facilities in the state, two of which were operated by CCA. In 1995, Mississippi lawmakers took an apparent bold step toward getting tough on crime. But in doing so, the lawmakers also dramatically increased the state's prison population and therefore the operating costs of the state prison system. The Legislature adopted the so-called "85 percent rule" which mandated that all state convicts must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before being eligible for parole. Mississippi's law was in sharp contrast to other states, where the 85 percent rule applied only to violent offenders. The rapid growth in the state's prison population brought about by the "85 percent rule" opened the doors for the private prison industry in the state. By 2002, there were 2,600 empty state-owned prison beds while two private prisons were being guaranteed an inmate population sufficient to keep them profitable. In 2001, the Legislature voted near the end of the regular session to divert $6 million to pay for empty private prison bed space for so-called "ghost inmates." Then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove vetoed the measure, but the Legislature overrode that veto 40-12 in the Senate and 111-9 in the House. Between 1998 and 2000, prison industry lobbyists spent $228,216 trying to influence policy at the state Capitol. The report notes that when Barbour released his Fiscal Year 2005 state budget in 2004, he put a priority on using private prisons "to save money" in the state's prison system. While the FY 2005 corrections budget was 4 percent less than in 2004, private prison payments jumped more than 30 percent, the report shows. The first bill Barbour signed into law after taking office as governor in 2004 was a bill to keep the private-operated Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility open by allowing it to house maximum security inmates.

February 11, 2006 Picayune Item
Maybe it's the deadline pressure. Maybe it's hunger or lack of sleep. Maybe, just maybe, it's that lawmakers saw each other too often during last year's record-setting five special sessions. Whatever the reason, it's crabby season at the Mississippi Capitol. Nearly halfway into the three-month 2006 session, tempers are flaring and lawmakers are grating on each other's very last nerves. That became clear this past week as the House and Senate plowed through stacks of bills under a major deadline. An argument erupted on the House floor Thursday night when Corrections Committee Chairman Bennett Malone, D-Carthage, pushed to create a private prison in Bay Springs. Prisoners there, he said, could earn time off their sentences by working in private industries such as a chicken plant. That set off a torrent of criticism from several black lawmakers, who likened the use of prison laborers in a private industry to the use of slaves on plantations. They said prisoners would have no real choice in going to work, and any private business that starts using inmate labor would soon need a steady stream of new prisoners to keep operating. “Let's not send a message to the rest of the state that we are of this mind-set, that we still believe we should incarcerate people just to get Bubba's chickens picked,” said Rep. Tyrone Ellis, D-Starkville. Rep. Willie Bailey, D-Greenville, said the proposal would “deprive and denigrate the people who cannot help themselves.” “This man has an evil agenda here,” Bailey said, pointing toward Malone. Malone, who is white, has lost his temper a few times during his quarter century in the House, once punching a senator in a dispute about a chicken bill. He sat quietly at the front of the chamber Thursday as others lambasted his inmate labor proposal. Rep. Jim Evans, D-Jackson, said sending prisoners to work in a private business would help a “corporate thug.” The bill died when the House voted 72-45 to send it back to the Corrections Committee. About half the votes to kill the bill came from white members.

May 26, 2005 Biloxi Sun Herald
Some House Democrats are outraged that Gov. Haley Barbour, on the very day he forced them back to Jackson asking them to put aside partisanship and pass a budget, appears to have been in Washington, using the state plane, raising money they suspect will be used to try to oust them next election. Barbour forced lawmakers to return in special session May 18. On that morning, he held a $1,000- to $5,000-a-ticket fund-raiser breakfast for "Haley's PAC" at the Willard Hotel in Washington. In an invitation letter, Barbour said, "I hope we can help make sure that we grow Republican numbers in the statehouses around the country and in Congress." Gov. Haley Barbour has created a political action committee called "Haley's PAC," to raise funds to "make sure that we grow Republican numbers in the statehouses around the country and in Congress." Records show the PAC last year raised nearly $400,000. Records from a $1,000- to $5,000-per-ticket breakfast fund-raiser on May 18 are not yet available. Some of the contributions and expenditures of the PAC, according to the latest state records from earlier this year, include: $10,000 The GEO Group, Boca Raton, Fla.

December 23, 2004 Clarion Ledger
Counties in Mississippi are being reimbursed plenty for housing state inmates in county jails, the state legislative watchdog committee said in an analysis released Wednesday. "Right now there's no reason to change those reimbursement rates," said Max K. Arinder, executive director of the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, or PEER. Although PEER's report shows counties spend an average of $38 to house state inmates, the report concludes the state's $20 reimbursement is plenty because inmate labor, which "can exceed $20 per day per inmate, provides reasonable compensation to counties for housing state prisoners." Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin called PEER's conclusion "absolutely ridiculous," saying inmate labor shouldn't be computed to figure costs and adding that he uses such inmates mainly for community service. If cutting is the aim of state officials, they should look first at private prisons, he said. "I don't know any of them that charge less than $30 a day. If they can't compete with me, why should they try to cut me?"

October 7, 2002
It will cost $1.6 million to turn a private prison into a county jail, state officials say. The cost estimate was revealed by Gov. Ronnie Musgrove last week, but Robert Moore, president of the Leflore County Board of Supervisors, said the state has not made an offer to convert the Leflore County prison. Musgrove said in July that the state would shut down Delta Correctional Facility. He cited lack of funding due to his veto of the corrections budget for private prisons. A state judge later ruled the veto unconstitutional, and another lawsuit pending in federal court claims the shutdown would overburden the state corrections system. However, the Mississippi Department of Corrections has gone ahead with its plan. The contract with CCA in Nashville no longer requires the state to keep a certain number of prisoners in Delta Correctional. The final inmate is scheduled to leave Oct.9. Only 135 inmates remained at Delta Correctional on Monday, and 32 were scheduled to leave on Friday. Only about 29 of the private prison's 200 employees remained. The prison once held 850 inmates. (AP)

September 7, 2002
No money will be paid to private prisons if the legislature continues its position not to consider legislation to fund them, Gov. Ronnie Musgrove says. Both House Appropriations Committee Chairman Charlie Capps, D-Cleveland, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jack Gordon, D-Okolona, said it wasn't necessary to bring a bill before their committees after a judge's ruling that Musgrove's partial veto of funding is invalid. The governor, however, still maintains legislatures need to pass a new $48.7 million appropriation for the private prisons. Lee Ann Mayo, Musgrove's spokeswoman, said the funds are essentially frozen, and they are not available until the Supreme Court rules. (Clarion Ledger)

August 24, 2002
The Mississippi Department of Corrections could operate prisons in Leflore and Marshall counties more cost effectively than private companies, a new report says. The state's contract pays $28.28 per inmate per day to each prison. In a report released Friday, accounting firm Smith, Turner & Reeves of Jackson verified an MDOC study of the relationship between inmate population and spending. "I have consistently stated that MDOC could operate these two facilities at a lower cost to taxpayers than what is currently paid by contract to the private prison operators," said Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson. The study was released about the same time Gov. Ronnie Musgrove called a Sept. 5 special session for legislators to deal with private prison spending and other issues. The timing was a coincidence, said MDOC spokesman Jennifer Griffin. The MDOC study found operating costs were lower than the contracted rates for when prisons had inmate populations of 750 and 1,000. However, at a population of 850, the operating cost exceeded contracted rates. Capacity at the two prisons is increased in blocks of 250 beds until they reach their 1,000-bed capacity, Griffin said. Operation was more expensive at 850 inmates because of maintenance and staffing costs associated with opening a block of cells, Griffin said. "The contracts for the facilities call them to operate . . . 10 percent lower than the state's operating cost," she said. "Based on these numbers, there is room for discussion about whether that 10 percent rate is realized or not." (AP)

August 2, 2002
Attorney General Mike Moore says he'll try to settle out of court a crisis in the state's prison system that could revive a federal lawsuit and penalties that go with it. But if it goes to court, Gov. Ronnie Musgrove does not want the state's chief legal authority representing Mississippi. State prisoners' rights attorney Ron Welch has filed a spate of motions in U.S. District Court in Greenville, including one seeking to have Musgrove's April veto of a $54.7 million private prison appropriation declared invalid. "I certainly want a lawyer representing me that agrees with my position," Musgrove said Thursday at the Neshoba County Fair. (The Clarion Ledger)

July 23, 2002
Why are 2,600 state-owned prison beds empty while two state private prisons are being guaranteed an inmate population sufficient to make them profitable? And what role does $269,301 in lobbying expenditures and campaign contributions to state elected officials by the private prison industry play determining the state's corrections policies? State legislative leaders say that private prisons made an investment in the state at a time when in the early 1990s when Mississippi was under federal court pressure to relieve massive overcrowding in the system. Lawmakers say that those corporations now should not be left holding the financial bag. But the state's top corrections official says that the state should not "subsidize" private prisons at a time when there is an estimated Department of Corrections budget deficit of $$19.2 million. Currently there are 843 state prisoners housed at $28.29 per inmate per day in the Delta Correctional Facility at Greenwood-- owned by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). There are 871 state prisoners housed at $28.28 per inmate per day in the private Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs-- owned by Wackenhut Corporation. Some 2,600 state-owned prison beds currently are empty. Johnson said that the legislative claims that the private prison companies came into the state at a time when the sates needed more prison beds and that they should be protected is "baloney." "Those companies came into Mississippi because they saw an opportunity to make a profit," said Johnson. CCA, Wackenhut and other private prison companies had made a total of $41,000 to lawmakers during the 1999 statewide elections. The National Institute on Money in State Politics described the situation as "a major shift in prison-privatization policy." "No longer were advocates in Mississippi arguing over how much money privatization would save taxpayers," an institute report said. "Instead they argued that taxpayer subsidies were necessary in hard economic times to keep existing prison jobs. The fact these subsidies would ensure corporate profits went unspoken. In a scathing April 2002, report by the institute entitled "A Contributing Influence: The Private Prison Industry and Political Giving in the South," lobbying the political giving were linked to the following Mississippi political figures. *Musgrove received $7,300 in private prison industry campaign contributions, including $4,750 from Carothers Construction, a prison builder,. Failed GOP gubernatorial nominee Mike parker also received $5,250 from private prison donors. *Attorney General Mike Moore, who backed the Legislature's override of Musgrove's "ghost inmate" veto, received $5,000 in private prison industry contributions, including $1,000 from Wackenhut. *Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Jack Gordon, D-Okolona, received $1,000 from CCA lobbyist Buddy Medlin in 2001. The report stated that Gordon and State Sen. Bunky Huggins, R-Greenwood-- in whose district Wackenhut's Delta Correctional Facility is located--met with private prison officials the night before the "ghost inmate" appropriation override: "Senators Jack Gordon and Bunky Huggins had dinner with Wackenhut executive Wayne Calabrese and Wackenhut lobbyist Al Sage at the Parker House restaraunt the evening before the override vote," the report said. Records in the secretary of state's office also show that in 2001 Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck and House Speaker Tim Ford were recipients of $1,000 and $1,100 respectively in donations from the state's private prison corporations or their lobbyist. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Minor, D-Holly Springs- also a Senate Corrections Committee member-received a $500 donation from Wackenhut in 1999. Wackenhut's Marshall County Correctional Facility is located in Minor's district. Additional state records show that CCA has paid lobbyist Buddy Medlin a total of $138,126 to represent its interests since 1998. Those same records reflect that Wackenhut had paid lobbyist Al Sage $90,000 to represent its interests since 1998. (Clarion Ledger)

July 9, 2002
Mississippi officials need to preserve vocational and education programs for inmates asthey renegotiate private prison contracts, a lawmaker says. Gov. Ronnie Musgrove is holding closed-door negotiations with three companies that operate five private prisons in Mississippi. The governor said discussions will conclude sometime this month and he expects to save the state $6 million to $12 million a year. Negotiations began after the Mississippi Department of Corrections sent letters saying that as of July 1, the first day of the budget year, state lacked the money to pay for private prison operations. Provisions of the private prison contracts say Mississippi can break the contracts if there's no money available. At the end of the legislative session in April, Musgrove vetoed $54.7 million for private prisons. Attorney General Mike Moore said last week he still believes the veto was invalid. Moore said prison companies had called his office to complain. "Some of these (corporate) people said, 'If they think they're going to hold us up, they've got another thing coming,' " Moore said. "This is a show. This is politics." (Clarion Ledger)

July 7, 2002
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove says he can save the state $6 million to $12 million by renegotiating contracts with private prison contracts. He also said he'll call lawmakers into special session this summer to approve a new, smaller budget for the five private facilities. "I firmly believe that it is wrong to inflate the budget for private prisons, especially during a national recession," Musgrove said in an interview Tuesday. "These funds will better serve the people of Mississippi if we use them to educate and protect our children and provide health care for our people." (Common Wealth)

July 3, 2002
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove said Tuesday that renegotiating private prison contracts would save Mississippi taxpayers between $6 million and $12 million in 2003. Musgrove defended notices sent out Friday notifying five private prisons that their contracts were being terminated. He called the overfunding of private prisons by the Legislature "unconscionable." The Legislature appropriated $54.7 million for private prisons, which includes money to pay off construction debt. "We hope to negotiate new contracts by the end of the month," said Musgrove, who described private prison officials as receptive. "I will include it in a special session I plan to call," Musgrove said. Private prison executives leaving the meeting at 3 p.m. Tuesday refused to comment. But Louise Green, a spokeswoman for Corrections Corp. of America in Nashville that runs Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, looks forward to more negotiations. (Clarion Ledger)

July 2, 2002
The state says it doesn't have the money to pay private companies to run prisons and is terminating management contracts at five facilities. In letters sent to the prisons Friday, the Mississippi Department of Corrections said Gov. Ronnie Musgrove on April 9 vetoed a $54.7 million appropriation, part of a larger bill, for the private prisons. The contracts between MDOC and the management companies say the state has the right to terminate the agreements without penalty if funds are not appropriated. But Attorney General Mike Moore said governor's partial veto is meaningless because he never had the power to issue it, and the money is still there. He called the reasoning behind the attempt to take over management of the prisons "bogus." Musgrove said he issued the veto — which the Legislature never moved to override — because language in the appropriations bill prevented Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson from moving money to other areas of the budget. MDOC spokeswomen Jennifer Griffin said MDOC staff had been planning all day how to take over operation of the private prisons, but MDOC will not do so until after Musgrove finishes talks with private officials. And in 2001, legislators appropriated $6 million more than was needed for private prisons, overriding Musgrove's veto. A subsequent report by a legislative watchdog lowered the number of prisoners that private and regional prisons need to break even, leading many to say the state would otherwise pay for "ghost inmates." (Clarion Ledger)

June 24, 2002
Delta Correctional Facility has given Cassandra Swims' family a brighter future. But dark days may be ahead for Delta and other privately run prisons where inmate numbers have declined and some jobs have already been eliminated. Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson says construction of too many beds for medium-security male inmates and a trend toward less jail time for first-time, nonviolent offenders may mean further reductions or a possible state takeover of private prisons. Too few inmates to fill beds also cut into the profits for companies in the prison business in Mississippi. "Private prisons were not promised a certain number of inmates," said Johnson, who says an MDOC study shows the state can run Marshall County Correctional Facility, another private prison, for less than Wackenhut Corrections. "It was a business decision, and like any business, conditions change." Steve Owen, spokesman for Nashville-based Corrections Corp. of America, which runs Delta, is surprised at Johnson's comments. ""It was also an opportunity for the company," Owen said. "What the state does now is a policy decision for the Correction Department and state legislators." Not everyone, however, has welcomed private prisons as an answer to economic woes. Hollandale Mayor Robert Burford thanks Gov. Ronnie Musgrove for last year's veto of a bill that would have put a private prison the state's sixth, in his town. "Most people didn't want it here," said Burford, although his predecessor, Mayor Oscar Peace Jr., pushed for the prison in Washington County, where unemployment was 12.7 percent in April. "We need jobs here, but our feeling is that if we get a prison, it might prevent other businesses or industries from coming." Delta's per diem, which began at $25.13 in 1996, will remain at $28.29 for another year. "It has really created a bad situation for us," said Delta's assistant warden, Phillip McLaurin. "We are trying to cut costs without depriving inmates of their essentials and programs. (Clarion Ledger)

June 23, 2002
Millions of dollars cut from public schools. Too few social workers struggling to keep up with hundreds of cases of abused and neglected children. And Medicaid services reduced. Lawmakers also plowed $9 million more into the private prison budget than the state Department of Corrections estimated was needed for 3,400 prisoners for fiscal 2003. In all, the Legislature is paying $54.7 million to put inmates in private prisons and $21.1 million to put them in regional jails — while 2,621 state-owned beds remain empty. Why? Communities where the 11 regional jails and five private prisons have sprung up regard the facilities as economic development to counteract high unemployment. Contractual obligations. The state is bound by 20-year contracts with 3 percent annual increases for private prisons and regional jails. Private prison companies are contributing money to lawmakers' campaigns. During the 1999 elections 37 politicians split $41,085 from Corrections Corporation of America, Wackenhut Corrections, Carothers Construction and other prison industry sources, according to a nonpartisan, nonprofit institute that compiles campaign contribution information on a national level. Politics. The corrections commissioner is battling lawmakers for control of the prison system, saying he can spend more efficiently with less restrictions. So far, he's losing the fight. The combined result of those factors is money being poured into the state's corrections system — which Attorney General Mike Moore, an architect of the private prison-regional jail plan, said amounts to funding society's failures at the expense of other needs, such as education. Vincent Schiraldi, president of the Justice Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., has another description for it: astounding. "It is astounding that during such a time of fiscal crisis, the Legislature could be that careless with that much money," Schiraldi said of the $9 million in the private prison budget. "The trend nationally is that as crime decreases and the economy is down, private prisons are being closed." Gov. Musgrove would agree. "The state does not have an obligation to be a charity for private prisons," he said. Sen. Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, Corrections Committee vice chairman and a Senate Appropriations Committee member, fears safety may be compromised by overfunding private prisons. Private prison companies are contributing money to lawmakers' campaigns. During the 1999 elections, 37 politicians split $41,085 from Corrections Corporation of America, Wackenhut Corrections, Carothers Construction and other prison industry sources, according to a nonpartisan, nonprofit institute that compiles campaign contribution information on a national level. Politics. The corrections commissioner is battling lawmakers for control of the prison system, saying he can spend more efficiently with less restrictions. So far, he's losing the fight. The combined result of those factors is money being poured into the state's corrections system — which Attorney General Mik Moore, an architect of the private prison-regional jail plan, said amounts to funding society's failures at the expense of other needs, such as education. Vincent Schiraldi, president of the Justice Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., has another description for it: astounding. "It is astounding that during such a time of fiscal crisis, the Legislature could be that careless with that much money," Schiraldi said of the $9 million in the private prison budget. "The trend nationally is that as crime is down, private prisons are being closed." Gov. Musgrove would agree. "The state does not have an obligation to be a charity for private prisons," he said. Sen. Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, Corrections Committee vice chairman and a Senate Appropriations Committee member, fears safety may be compromise by overfunding private prisons. (Clarion Ledger)

May 20, 2002
Funding going to private prisons in Mississppi should be diverted into less costly, more effective rehabilitation programs, according to a study examining how much Mississippi spends on prisons vs. education. "This will free up taxpayer dollars for education and prevention programs that have been shown to deter individuals from committing criminal acts," states the report by a Charlotte, N.C-based nonprofit group. The report, "Education v. Incarceration: A Mississippi Cases Study," is scheduled to be released today at a 1:30 p.m. news conference at the Capitol. The study by the Grassroots Leadership is one of the many examining Southern states and their policies on spending taxpayer dollars for corrections and education. (Mississippi News)

April 10, 2002
Legislators are gearing up to override more vetoes when they return to the Capitol on Friday. Besides handling Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's vetoes of two Medicaid bills, leading lawmakers say they expect to try to overturn his partial vetoes of Department of Corrections and Department of Human Services budgets. Musgrove said he objects to protection for private prisons in the MDOC bill and to money set aside for the YMCA in the welfare agency's budget. The governor said it was wrong for lawmakers to bar the transfer of money away from the $54.7 million allocated for private prisons. He wanted Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson to have flexibility to move money from any category of the prisons' budget into any other category. "Once again, the special interests and special friends of the private prison industry won the day, funding fully private prisons and at a higher level than our state and regional facilities," Musgrove wrote in his veto message for part of the MDOC bill. At the end of the 2001 legislative session, Musgrove and Johnson clashed with lawmakers over the funding of private prisons. Musgrove and Johnson said too much money was going to the private facilities, at the expense of other state needs such as education. Musgrove vetoed dozens of spending bills in the 2001 session, and lawmakers ended the session by overriding all the vetoes. In his corrections veto message Tuesday, Musgrove wrote: "Robert Johnson and I work for the taxpayers of Mississippi and not high paid executives of out-of-state prison corporations. Private prison beds are the most expensive in our system and this appropriation and its related proviso work against our ability to be good stewards for hard working Mississippians." (AP)

February 21, 2002
Remember Pete Johnson? The guy with the old Mississippi political name who was elected state auditor back in the 1980s? Ran for governor on the GOP ticket in 1991 and bombed? However, that's only part of the seemingly unending saga of mercurial Patrick "Pete" Johnson, who has traded for years in the state's political arena on the Johnson name -- his uncle, Gov. Paul B. Johnson Jr. and grandfather, Gov. Paul B. Johnson Sr. -- to advance his own political agenda. What brings Pete Johnson back on the public's radar screen now is his sideline as the unlikely owner of a private prison company, which, in a smelly political deal in 1994 dumped a dilapidated old motel at Flowood on the State Department of Corrections to house female probationers. Some of that side of the Pete Johnson story was unfolded a week ago in a Rankin County Chancery courtroom, where Johnson is being sued for $2 million by his ex-partner in Corrections Systems of Mississippi, the outfit of which Johnson is president. The ex-partner, William O. "Buddy" Jenkins, a well-known Rankin Realtor and contractor who was a one-third owner of the prison company, contends in the suit Johnson not only cut him out without payment, but also unloaded on him a heap of costs to renovate the old motel. But here's the saddest part of the story for Mississippi taxpayers: We are paying Johnson $21,000 per month lease money for the unsightly motel -- and will be until March 2005 -- under the contract Johnson wangled from the Corrections Department back in the Fordice administration. "A sweetheart deal," is how present Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson describes the motel lease contract. And he can't do anything about it. Every month the state has to fork out $20,987.50 in lease money to Corrections Systems of Mississippi for DOC to house an average of 130 non-violent female probationers at what once was the Airways Inn on U.S. 80 in Flowood. Since Pete Johnson is the only signatory on the lease, the lease money goes to him. Worse, under terms of the contract, after the rental period ends in March 2005, the state will own it. Most assuredly it will have to be torn down and replaced with a decent facility. How Pete Johnson even got his hands on the abandoned Airways Motel is questionable. The property was inherited by Hinds Community College from a donor and put up for bids in December 1993. Johnson made a high bid, but the sale was not consummated until after Lucas gave the lease contract to Johnson's private prison outfit on May 20, 1994 . Johnson, a banker and licensed attorney before becoming state auditor in 1987, knew nothing about prisons before chartering Correction Systems of Mississippi on May 4, 1994 . Remarkably, 16 days later he secured the juicy private prison contract from the state without making a public bid. (The Sun Herald)

September 14, 2001
Legislators didn't like comments Gov. Ronnie Musgrove made earlier in the year when he criticized them for putting more money into prisons than education. On Thursday, they unleashed their anger at state Department of Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson when he appeared before them to talk about his budget request for the new year beginning July 1, 2002. Lawmakers say they passed legislation requiring 230 inmates at 10 regional prisons and 900 inmates at two private facilities because Johnson asked for them initially, but MDOC revised those numbers downward before the session ended. Johnson, who told the committee he has a problem with looking at inmates as economic development, was only minutes into his presentation when Senate Finance Chairman Bill Minor took issue with Johnson saying inmates can be housed cheaper at state facilities than at regional and private prisons. Minor argued the same PEER report showed just the opposite. Johnson said he read the same report, and it didn't support that. "You must have not known how to read," Minor said. "Yes sir, I do. I read very well," Johnson responded. (The Clarion-Ledger)

June 27, 2001
An ex-lawmaker and a former prison official are collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts with regional lockups in Mississippi. The former legislator, Rolling Fork attorney Charles Weissinger, has contracts with five county-owned regional prisons that total more than $300, 000, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal newspaper in Tupelo reported Wednesday. Contracts for attorneys and consultants are negotiated by county officials where the regional prisons are located. One of the consultants is Edward Hargett, a former warden at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, who worked 25 years in corrections. Hargett said the taxpayers "are getting a deal with the regional prisons. They are getting all the program services provided at far less cost than at the private prisons and state facilities." Weissinger, who served in the Mississippi House from 1988-92, has contracts with regional prisons in Bolivar, Issaquena, Stone, Jefferson-Franklin and Holmes-Humphreys counties. Hargett has contracts with those five prisons, plus the newly opened facility in Kemper-Neshoba counties. (AP)

June 22, 2001
Employees at three privately run prisons in Mississippi have sued their Tennessee-based employer for failing to pay overtime. The prisons are located in Woodville, Greenwood and Tallahatchie County. Corrections Corporation of America, based Nashville, Tenn., owns and operates the prisons. The lawsuits, which represent one side of a legal argument, allege CCA required employees to attend meetings off the clock and prohibited workers from clocking out on days when they worked more than eight hours. The suits ask for back overtime pay and damages on behalf of all current and former CCA employees. (AP)

June 15, 2001
A legislative report released Thursday shows the Mississippi Department of Corrections does not need to remove inmates from sheriff's work programs, Attorney General Mike Moore said. "Common sense has won the day," said Sheriff George H. Payne, Jr. "The winners are the taxpayers of Harrison County." Payne and other sheriffs have been at odds with lawmakers over their decision to guarantee higher numbers of inmates at private and regional prisons. Officials at those prisons said they need more inmates to break even on housing costs. The report shows that the private at Holly Springs in Marshall County and at Greenwood in Leflore County need about $28 per day to house an inmate, instead of $36 per day. The private prisons, instead of needing at least 900 each, require 843 beds in Leflore County and 871 in Marshall County. The state has to pay for the beds even if they are empty. Lawmakers set the guarantees last year after learning that prison population had dwindled, giving the state more prison beds than prisoners. (The Sun Herald)

June 12, 2001
Some Mississippi sheriffs say they don't know how they'll cope if the Corrections Department follows through on a proposal to remove 500 state inmates from county work programs. Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson on Monday said he's considering the shuffle because legislators told his department it must increase the number of inmates it keeps in regional jails and private prisons. On the Coast, Harrison County stands to lose the most state inmates, with 46 of 72 slated to be moved. the inmates pick up litter on the highways and beach, work on public vehicles, help with public events and perform other chores. Hancock County Sheriff Steve Garber is not happy about the possibility of losing six of 10 state prisoners in the county's work program. Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie uses state inmates to cook jail meals and pick up roadside litter. He said taking away the free labor could hurt his county. "It appears there's a big political fight in Jackson and the citizens of the state of Mississippi are the ones that's going to be impacted," Sollie said Monday. A dispute over the placement of inmates erupted in March, during the final days of the 2001 legislative session. Lawmakers wanted to increase the number of state inmates going to 10 regional jails and privately run prisons in Marshall County and Leflore County. The private prisons and regional jails have provided jobs in many legislators' districts in recent years. Johnson said it's cheaper to keep inmates in state prisons or county jails than in private prisons or regional jails. He also said the state could end up with "ghost inmates" by paying private or regional facilities for unfilled beds. Lawmakers mandated the increases to regional jails and private prisons over the objections of Johnson and Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. In his letter to sheriffs, Johnson quoted a March 28 letter Attorney General Mike Moore had sent him. "It makes no financial sense to pay $20 a day to house these inmates in county jails and also pay for 'ghost inmates' at a much higher rate for no service at all, " Moore had written to Johnson. (AP)

April 5, 2001
Corrections officials will be asking sheriffs how many inmates they're willing to give up to fill regional jails and two private prisons. The Legislature expanded the number of inmates that will go into those prisons over the veto of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. "I want to see from the sheriffs how many (inmates) they actually have that they need to move," Musgrove said Wednesday. The Department of Corrections budget bill increased the state's financial obligation to regional jails and privately run prisons starting July 1. Meeting the obligation will require either shuffling of some the 1,500 state inmates that are now in local jails or paying for what MDOC Commissioner Robert Johnson calls "ghost" inmates in unfilled beds at the private prisons and regional jails. "You are paying $20 a day to house a prisoner in an approval jail and you're going to move that prisoner to a private facility that costs you somewhere between $24 and $30 a day, " the governor told reporters. "Now, my simple math tells me that is not saving money." (AP)

March 30, 2001
Mississippi legislators swiftly overrode Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's vetoes of dozens of spending bills, then headed home to end their three-month session. The House voted 111-9 to override vetoes of the Mississippi Department of Corrections funding bill. (The Clarion Ledger)

March 27 , 2001
Taxpayers would have to pay about $6 million a year to private and regional prison for "ghost inmates" under bill the Legislature approved Monday, the state's corrections commissioner said. The Mississippi department of Corrections funding bill includes a provision to subsidize the regional and private facilities, despite the absence of need. The state doesn't have the inmates to fulfill the obligations under the bill, Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson said. Taxpayers would have to pay about $2 million a year to private prisoners and $4 million to regional prisoners for these :ghost inmates," he said. "I guess that's where the old saying 'politics make strange bedfellows' comes from. Anytime you find a group of Mississippi legislators agreeing to guarantee a private enterprise a profit with taxpayers' money, you know there's got to be strange happenings," Johnson said. State prisoners have about 2,600 empty beds. (The Clarion-Ledger)

Mississippi Welcome Center, I-10
Guard Rite Services
September 1, 2006 Sun Herald
The search ended has ended for a prisoner who escaped from the custody of a private prison transport service that had stopped at the Mississippi Welcome Center on its way to Texas from Indiana earlier in the week. Kevin Alva, 49, escaped custody after the private transport service group made a stop at the Mississippi Welcome Center on Interstate 10 just past the Mississippi-Alabama state line Monday. At the time of his escape, he was being extradited from Indiana to Texas, where he was facing a state parole violation and expected to be sentenced to prison time because of a recent armed robbery conviction.

Natchez-Adams County, Mississippi
CCA/GEO
March 9, 2007 The Natchez Democrat
A petition has been started asking for a vote on potential federal correctional facilities locating in Adams County. Robert Palmer, captain of the Cranfield neighborhood watch, said he and other members have drawn up a petition and started circulating it Friday morning. “Some of the members and I live out here, and someone has to be the initial start-up person,” Palmer said. “I think before we just put something in an area, everybody should have the right to vote for or against it.” One of the two private prison companies, CCA, is looking at locating a minimum to medium security facility in northeast Adams County, and the other, GEO, is looking at a lot at the Natchez-Adams County Airport. Representatives from both companies said it’s likely only one will end up locating in Adams County. The petition is not for or against either prison. It simply requests the proposal to locate and build federal prisons in the county be brought to a public vote. Palmer said he thought most people would sign the petition, whether a resident was for or against the facilities. By state law, residents of a county have a right to bring before the board of supervisors a petition with either 1,500 signatures or signatures from 20 percent of the population, whichever is less. If the petition meets the minimum number of required signatures, the county must hold an election to decide whether or not to accept the prison. The deadline to submit the petition — April 24 — is fast approaching, Palmer said. “It’s getting real close,” Palmer said. “We’re hoping to (get enough signatures). If we can get word out to the public that the petitions are out there to sign, I think we can.” If the petition gets enough signatures and the issue comes to a vote, the topic could be voted on either in the scheduled elections in August and November, or the county could hold a special election. Supervisor President Darryl Grennell said he thought the decision would be up to the board. A special election would be quicker but would cost extra county money, he said. If it came to a vote, it might mean at least one company would look elsewhere to locate a new facility, Grennell said. Both companies, but especially CCA, have expressed interest in working quickly in order to take advantage of GO Zone opportunities and be ready for potential government contracts. “If this thing gets on the ballot, it will delay it tremendously, and CCA will probably end up looking at another county,” he said. He said he hadn’t heard one way or the other from GEO on the subject.

March 2, 2007 The Natchez Democrat
Representatives from the city and county governments met privately in December to discuss the prospect of a correctional facility locating in the county. Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority Jeff Rowell said the EDA called the meeting to inform officials about the details of the potential prisons. “It was to let everybody know what’s going on,” Rowell said Thursday. No public notice of the meeting was given. Two of the largest correctional facility companies in the nation are interested in locating a federal prison in Adams County, one on private land and one at the Natchez-Adams Airport. A public hearing on the two companies was recently held at a supervisors meeting. Officials from one company, GEO, which wants to locate at the airport, spoke to those attending. The other company, CCA, was not represented. EDA Chairman Woody Allen said it was an informal meeting bringing in prison representatives to explain the situation. “There was no plan for a vote,” Allen said. “It was strictly to let them know what the different levels of the prison would be.” Adams County Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said he asked the EDA to call the meeting. “It was to more or less get support for the prison (from city officials),” Grennell said, adding that he talked with Gov. Haley Barbour before Christmas and discussed a potential prison in Adams County. “He suggested a methodology of selling the prison to the county residents. It was the same method he used in order to get three facilities in Yazoo County.” That method, Grennell said, was to first meet with city and county elected officials to educate them about the facility, location and number of jobs it would provide. The next step was to talk to community leaders, such as those from businesses and churches. They, in turn, would have answers when residents came to them with questions about the prisons. “That way you can have a trickle-down effect of selling the concept of a prison to Natchez-Adams County,” Grennell said. “Once you do that, you have a public hearing for the residents to come and learn about the facility.” It didn’t quite work out that way, though, Grennell said. News of the facilities got out before officials had a chance to talk with community leaders. “At that point, we never got a chance to meet with community and business leaders,” he said. “It was already public knowledge.”

Oxford, Mississippi
TransCor
December 1, 2004 Daily Mississippian
An employee has been fired and equipment has been adjusted following an investigation into how a prisoner escaped in Oxford in October. David Randal Moser, 25, was being transported by TransCor, a private transportation company, from Florida to Ohio to face rape charges when he escaped in Oxford on Oct. 24. An investigation into how he escaped resulted into security equipment adjustments and the termination of one employee, said Ashley Nimmo, director of marketing communications for TransCor. “We looked at equipment and made some adjustments,” Nimmo said. “One employee has been released due to violation of company policy.” Nimmo said she could not comment further on the equipment or the employee. TransCor also paid the Oxford Police Department for the overtime their officers put in to look for the prisoner.

October 28, 2004 Daily Mississippian
Escaped prisoner David Randal Moser lived in trees near Jackson Avenue for over 58 hours as he evaded police after his escape Sunday. Moser, 25, who was arrested around 10 p.m. Tuesday. Moser, who has been charged in Ohio with rape and sexual misconduct with a minor, escaped on foot from a private transport at Wendy’s at approximately 12:45 p.m. Sunday.

October 26, 2004 Daily Mississippian
Although police still search in Oxford for escaped prisoner David Randal Moser, they do not know whether he is in or out of Lafayette County. Moser, 25, who has been charged in Ohio with sexual conduct with a minor, escaped on foot from a private transport at Wendy’s at approximately 2 p.m. Sunday. Stephanie Castle, a relative of the family that brought the charges against Moser, called The Daily Mississippian to request an update about Moser’s whereabouts. Castle said she is upset that Moser was allowed to escape. “I can’t believe these extradition people have a Web site saying they are high security,” Castle said. “Where were the people when he did it (escaped)? I don’t get this at all. It just makes me irate.” Moser was being transported by TransCor, a private prisoner transportation company, from Florida to Ohio when he escaped.

October 25, 2004 Daily Mississippian
Police searched for an escaped prisoner on campus and across Oxford Sunday afternoon through the early morning hours. As of 1:30 a.m., the search was to no avail. David Randal Moser, 25, escaped on foot from a private transport at Wendy’s on Jackson Avenue at approximately 2 p.m. Sunday, a flier said. Moser, who was in custody for charges of sexual conduct with a minor, was being transported by Transcor from Florida to Richland County Jail in Mansfield, Ohio.

Pike County, Mississippi
CCA, Cornell
April 18, 2007 The Natchez Democrat
By voting against a prison coming to their county, Pike County residents gave Adams County a huge advantage, local officials said Tuesday. Pike County voted not to allow Corrections Corporation of America, the country’s largest private corrections company, to locate a facility there. The unofficial results were 3,854 against the prison and 2,721 in favor of it. That is a huge plus for Adams County’s chances of getting a CCA prison, Adams County Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said Tuesday. “That is good news for Adams County. There’s a much greater chance of it being in Adams County, now,” Grennell said. “I know it’s going to be in Adams County. That’s like a 100 percent guarantee it’s going to be here.” CCA is one of two prison companies vying for a federal contract and looking to locate in Adams County. CCA has announced it was looking to pick a location among Pike, Walthall and Adams counties. Now that Pike County is out of the running, and Walthall County is not as far along in the selection process, Adams County looks like the place, Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority Chair Woody Allen said. “It just puts us in a very positive light going forward with regard to being one of the top sites,” Allen said. CCA spokesman Steve Owen said he thought the results were very positive for Adams County. “This is more about Pike County than about CCA,” Owen said. “Pike County is removing themselves from consideration. It means we have to shift our focus to the other two counties in Mississippi wanting to be considered.” Supervisor Sammy Cauthen said he was interested in the jobs a potential prison would bring to the county. “We need the jobs, and we need the ad valorem taxes off the $90 million project,” Cauthen said. “Businesspeople in town need the business that would come along with the prison.” Supervisor Henry Watts said he was pleased Pike County voted against the prison. “It obviously heightens our chances of getting the prison here,” Watts said. “The prison proposal makes the most economic sense. It is the best industrial proposal I have seen that made economic sense since I’ve been on the board of supervisors.” Supervisor Thomas “Boo” Campbell said he thought a prison in Adams County was a sure thing. “I think there’s not much to stop it for Adams County,” Campbell said. “We need the jobs. There will always be skeptics, and there will always be pros and cons. The reality is, we need the jobs, and I welcome it.” Supervisor S.E. “Spanky” Felter said he thought the Pike County vote would definitely mean a prison in Adams County. “I’m sure they’re coming here,” he said. “I’m sure they’re going to try.” But Felter said he wanted the residents of Adams County to be able to decide that issue. “I want the people to have a chance to vote on it,” Felter said. “If they want it, it’s fine with me.” Residents might get that chance. Mississippi law states that if residents of a county get 1,500 signatures on a petition asking for a vote on a private prison, the county has to hold a vote. Some have recently said that because of timing — CCA wants to take advantage of the GO Zone incentives — a vote would ruin Adams County’s chances of getting the prison. Robert Palmer is one of those spearheading a petition in Adams County to bring the issue to a vote. And while the petition is not for or against the prison, only asking for a vote, Palmer said he is not in favor of having a private federal prison in the county. “We just feel if this thing comes, these people who are promoting it are going to see the day they regret bringing it in,” Palmer said. “It’s not if we have a problem there, it’s when.”

January 2, 2007 Clarion Ledger
Pike County officials will host what is being called an "informational session" today in Magnolia on a proposed prison to be run by Corrections Corporation of America. Magnolia Mayor Jim Storer and Pike County Economic Development District Executive Director Britt Herrin will host the meeting. Storer said no one from CCA will be present. CCA wants to build a 1,500-inmate prison in the Metro-Pike Industrial Park. Storer said he hopes to have CCA officials at future sessions. "I decided that the citizens of Magnolia and anybody else around that might want to learn more about that, that this might be an opportunity for them to come and present their questions," Storer said. Storer said he hopes mayors in other towns in Pike County will hold similar sessions for residents. Meanwhile, an organization opposed to the prison has asked county supervisors for copies of all records pertaining to the project. Supervisors this past week received a letter from Gail Tyree of Grassroots Leadership requesting copies of "correspondence, meeting notes and cell phone records in regards to the prison proposal." Tyree also requested "executive session notes" from January 2005 to Dec. 18, 2006. Board of supervisors attorney Wayne Dowdy said he will respond to Tyree's request.

December 22, 2006 AP
Pike County supervisors will run public notices about a proposed private prison in the Metro-Pike Industrial Park. The notice is required by law. Board of supervisors attorney Wayne Dowdy said this week that the notice, to be published in a local newspaper, will specify the location of the prison, type of inmates that will occupy it and the name of the company - Corrections Corp. of America - that wants to run it. If 1,500 voters sign petitions opposing the prison, supervisors must hold an election on the issue, Dowdy said. Nashville, Tenn.-based CCA plans a 1,500-inmate facility, costing about $80 million. It would be located on 85 acres in the industrial park. CCA has three prisons in Mississippi. Wilkinson County Correctional Facility at Woodville opened in 1998, Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility at Tutwiler in 2000 and Delta Correctional Facility at Greenwood in 2004, according to the CCA. Pike County Economic Development District Executive Director Britt Herrin has said the proposed prison will have a low profile at its location in the industrial park on the southeast side of the McComb-Pike County Airport. He said the site will have a perimeter of trees and other vegetation. "We want it to blend into the area and have a more peaceful, serene look than just concrete buildings, fences and razor wire," Herrin said. CCA's Brad Wiggins has said that the outdoor lighting system at the prison will be focused on the ground and should not light up the night sky dramatically.

December 18, 2006 Enterprise-Journal
Pike County residents will get an opportunity to vote on a proposed prison if at least 1,500 voters sign petitions requesting a referendum, according to statute. Board of supervisors attorney Wayne Dowdy said he found a state law Friday requiring public notice and a potential referendum on a private prison. He will meet with supervisors at 9 a.m. Wednesday to discuss the matter. “On Wednesday they should pass a resolution indicating that since an option to purchase has been granted to Corrections Corp. of America on 89 acres, more or less, the public will be notified as required by a statute, and the public will have 60 days within which to file objections to the construction of the facility,” Dowdy said this morning. “If a sufficient number of objections are received, an election will be called on the matter. It will be determined by majority vote.”

December 18, 2006 AP
Pike County officials have canceled a public hearing on a proposed prison, saying there is broad community support for the project. Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America wants to build the 1,500-inmate facility in the Metro-Pike Industrial Park east of the county airport. The prison would cost $80 million and provide 300 jobs, CCA has said. The company has an option on 85 acres in the industrial park. Pike County Economic District Executive Director Britt Herrin said Friday that Corrections Corp. of America officials have already met with opponents of the prison, so there's no reason for a public hearing.

December 4, 2006 AP
Pike County supervisors have canceled a public hearing that had been scheduled for Dec. 14 on a proposal to locate a private prison in the county. Britt Herrin, executive director of Pike County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development District, said this week that Corrections Corporation of America, which proposes building the prison in the Metro-Pike Industrial Park, wants to wait until after the Christmas holidays. Meanwhile, CCA officials hope to meet individually or in small groups with some of the prison's critics. "They felt that was a prudent way to discuss the project with people who are emotional about it," Herrin said. A tour of a CCA prison at Woodville is still scheduled for Dec. 13. A prison to house illegal aliens was considered for the area in 2001 but fell victim to federal budget cuts in 2001 following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

July 19, 2002
In another matter, executive director Britt Herrin said Cornell Corrections, Inc. might appeal the Federal Bureau of Prisons decision not to locate a prison in Pike County. The Houston, Texas based company spent about $2 million preliminary costs to construct the privately owned and operated federal prison to house illegal aliens at Fernwood. "Gave it our best shot...just beyond our control," Herrin said of the prison project. (Enterprise-Journal)

June 6, 2002
After months of delays, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons announced it choise for a new federal prison Thursday, and Pike County wasn't it. George Killinger of Cornell Corrections Inc., which had planned to build the Pike County prison, expressed shock this morning. "We're just very saddened here and disappointed." In 2000 the bureau started with 14 prospective sites, and late last year it recommended McRae and Pike County. But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks changed everything. More money went to homeland security, more illegal aliens were deported, immigration was tightened, and local officials got word a month ago that the bureau would choose just one site in the Southeast. That pitted the McRae site, proposed by Corrections Corp. of America, against Pike County. “The one thing CCA-McRae had was a facility already built,” Killinger said. “That was probably the biggest difference. “We found no resistance, and that is so unusual.” Killinger would not say exactly how much Cornell has spent in preparation work here, but admitted it’s a lot. “We haven’t come up with a dollar amount, but many years and lots of time and sweat and an awful lot of money,” he said, citing environmental studies, blueprints and other work. “We had no, no indication we would not be selected, up till the 11th hour. We thought the announcement would be made today,” he said. “We all had smiles on our faces and were ready to come to McComb and put the shovel in the ground.” Earlier this month Pike County supervisors agreed to spend $800,000 for 110 acres to enlarge the Metro-Pike Industrial Park for the proposed prison. But they said the expansion was needed whether the county gets a prison or not. Killinger, whose company is in the business of building and operating prisons, said it might still propose Pike County for a prison in the future. “There’s got to be some form of prison population that will grow,” he said. “We do know that we have a site and community and partnership that we would be anxious to start again.” (Enterprise-Journal)

May 7, 2002
Pike County officials say they have found evidence that they shouldn’t have to reimburse the U.S. Department of Justice $30,836 in grant funds after all. In another matter, supervisors voted to go ahead with the purchase of 110 acres to enlarge the industrial park for a federal prison even though the prison hasn’t been formally approved. The Pike County Economic Development District will buy the land for $800,000, and the county will issue bonds. The option to buy was set to expire May 1. The county won’t qualify for a grant until the prison is formally approved. The purchase was contingent on the prison project, which has been delayed repeatedly by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Last year supervisors agreed to issue $1.5 million in bonds to buy the land and as matching funds for a grant to provide roads and utilities to the property. Cornell Companies Inc. plans to build a low-security prison to house immigrants accused of violating laws in the United States. (Enterprise-Journal)

Tallahatchie Correctional Facility
Tutwiler, Mississippi
CCA
October 28, 2009 Clarksdale Press Register
The state of California have sent corrections investigators to Tutwiler Prison following an inmate attack that injured two guards. One of the injured guards at the private facility, Norris Holly, is a former two-term Friars Point Alderman. The incident occurred Thursday during breakfast in the dining hall at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, which is run by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America. Corrections officials say several inmates from California, who had been transferred to the prison, attacked the staff. According to sources, Norris is being treated for 22 puncture wounds and a collapsed lung. An unidentified Lieutenant was treated for injuries to his eye and jaw and released. No inmates were injured. The facility is on lockdown. The incident is under investigation. CDCR’s strike team will support Correctional Corporation of America staff in its investigation and review, help identify inmates who participated in the incident, conduct threat assessments and interviews, and evaluate housing placement.

October 22, 2009 AP
The state of California is sending corrections investigators to a private prison in the Mississippi Delta where inmates attacked and injured two guards. The incident occurred Thursday during breakfast in the dining hall at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, which is run by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America. Corrections officials say several inmates from California, who had been transferred to the prison, attacked the staff. Two CCA officers were injured and one remained hospitalized Thursday. Staff used a chemical spray to break up the attack. The facility is on lockdown. The California officers will help CCA investigate.

May 23, 2008 Sacramento Bee
California's prison medical czar will investigate the so-called "long-term viability" of a private prison company's contract with the state because of problems at one of the firm's out-of-state facilities. In a letter to the Corrections Corporation of America, receiver J. Clark Kelso's top aide cited the death of one California inmate and delayed health care for another at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Miss. Chief of staff John Hagar's letter said the receiver's office will send an oversight team to Mississippi on Monday. It is investigating the death April 23 of Robert Washington and what the letter called "delays in the delivery of medical care" to another inmate, identified as Frederick Gusta. Hagar's letter, dated Wednesday, said the receiver's office plans to meet soon in Sacramento with company officials and that the session "will include a discussion of ..... the long-term viability of the contract between the California Department of Corrections and CCA." "Everything is on the table," receiver's spokesman Luis Patino said Thursday about the contract. The private prison company houses 3,904 California inmates in six prisons located in Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Arizona. The company's two contracts are costing the state $115 million in the current fiscal year. California corrections officials say the out-of-state program is vital to relieving pressure on the state's system as inmates are jammed into 33 prisons at twice their designed capacity. Corrections spokesman Oscar Hidalgo said Thursday it would be "premature to react" to Hagar's letter "until there's an investigation complete." Hidalgo said the state considers the transfer program a "great success" that has allowed California to move inmates out of triple-bunked gymnasiums. Two public employee unions have sued the state in Sacramento Superior Court to block the transfers on grounds they violated the employees' civil service protections. The unions prevailed. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration appealed the lower court's rulings. A hearing on the appeal is set for Tuesday in Sacramento. Inmate Washington, 41, died of cardiac arrest after being stricken by an asthma attack, according to Coahoma County, Miss., chief medical examiner and investigator Scotty Meredith. Washington was serving seven years for vehicle theft. Meredith said it was his opinion that the medical care at the Tallahatchie County prison was "excellent" but that it took a private ambulance company 35 minutes to respond to the asthma attack. Washington was taken from the prison to a Coahoma County hospital 12 miles away, in the northwest Mississippi Delta region, about 75 miles south of Memphis, Tenn. "I don't think anything was wrong (at the prison), but I wasn't there," Meredith said in an interview. No details were available on Gusta's case, except that he complained of chest pains and also was transported to a local hospital where he is still receiving care, Hidalgo said. Hidalgo said there also were "some delays" in Gusta's transportation to the hospital.

May 13, 2008 Sacramento Bee
California's prison medical care receiver is investigating the death of an inmate who was being housed in Mississippi. "I'm told it was an asthma-related death," said receiver's spokesman Rich Kirkland. Corrections officials identified the inmate as Robert Washington, 41, of San Joaquin County. Washington was serving seven years for vehicle theft. Autopsy results on Washington's April 23 death are still pending, corrections spokesman Oscar Hidalgo said Monday. Washington died at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Miss. The prison is owned and operated by the Corrections Corporation of America. Washington is the second inmate moved under California's out-of-state transfer plan to have died in custody since the program began two years ago. Anthony Kelly, 48, serving eight years on a drug case, died last May from an apparent heart attack while watching a fight involving other inmates. There are now 3,765 California inmates serving time out of state, Hidalgo said. State officials embarked on the transfer plan to help relieve pressure in the state's overcrowded prisons. Two public employee unions filed suit to block the transfers. The unions prevailed in Sacramento Superior Court, but the cases are pending on appeal.

August 18, 2007 Sacramento Bee
California corrections officials have begun sending hundreds of foreign national inmates against their will to a private prison in Mississippi as part of a stepped-up, out-of-state transfer plan. The first two flights of prisoners to the Tallahatchie County Detention Facility in Tutwiler, Miss., have taken place without incident, officials said, in spite of fears expressed by the California correctional officers union that the forced transfers would be met with inmate violence. "Many of the inmates had never been on a plane before in their lives," said Scott Kernan, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's chief deputy secretary for adult operations. "They were a little scared. But once they got on the flight, they were fine." Some 200 foreign national inmates, mostly from Mexico, were shipped to the Mississippi prison on flights July 20 and July 27, a state prison spokesman said. A total of 597 inmates -- including 397 volunteers -- have now been sent to private prisons in Mississippi, Arizona and Tennessee. Kernan said the state hopes to move 5,000 prisoners to out-of-state institutions by June 30 to help relieve overcrowding in California. "We have a very aggressive schedule that will include trips of approximately 120 inmates every couple of weeks," Kernan said. Some 173,000 inmates in the state are being housed in space designed for about half that many, with federal judges now considering a motion to place a population cap on the system that could result in early releases for tens of thousands of prisoners. Francisco Estrada, a lobbyist for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the transfers of the foreign nationals raise a host of potentially problematic legal issues for the corrections agency. If the inmates are legal residents, the transfers figure to separate them from their families and immigration attorneys, and "that's wrong," Estrada said. They also create a prospect for racial targeting on the part of prison officials. "We need to be very careful," Estrada said, adding that he will be discussing the issue with Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund attorneys. Foreign nationals being transferred under the out-of-state program are all subject to holds "or potential holds" placed on them by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said corrections spokesman Bill Sessa. They include both legal and illegal residents, he said. No inmates "with demonstrated family ties" are being transferred for now, Sessa said. Nor are any being moved "if they're in the middle of legal proceedings," including immigration matters, Sessa said. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association in February won a ruling in Sacramento Superior Court stopping the transfer program. The union claimed the program violated state civil service protections guaranteed under the California Constitution. The ruling has since been stayed pending an appeal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. CCPOA leaders also voiced opposition to the transfers during the debate over the recently enacted $7.9 billion prison construction plan, which included legislative approval for moving 8,000 inmates out of state. Union officials said the involuntary transfers would put officers in danger from resisting inmates. CCPOA spokesman Ryan Sherman said Friday that the union is "very grateful" that no officers have been injured in extracting the prisoners from their cells. "We're hopeful that will continue as the governor continues to do these unconstitutional transfers," Sherman said. Sherman characterized the Tallahatchie County prison in Mississippi, operated by the Correctional Corp. of America, as one of "the most troubled" in the country. He based his assessment on newspaper articles detailing assorted disturbances at the prison dating back to 2003. "Private prisons lower the bar for the entire profession by providing extremely limited training and remarkably poor compensation and benefits," Sherman said. "They're in it to make a buck. Public safety is nowhere on their priority list." CCA spokeswoman Louise Grant said her company "is extremely proud of the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility" and that private prisons are no more dangerous than those operated by the state.

July 22, 2007 Honolulu Advertiser
The private prison company that holds Hawai'i convicts on the Mainland acknowledged that multiple cell doors accidentally opened on four occasions at one of the company's new Arizona prisons, including one incident where alleged prison gang members used the opportunity to attack a Hawai'i inmate. The state's highest prison official said he's troubled that Corrections Corporation of America did not immediately notify the state about the incidents. The statement released by CCA announced that "appropriate disciplinary action was taken on officers in regard to four separate inadvertent cell door openings" at the Red Rock Correctional Center. The statement did not offer any specifics, and a company spokeswoman said in an e-mail that CCA would not provide additional details. Hawai'i Department of Public Safety interim director Clayton Frank said CCA did not tell Hawai'i prison authorities about some of the incidents until Wednesday night, after The Advertiser published complaints from inmates about repeated cases where doors opened unexpectedly and improperly, leaving protective custody prisoners vulnerable to attacks by prison gangs. Frank said he is "troubled" that CCA did not tell Hawai'i about some of the incidents. The company explained it did not immediately report some cases where doors opened because those incidents did not involve attacks on Hawai'i inmates, Frank said. "Right now, I have some serious concerns and doubt of whether they are providing us with everything," he said. "If it involves our inmates, I want to make sure that what they're giving us is true and accurate. "I want something to go directly to corporate office up there that says you guys have got to be candid when we ask questions." The state pays about $50 million a year to house 2,100 convicts in Mainland CCA prisons because there is no room for them in Hawai'i facilities. INMATE STABBED In the most serious of the incidents at Red Rock, Hawai'i inmate John Kupa was stabbed with a homemade knife on June 26 after more than half of the cell doors abruptly opened in his housing unit. That incident is being blamed on an error by a corrections officer. Protective custody inmates are housed in that prison pod along with general population inmates. That mix requires that prisoners there be separated constantly, and the doors there are never supposed to open simultaneously, prison officials said. Hawai'i Public Safety officials say that when the doors opened, Kupa and a 44-year-old inmate allegedly attacked Hawai'i convict Sidney Tafokitau. During the struggle, prison officials say Tafokitau allegedly stabbed Kupa. Tafokitau, a protective custody inmate, has said he acted in self-defense, and said he got the knife by taking it away from one of his attackers. Kupa, 36, was stabbed in the lower left back, and was treated and released from an Arizona hospital. The Red Rock stabbing marks the second time in two years a Hawai'i inmate has been injured when cell doors unexpectedly opened in a CCA prison living unit where inmates were supposed to be locked down. In the earlier case, 20 cell doors in a disciplinary unit of the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi suddenly opened at 2:48 a.m. on July 17, 2005, releasing about three dozen Hawai'i convicts from their cells. Inmates then attacked Hawai'i inmate Ronnie Lonoaea, who was beaten so badly he suffered brain damage, and is now confined to a wheelchair. Hawai'i prison officials this week revealed the doors opened in Mississippi in that 2005 disturbance because a corrections officer had been "compromised" by a prison gang. Lawyer Myles Breiner, who is suing the state and CCA on behalf of Lonoaea and his family, said Lonoaea will need extensive medical care for the rest of his life, care that is expected to "easily" cost $10 million to $11 million. Breiner said he is also gathering information about attacks triggered by doors that improperly opened at Red Rock, and is considering filing suit on behalf of inmates that were attacked or injured in those cases. DELIBERATE ERROR? "Their doors are opening, and the only people responsible for the management and security is CCA," Breiner said. He said some of the lapses at Red Rock seem to be caused by human error or problems with the equipment, while the inmates suspect some of the other incidents have been deliberate. "Whether it's corruption or construction, CCA is still responsible," Breiner said. The statement from CCA said the company has taken corrective measures. "We stand by our reputation as a provider of quality corrections management services, and will continue to assess our operational activities to further refine and improve our safety processes," the company said.

July 18, 2007 Honolulu Advertiser
For the second time in two years, improper actions by a corrections worker caused cell doors to unexpectedly open in a Mainland prison where Hawai'i inmates were supposed to be kept separated, triggering violence that injured a Hawai'i convict, prison officials said. In the first incident at a Mississippi prison in 2005, Hawai'i convict Ronnie Lonoaea, 34, was beaten so severely that he suffered brain damage and is now confined to a wheelchair. Lonoaea's family sued the Hawai'i prison system and Corrections Corp. of America last week in connection with the case. In a second incident last month at Red Rock Correctional Center in Arizona, an error by a prison staffer caused cell doors to abruptly open, prison officials said. Hawai'i inmate John Kupa, 36, was stabbed in the left lower back, according to a police report. The two incidents raise concerns about the treatment of Hawai'i inmates in Mainland prisons run by a private company, said an expert on prisons and a state legislator. In the Arizona case, cell doors abruptly opened on June 26 in a prison pod where protective custody inmates are housed in some cells and general population inmates including gang members are held in other cells. Kupa was stabbed with a homemade knife after the doors opened at about 6 p.m., according to a report from the Eloy, Ariz., police department. The injured inmate was treated and released at a local hospital, according to a prison spokeswoman. In the Mississippi prison incident, 20 cell doors suddenly opened at 2:48 a.m. on July 17, 2005. About three dozen Hawai'i inmates were released from their cells when the doors opened, touching off a melee that lasted for 90 minutes in a disciplinary pod in the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility. Corrections officers finally used tear gas grenades to regain control of the pod. Hawai'i Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Louise Kim McCoy said an internal investigation of the Mississippi case found the doors opened because a corrections sergeant had been "compromised" by prison gang members. Corrections Corp. of America, which owns both the Mississippi and the Arizona prison, terminated the sergeant, McCoy said in a written response to questions. Steve Owen, director of marketing for CCA, declined to discuss the specifics of the June 26 incident and also declined comment on the lawsuit over the Tallahatchie incident. PRIVATE VS. PUBLIC Byron E. Price, assistant professor of public policy and administration at Rutgers University and author of a book on the private prison industry, said Hawai'i has reason to be concerned about the incidents at Tallahatchie and Red Rock. Private prison operators make money by holding down costs, which is often accomplished by reducing labor costs, said Price. The companies tend to rely heavily on technology as a way to keep the officer-to-inmate ratios down, Price said. Private prison staff members are typically inexperienced, he added. "By cutting labor costs, you get a less qualified individual, and there's high turnover rate in the private prisons, and they conduct less training for their corrections officers" compared with publicly run prisons, said Price, who is author of "Merchandizing Prisoners: Who Really Pays for Prison Privatization?" Corrections Yearbook statistics show the staff turnover at private prisons averages 52 percent a year, while the turnover at public prisons is about 16 percent, he said. Hawai'i spends more than $50 million a year to house inmates in CCA prisons on the Mainland, and Senate Public Safety Committee Chairman Will Espero said he is concerned about reports of security problems "that appear to be similar, and that haven't been resolved." "Considering the millions of dollars that we are spending on the Mainland, we would expect to get excellent service, excellent facilities, and ... I would expect that with their experience, they should be able to minimize any problems," he said of CCA. LIFETIME CARE NEEDED When the cell doors opened in Mississippi, prisoners attacked Lonoaea. His attackers tore or cut off his lips and broke bones in his face, said Honolulu lawyer Michael Green, who is suing CCA and the Hawai'i prison system on behalf of Lonoaea's family. Green said Lonoaea, who is approaching the end of his prison sentence, will need intensive healthcare for the rest of his life that will likely cost $10 million to $11 million. The lawsuit alleges Hawai'i prison officials were negligent for failing to properly oversee the prison, and alleges CCA failed to properly train or supervise TCCF staff. Inmates at Red Rock who were interviewed by The Advertiser complain that multiple cell doors there have repeatedly opened without warning at times when prisoners are supposed to be locked down, leaving protective custody inmates open to danger. Officials at the privately owned Red Rock facility have disarmed the fuses in the electrical systems that operate the doors to some cells in the facility since the June 26 incident, and corrections officers at Red Rock have been manually opening the doors with keys, said McCoy of the Hawai'i Department of Public Safety. In a written response to questions, McCoy confirmed inmate accounts of the attack in Echo-Delta pod, a housing unit where inmates are supposed to remain separated from each other at all times. After the doors opened, Kupa and a 44-year-old inmate allegedly attacked Sidney Tafokitau, 28. During the fight that followed, Tafokitau allegedly stabbed Kupa with a homemade knife. Tafokitau said in a telephone interview this is the second time his cell door at Red Rock has opened without warning. Tafokitau said he acted in self-defense on June 26 and said he obtained the homemade knife by seizing it from one of his attackers during the fight. Tafokitau also alleged that corrections officers initially fled from the fight instead of intervening to break it up and only returned later with pepper spray after Tafokitau's attackers had thrown him to the ground and were beating him. "I telling you, this ... place is sloppy, cuz," said Tafokitau, who is serving a life sentence for robbery. "They make so much mistakes ... it's just a matter of time before another mistake. I telling you right now, somebody gonna get killed, brah." Tafokitau said he was in the pod because he was involuntarily placed in protective custody after he clashed with a prison gang. EARLIER INCIDENTS Hawai'i inmates at Red Rock claim multiple cell doors have opened simultaneously and unexpectedly before. Inmate Chris Wilmer, 29, recounted an incident on Feb. 2 when all of the doors in Echo-Delta unit again opened, releasing general population inmates into a dayroom occupied by protective custody inmates. Wilmer, who also said he was involuntarily placed in protective custody because of conflicts with gang members, said he immediately became involved in a fight with two alleged members of a prison gang who were released into the dayroom. Wilmer said a Hawai'i prison official was notified of that incident and spoke to Wilmer about it. Wilmer said he also witnessed a similar incident where the doors opened in Echo-Bravo pod at about 6:30 p.m. on April 7, and Wilmer and another inmate both alleged there was another example of doors opening unexpectedly between June 21 and June 23 in the Echo-Bravo pod. The growing sense of insecurity in the pods encourages inmates to try to obtain weapons, and Hawai'i needs to pressure CCA to fix the problem, said Wilmer, who is serving prison terms for robbery, attempted murder and other offenses. "For here and now, something needs to be said and done," he said. "They don't have room for that kind of mistakes." The officer who erred in the June 26 incident meant to open doors in another pod used by Alaska inmates and instead opened the doors to Hawai'i inmates' cells, McCoy said. She said the officer has been disciplined. A female corrections officer who made a similar mistake by opening multiple doors in a living unit elsewhere in the prison earlier this year also was disciplined, McCoy said. McCoy could not immediately confirm the other inmate reports of other cases where multiple cell doors opened unexpectedly in February, April and June. RE-EVALUATING UNIT Part of the problem on June 26 was that the pod involved was not designed to operate with "serious violent offenders" who are locked in their cells for 23 hours each day, but those kinds of offenders ended up there because they couldn't be held in Oklahoma or Mississippi, McCoy said. Those inmates are now awaiting transfer to the newly opened Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona, which has a segregation unit designed to house them, she said. CCA responded to the June 26 incident by re-evaluating the staffing patterns for the unit that included the pod, and adding more experienced officers, McCoy said. The prison operator also had the door system manufacturer update the control panel software to add an extra safeguard to the system and is providing more intensive training for all staff assigned to the units, McCoy said. Hawai'i was holding more than 600 inmates last month at Red Rock, which opened last year. In all, the state houses more than 2,100 men and women convicts in CCA prisons on the Mainland because there is no room for them in prisons in Hawai'i.

April 6, 2007 Honolulu Advertiser
An investigation into whether a Hawai'i inmate had obtained a firearm in a Mississippi prison prompted a lockdown and search of the facility, and led to the firings of five private prison employees, according to Hawai'i prison officials and the Corrections Corporation of America. No gun was found during the search of the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, but the incident uncovered unspecified prison contraband that triggered state and federal criminal investigations at the prison, according to Hawai'i and CCA prison officials. Victoria Holly, human resource manager and public information officer for the prison, said the 1,104-bed facility was locked down on Feb. 21, and did not return to normal operations until March 15. She said the five prison staff members were fired between March 7 and March 13, but declined to say if the workers were corrections officers or employees in other occupations. Holly declined to say what sort of contraband was turned up in the search of the prison, and did not know which agencies were involved in the criminal investigations. A spokeswoman for the FBI's office in Jackson, Miss., said the agency will not confirm if it is involved in an ongoing investigation. The Mississippi state attorney general's office did not return a call requesting comment.

May 10, 2006 WAPT
About 860 Hawaii inmates at a Mississippi prison were locked down in their cells for a week following a gang-related fight. Hawaii public safety officials said the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility went into lockdown after a dozen inmates from several gangs got into a fight April 30. One of the inmates was armed with a bat. Louise Kim McCoy, a spokeswoman for the Hawaii Department of Public Safety, said the inmates were only allowed out of their cells for meals and a modified recreation time while investigators searched the facility for contraband. The lockdown started immediately after the fight and was lifted Monday. The private company that operates the prison for Hawaii inmates, Corrections Corporation of America, kept all the inmates confined because the incident involved gang activity. There were no serious injuries from the fight. Last year, prison officials moved about 40 Hawaii inmates who were believed to be active gang members from the Diamondback Correctional Facility in Oklahoma to the Tallahatchie location. Hawaii pays Corrections Corporation of America $40 million a year to house more than 1,800 convicts in prisons in Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arizona and Kentucky.

April 2, 2006 Honolulu Advertiser
Two captains and a sergeant at a privately run Mississippi prison were fired after they were allegedly videotaped beating an inmate from Hawai'i, according to the Hawai'i Department of Public Safety. The three were part of a Special Operations Response Team established at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility to quell disturbances and control unruly prisoners. The trouble began when general-population inmate Harry K. Hoopii, 55, allegedly assaulted two corrections officers at the prison at 6 p.m. Feb. 23, said Shari Kimoto, administrator of Public Safety's branch on the Mainland. Kimoto said that Hoopii was then escorted to a disciplinary holding cell in another part of the prison at about 7:50 p.m. and that the incident involving the SORT team occurred in his cell later in the evening. It is regular procedure for the SORT team to use force in responding to a violent inmate, but when the assistant warden and chief of security at the prison reviewed the videotape of what took place in the cell, they "realized that excessive force had been used," Kimoto said. The three were fired for violating the policies of prison owner Corrections Corporation of America, she said. The other members of the SORT team, including the team member who was operating the hand-held video camera, were suspended, she said. Kimoto said the inmate was taken to the hospital with injuries that included multiple facial bruises and swelling and a cut lip. He was later returned to the prison, where he was being held in a disciplinary unit, she said. Concerns arose last year in connection with the Tallahatchie facility after two inmates were injured in a violent disturbance touched off when 20 cell doors in a prison disciplinary unit suddenly opened at 2:48 a.m. July 17. In the melee that followed, Hawai'i inmate Ronnie Lonoaea was attacked and severely beaten in his cell by other prisoners, and the prison staff had to use tear gas to regain control of the unit. CCA said the doors opened because a prison sergeant accidentally pushed the wrong button. The Hawai'i state attorney general's office asked state prison officials to investigate the July 17 incident. Prison officials have said they wanted to look into the possibility of gang involvement and whether prison staff might have cooperated with the inmates in the incident.

March 12 2006 AP
A group of Colorado inmates who started a riot at a private prison in Mississippi in 2004 so they could be transferred back to Colorado will force lawmakers to review their policy that allowed the Department of Corrections to ship troublemakers out of state. This week, The House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on a measure (Senate Bill 23) prohibiting the Department of Corrections from placing state inmates classified higher than medium custody in private prison facilities located within Colorado or outside the state. The only exception would allow the governor to declare a correctional emergency and by proclamation authorize the department to place state inmates classified higher than medium custody in private prison facilities. Rep. Val Vigil, D-Thornton, said an audit last year revealed that the state had no policy on shipping high risk inmates out of state, and that other states have no uniform way they treat low, medium or high risk prisoners. “We had to decide whether we should change the practice or change the statutes. We decided to change the statutes,” Vigil said. The disturbance occurred a day after a similar riot at Crowley Correctional Facility, a private prison near Olney Springs, Colo. At Crowley, inmates rioted and set fires, destroying one living unit and extensively damaging four others. Both private prisons were operated by Corrections Corp. of America, which was criticized by lawmakers for not hiring enough employees at the Crowley facility. Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, said Colorado has a duty to protect its inmates, and the state can’t guarantee that when it sends them to other states which have their own rules. “One thing government has to do is ensure public safety. That includes inmates,” McFadyen said.

December 26, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
Acting Public Safety Director Frank Lopez has ordered a prison system internal affairs investigation into a violent disturbance in a Mississippi prison earlier this year that resulted in injuries to two Hawai'i inmates. The incident at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Center began when 20 cell doors in a prison disciplinary unit abruptly opened at 2:48 a.m. on July 17, releasing about three dozen Hawai'i inmates from their cells. The unit was reserved for particularly unruly convicts or prison gang members, and some of the inmates who emerged from their cells immediately attacked prisoner Ronnie Lonoaea in his cell, prison officials have said. Lonoaea was hospitalized after the attack with head and other injuries, and inmate Scott Lee, 25, suffered a broken jaw in the disturbance. Inmates used a telephone cord to tie shut the entrance to the Special Housing Incentive Program unit to keep corrections officers out, and Tallahatchie prison staff had to drop tear gas grenades from the roof to regain control of the unit about 90 minutes later. Hawai'i Department of Public Safety officials demanded a "high level" investigation of the incident, and Lopez said prison owner Corrections Corporation of America submitted a letter to the state outlining the company's findings. Lopez said the summary of the CCA findings suggested the doors opened because an officer accidentally pushed the wrong button. Prison officials have said a relief sergeant pushed the button that released the inmates, and both the sergeant and the captain responsible for overseeing the unit no longer work at the prison.

October 3, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
This tiny town has a slow feel to it. Some of that is a testament to southern graciousness, when people make time for one another. Some of it is due to a menacing apathy that festers when people are out on the street with nowhere to go. This community in the North Delta region, described in federal reports as one of the most depressed areas of the country, is where the Corrections Corp. of America built the 1,104-bed Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in 2000. The prison holds more than 850 Hawai'i inmates. The 325 jobs at the prison offer the best-paying work around, said chief of security Danny Dodd. CCA's starting pay in Tutwiler is about $8.40 an hour, considerably less than the $13.20 an hour for new corrections officers in Hawai'i, but Dodd said there is no shortage of applicants. There is significant staff turnover, which means the prison is often short-handed. Tutwiler resident Mary Meeks said her husband pulls double shifts at the prison as often as twice a week because people quit or don't show up for work. Some residents said they were led to believe the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility would hold only Mississippi lawbreakers, and were alarmed to learn the company was importing prisoners. Contract monitors last year described the Mississippi staff as young and inexperienced, and said most had never worked in a prison before. CCA requires five weeks of training, compared with eight weeks for Hawai'i corrections officers. According to monitoring reports, in the first six months after the Hawai'i inmates arrived, several employees were fired for smuggling cigarettes into the prison and having inappropriate relationships with inmates - a problem that has arisen at other Mainland prisons where Hawai'i prisoners have been held. Inmates complain about the medical and dental services at Tallahatchie, gripes that were confirmed last year when Hawai'i prison monitors warned CCA the prison was failing to meet National Commission on Correctional Health Care Standards because a doctor was there only eight hours a week to care for almost 1,000 convicts. In May, the monitors warned that dental services were insufficient because a dentist was available only eight hours a week, but the backlog of inmates waiting for dental care had been somewhat reduced when inspectors returned last month. CCA does not attempt to separate gang-affiliated prisoners, and inmates said keeping rival gang members in the same unit can be dangerous when things go wrong. There has already been one disturbance in a unit that houses gang members at Tallahatchie. On July 17, 20 cell doors in a SHIP unit popped open unexpectedly at around 2:45 a.m., freeing inmates. Ronnie J. Lonoaea, 32, of Hawai'i was severely beaten in his cell before guards released tear gas and restored order about 90 minutes later. Scott Lee of Hawai'i, who suffered a broken jaw in the incident, recalled how some prisoners in the unit frantically tried to close their jammed cell doors because they feared an attack by fellow inmates. A CCA investigation concluded the cell doors probably opened because a corrections sergeant hit the wrong control button. Komori said the sergeant and a captain who supervised the unit no longer work at the prison.

August 23, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
A prison sergeant who hit the wrong button probably is to blame for abruptly opening 20 cell doors in a Mississippi prison disciplinary unit last month, releasing about three dozen Hawai'i inmates and triggering a violent disturbance, prison officials said yesterday. Two prisoners in the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility unit were hospitalized after other inmates attacked them when the cell doors opened at 2:48 a.m. on July 17. One of the inmates, Ronnie Lonoaea, remains in a Mississippi rehabilitative hospital with head injuries. After the doors opened, two inmates immediately began fighting and eight others rushed into a single cell to attack Lonoaea, prison officials have said. Other inmates used a telephone cord to tie shut the door leading into the unit in a makeshift barricade to keep prison officials out, according to a report on the incident. The Tallahatchie prison staff dropped tear gas grenades from the roof into the Special Housing Incentive Program, or SHIP unit, and regained control of the unit about 90 minutes after the cell doors opened, according to the report.

July 28, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
They're out of sight, but must not be out of mind. Hawai'i's overflow inmate population, housed at private prisons on the Mainland, remain our responsibility. And making sure they are treated humanely while serving their time must be our concern. That's why state officials are right to demand an investigation into the sudden opening of cell doors in the predawn hours of July 17 at Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility that resulted in a riot. More than 700 Hawai'i inmates have been housed since last year at the Mississippi prison, owned by Corrections Corp. of America. Two inmates were injured in the fight. Kane'ohe resident Sandra Cooper, the mother of one inmate, has her doubts that an internal probe will be enough to bring out the truth about how the cell doors opened. She called on the FBI to do a thorough inquiry, and that indeed would be the ideal way to proceed here. There's precedent for the FBI to take jurisdiction in a case where inmates are brought across state lines. At the very least, an independent authority should drive the investigation, rather than the prison's private owners. And state officials here must continue to ride herd to see that the investigation proceeds to a satisfactory conclusion. In a separate prison issue, it's a relief to see that the state has decided to pull the plug on its contract with the troubled Brush Correctional Facility, a northeastern Colorado prison housing 80 women inmates from Hawai'i. Because of ongoing investigations into alleged sexual misconduct between staff and prisoners, it's imperative that the move be made as soon as possible, while allowing for careful scrutiny of the prisoners' next destination. The end-of-September target date for the move seems reasonable, assuming that the state maintain its careful monitoring of Brush in the meantime. These painful episodes clearly illustrate that housing inmates on the Mainland is merely a short-term response to our critical prison shortage here, and creates its own additional problems. Hawai'i must continue to: work toward expanded prison capacity in the Islands, where we can retain better control of conditions; strengthen the probation system to keep some first-time offenders out of prison; and work on preventive strategies aimed at stemming the tide in drug abuse, which fuels so much of the state's crime problem. Sending inmates to the Mainland is just a stopgap solution.

July 27, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
State prison officials said yesterday they are concerned about a security breach at a Mississippi prison that led to a disturbance among Hawai'i inmates and landed two men in the hospital with broken jaws. The incident began when 20 cell doors in a unit at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility used to confine inmates with suspected gang affiliations popped open unexpectedly at about 2:30 a.m. July 17. About 35 of the 40 inmates in the unit left their cells and two of the prisoners began fighting, said Hawai'i Department of Public Safety spokesman Michael Gaede.
While corrections officers were preoccupied with the brawl, eight inmates rushed into a cell to attack another prisoner, Gaede said.

June 3, 2005 Pueblo Chieftain
The 120 Colorado inmates who are serving sentences in Mississippi are being treated inhumanely, according to one inmate. Officials at the Colorado Department of Corrections, however, say they are treated no different than inmates at the Colorado State Penitentiary. According to Colorado inmate Clark Flood, 40, who has been convicted of burglary, criminal trespass and escape charges, the inmates in Mississippi are being held in lockdown in what he described as "inhumane conditions." "They are not giving us property or nothing. It's just solid lockdown and it is ridiculous," Flood said.

February 5, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
A Hawai'i prisoner at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Miss., was returned to the prison yesterday after a suicide attempt. Convicted murderer Paul Ah Sing, 41, was rushed to the hospital Thursday after he apparently attempted to hang himself in his cell with a homemade rope. The state has a contract with the Corrections Corporation of America to hold about 700 inmates at the Tallahatchie prison because there is no room for them in Hawai'i prisons.

Officials at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility have promised to keep residents better informed about disturbances at the prison in the wake of last month's uprising by Colorado inmates. Residents near the prison complained they weren't told about what was happening at the jail during the July 21 riot when prisoners torched mattresses, clothing and a portable toilet. (Sun Herald, August 13, 2004)

August 2, 2004
Tutwiler prison officials say they will be adding more staff this week and will host a community meeting following a recent disturbance by unruly Colorado inmates at the private facility. There are no plans to send the trouble-making inmates back to Colorado, as some residents have asked, said Louise Chickering, a spokeswoman for Nashville-based Corrections Corp. of America, which operates the prison. She said the company also won't go along with a request by residents to create an alert system to warn them of future disturbances. The first major disruption at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility will be discussed at an Aug. 12 meeting between Tutwiler's community relations advisory council and Warden James Cooke.
Cooke said the additional staff is not a direct result of the disturbance. "We will be getting more (inmates) from Hawaii,'' Cooke said. The facility now houses about 850 inmates, with a capacity of a little more than 1,000 inmates. There are about 120 inmates from Colorado, 690 from Hawaii and 40 from Tallahatchie County. (Clarion Ledger)

Coahoma and Tallahatchie counties will pay local expenses involved in dispatching law officers to the uprising at the privately-run prison in Tutwiler. Coahoma County Sheriff Andrew Thompson Jr. said his department alone spent about $400 on gasoline and overtime July 21. Officers were called from the Coahoma and Tallahatchie sheriff's departments, Tutwiler and Glendora police departments, the Tutwiler and Tallahatchie County fire departments, the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the State Penitentiary at Parchman. Steve Owen, a spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America — the Nashville, Tenn.-based company that runs the prison — called the disturbance in which no one was injured "relatively small." Owen said his company does reimburse local agencies that respond to prison riots "if the agency feels its resources have been severely tapped." Finally, as the largest employer in the county, CCA pays its 260 employees — most of whom reside in Tallahatchie and surrounding counties — roughly $3.5 million combined annually. (Clarion Ledger, July 26, 2004)

Troubles seem to keep mounting this month for the nation's largest operator of private prisons. Corrections Corporation of America suffered through two prison riots this week - one in Colorado and another in Mississippi. The uprisings follow a July 7 homicide at a Nashville facility, which is still being investigated, and a smaller uprising in Oklahoma. The spate of bad news is providing fodder for critics of privately run prisons and prompting a slight drop in CCA's stock price. In the prison industry, no news is often good news. "I think the idea of privately operated prisons is one that is still controversial," said Richard Crane, a consultant in the industry and former CCA attorney. "(Bad incidents) give those who are opposed to privatization something to beat their drum about." Critics said the string of problems shows that privately run prisons are a bad idea, and that grouping prisoners from multiple states under the care of low-paid, often inexperienced guards will lead to trouble. "Almost half of the employees in the facility have no experience whatsoever," said Ken Kopczynski, with the Private Corrections Institute Inc., an advocacy group opposing private prisons. "I just hope enough people will wake up to the bad idea of private prisons. It just goes against all the principles of democracy." (Henry Herald, July 23, 2004)

Some Tutwiler residents are demanding an alert system and stronger security measures following Wednesday night's disturbance by 28 Colorado inmates at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility. Tutwiler resident Lucinda Berryhill said she was "frightened not knowing" what was happening when she heard police car sirens and fire trucks on U.S. 49 heading toward the prison. Phone lines at the prison were busy and rumors of prison escapes were rampant, she said. Currently, there is no system in place to alert residents when an incident is occurring at the facility and what measures should be taken. "I'd send the troublemakers back,'' said Berryhill, who lives a half mile from the prison. They need to return immediately to Colorado, she said. (Clarion Ledger, July 23, 2004)

A riot involving 28 Colorado inmates who escaped their recreation pens and set ablaze mattresses, clothing and a portable toilet triggered a lock-down Wednesday night at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility. A more violent riot erupted around the same time a day earlier at another CCA prison in Colorado's Crowley County. Officials did not report a connection between the two riots. Those involved in Wednesday's uprising were among Colorado's "worst" inmates shipped to the Tutwiler lockup in May. Booted from their home state after causing six riots during a three-month period, the prisoners instigated the most recent uprising during the first one-hour recreation break they had been given since entering the facility two months ago. According to Louise Chickering, CCA spokeswoman, the incident started at 6:20 p.m. when one inmate broke the lock and chains on the segregated pen that held him and another inmate. "Once he got it loose, the others assessed that they could, too," she said, explaining that 28 men broke out of their two-man pens and gathered into the main recreation yard. Law-enforcement officials were called from the Coahoma and Tallahatchie counties sheriff's departments, Tutwiler and Glendora police departments, the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman "as a show of force," Chickering said. Prison officials said Wednesday that they didn't know yet why the inmates rioted, but one Colorado prisoner offered a possible clue in a letter sent to The Clarksdale Press Register this week. Harrell King Jr. III wrote that more than 100 prisoners had waged a hunger strike recently to draw attention to their "case of brutality and mistreatment at this facility." "Since coming to this facility, we have had inmates cutting their wrist, being beat, having to defecate in bags, on 24-hour lockdown and many other violations of human rights," Harrell wrote. "By the time you receive this letter, we will have not eaten in five days." (Z Wire, July 23, 2004)

About 28 inmates from Colorado caused an uprising Wednesday evening at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, officials said. The prisoners involved were recently shipped to the Mississippi facility to rid Colorado's crowded prisons of unruly inmates. The disturbance occurred during the prisoners' recreation break about 6:20 p.m. and lasted about 30 minutes, said Louise Chickering, spokeswoman for the Corrections Corporations of America. (Clarion Ledger, July 22, 2004)

May 23, 2004
The Colorado Department of Corrections violated a state statute by sending 36 of its most dangerous inmates to the Delta, said a prisoner-advocate group that might challenge the move in an attempt to bring the men home. According to the statute, Colorado cannot permanently place maximum-security inmates in a private prison. But the three dozen men shipped to the privately run Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility near Tutwiler last week are classified as maximum-security, said Stephen Raher, co-director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, calling the move illegal. Colorado officials countered that assertion, saying the men - many of whom are serving sentences for murder, rape and escape - are not maximum-security prisoners; they are "special management" inmates. "We have yet to find one of these organizations or individuals who can substantiate any of these claims, except maybe for an isolated incident that may have occurred years ago," Owen said. "I would challenge them to prove any of these allegations." (Z Wire)

January 7, 2004
Mississippi's corrections commissioner said he hopes the state can house inmates at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility after 1,424 inmates return to Alabama. On Tuesday, Alabama Corrections Commissioner Donal Campbell said the inmates should be moved within 90 days. Meanwhile, Chris Epps, Mississippi corrections commissioner, said he started talking to officials last week to find a way to use the facility and keep about 250 jobs there. "We're going to work with them any way we can," he said. Tallahatchie County has a poverty rate of nearly 27 percent and a 12.5 percent unemployment rate. "We've started looking at the law to see what we have to do to be able to use it," Epps said. "I started talking to (Corrections Corporation of America)." Nashville-based CCA owns the facility in Tutwiler. Epps said he's also spoken to Gov. Haley Barbour and legislators "to see how we can do business up there." In 2001, facility employees lost their jobs after Wisconsin inmates were moved to Minnesota. The facility hired 250 people last summer when Alabama sent prisoners there. (Clarion Ledger)

September 15, 2003
Elizabeth Martin can thank 1,423 Alabama prison inmates for her job. Since the inmates landed in the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in June, the economy of the county gained 250 jobs at the facility in a Delta county with a 26.8 percent poverty rate with unemployment at 12.5 percent. The annual payroll: $6 million. Alabama's decision to pay $27.50 a day per inmate to reduce crowding in its underfunded corrections system led to re-employment for Martin, of Tutwiler. Martin, who lost her job when Wisconsin inmates were moved from Tutwiler to Minnesota in 2001, went from a retired corrections officer to an administrative clerk at age 33. "I had taken courses in computers at Coahoma Community College, not knowing if Tallahatchie would ever re-open," Martin said. "Now I have a better job where I make more money and I can spend more time with my husband and four children. "I am working in a nice place with good people, something that is hard to find in Tallahatchie County." Richard Lias, 33, of Clarksdale left a job with a casino in Tunica County, nearly 50 miles away, to work closer to home at Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, about 20 miles from home. "I am saving a lot of money on transportation," said Lias, a safety specialist. "I felt there was more opportunity for advancement. "I have had excellent training and a lot of doors opened for the future." Money is also finding its way into the business community with purchases made by the prison and employees. "Over 80 percent of the employees live in Tallahatchie County and spend money here," said Tallahatchie County administrator Marvin Doss. "We lost Rosewood, an apparel manufacturer (in Charleston) since the 1950s and 134 jobs." Donna Surholt, owner of Moore Paper and Janitorial Supply Inc. in Clarksdale, has seen the prison dollars trickle through the Delta. "The prison officials have purchased a vehicle, a steel building and other supplies locally when they can't get them from their vendor," said Surholt, who is also president of the Clarksdale-Coahoma Chamber of Commerce. "They have bought items from my business. They have come in here ready to contribute to our community and have joined our chamber." Dianna Melton, manager of the State Bank and Trust in nearby Webb, has seen an increase in business. "I have seen a number of the workers from the prison," Melton said. "When you employ 200 people who didn't have jobs, you will see an increase in business in the county." The boost should continue for some time because the inmates won't leave soon. Alabama taxpayers defeated a tax-increase referendum Tuesday that would have helped its education and corrections systems, said Brian Corbett, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections. Alabama met a court order to reduce state inmates in county jails by sending 300 females to Louisiana and the inmates to Tallahatchie County. "We still have a total population of 28,100, twice our capacity of 13,500," Corbett said. "Taxpayers said no, so no help is on the way, and we will just have to keep plugging away." Warden Jim Cook, who has seen Tallahatchie go from 30 county inmates to 1,463 with 276 employees, knows the reason Alabama sent the inmates. He was once a warden with the Alabama correctional system before going to work in 1995 for Correctional Corporation of America. The private prison company based in Nashville owns Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility. Alabama has no private prisons. "You can't ask a corrections department with a growing population to operate on the same funds," Cook said. "This is a high-stress job at best, but you can't work people like they are without employee burnout. Your facilities will also deteriorate." Cook says Alabama inmates like being in Mississippi. "It is less crowded, facilities are better and they like the food," Cook said. (The Clarion Ledger)

June 27, 2003
Many workers who lost their jobs at two Mississippi private prisons are going back to work, thanks to a neighboring state. Alabama, faced with prison overcrowding, is sending 1,400 medium-security male inmates to the Tallahatchie Correctional Facility in Tutwiler at a cost of $27.50 a day per inmate. Tallahatchie, built to hold 1,100, held 322 inmates from Wisconsin and employed 208 people before those inmates were moved to Minnesota in 2001, forcing layoffs. It has since held 30-40 Tallahatchie County inmates. Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, closed by the state in October 2002, held 800 state inmates and employed 200 workers with a $5 million annual payroll. "It is good for the economy of the state," said Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps, who said CCA's contract with Alabama is for three years. Alabama, which has no private prisons, is under two court orders to end overcrowding. Steve Owens, spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America, said his company will help Alabama. "We are always happy to step up and serve states when they need our help," Owens said. "I always knew we would find someone who could use the Tallahatchie facility." (The Clarion Ledger)

Tutwiler Prison for Women
Wetumpka, Mississippi
Prison Health Services
May 7, 2005 AP
The third death of an inmate in two months at Tutwiler Prison for Women has raised more questions about the quality of care provided for prisoners. Officials said Mattie Bouie, 42, died last week at Baptist Hospital South in Montgomery - six months after a federal court monitor cited her case as an example of "no effective physician monitoring of patients" at the Wetumpka prison. Bouie's death was the sixth at the women's prison since Tennessee-based Prison Health Services took over the medical contract. Court monitor Dr. Michael Puisis has suggested that negligent care was responsible for at least two deaths. He has not released mortality reports on the other cases. Puisis was appointed by a federal court last year after the state settled a lawsuit over poor conditions and medical care at the prison. The Department of Corrections agreed to improvements and increased staff at the facility, and Puisis is responsible for monitoring the agency's progress toward achieving those goals.

May 6, 2005 Birmingham News
Prison Health Services has been under the gun, and rightly so, for the way it's provided medical care to Alabama inmates. The Tennessee-based company was hired to improve health care in Alabama prisons, which had been sued over services provided by a previous contractor. But the care in prisons remains unacceptable. A recurring theme is a shortage of doctors, nurses and other staff to tend to the inmates, with predictable consequences. At best, the care has been inadequate. At worst, it may have been downright deadly. The state of Alabama, which has the ultimate responsibility (and liability) for what happens to prisoners in its custody, has every reason to demand better from Prison Health Services. And withholding part of the company's payment is an appropriate place to start. The state is reducing the company's $143 million contract by $1.2 million for staffing shortages, and may cut more if staffing levels aren't increased. Why not? The state is paying Prison Health Services to provide a certain number of professionals and support staff to administer inmates' health care. If the company is not meeting the requirements of the contract, it should not expect to be paid as if it were. Besides, what's really at stake here is bigger than money. Too many inmates are not receiving proper care for chronic conditions, and some are dying unnecessarily as a result, according to doctors who monitor prison health care for the courts. At the Tutwiler women's prison, the monitor found that three inmates who died last year received poor or incomplete care, and two of them may have died as a result. At Limestone Correctional Facility, which houses HIV-positive inmates, the monitor found prisoners weren't getting crucial medication and that a required HIV specialist was not on staff. It's true that turnover has been a big problem. Prison Health Services has had problems retaining doctors and other health care workers; some have left complaining they didn't have the resources to do their jobs. But the bottom line is that the company agreed to provide a certain level of services, and it has been failing to do so. At the very least, the state should adjust the payments to Prison Health Services accordingly. So the company is losing dollars. Inmates are losing their lives.

May 5, 2005 Birmingham News
Alabama's prison medical provider is losing $1.2 million from the state because it has not provided enough doctors and nurses to state prisons. Prison Health Services has not fulfilled minimal contract requirements that call for a certain number of doctors, nurses, administrators and support staff. The company is not being fined, Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said, but DOC will not have to pay $1.2 million of its contract. The department hired PHS in November 2003. The company's three-year, $143 million contract could see more reductions if the medical staff does not increase. Tennessee-based Prison Health Services also has come under fire in recent months by physicians who are monitoring two prisons under federal court settlements. A lawsuit alleging inadequate medical care is pending at a third prison, the Hamilton Aged and Infirm facility, where the oldest, sickest men are housed. Dr. Michael Puisis, court monitor at Tutwiler Prison for Women, said in a March report that prison medical staff provided poor or incomplete care to three inmates who died last year. He suggested that negligence might have led to two of those deaths. The third, a suicide, was likely the result of inadequate care by mental health workers, who are employed by a different company. Two deaths since then are still under investigation. Still, attorneys for the Limestone inmates have asked the federal courts to hold the state in contempt for failing to abide by the conditions of the settlement. Last year, the state agreed to dozens of improvements, centering on added medical staff and more humane housing conditions. Doctors keep leaving, some after claiming PHS did not allow them the flexibility and resources to practice medicine as they want to do. "There are just as many complaints raised after the settlement as before," said Gretchen Rohr, an attorney with the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights, who represents Alabama prisons in both cases.

April 26, 2005 Mobile Register
Poor, incomplete, substandard -- and perhaps error-ridden -- medical care led to the deaths of at least three women incarcerated at Tutwiler Prison for Women last year, emphasizing the need for improved health care in Alabama's prisons. It also suggests the physician who treated the women should be suspended while officials determine if he was at fault; and if he was, he should be fired. Moreover, the poor health care the women apparently received indicates the state should consider finding a different health services company. The staggering conclusions by a physician who monitors the prison's medical system for a federal court settlement were revealed by the Birmingham News last week, and implicate Dr. Samuel Englehardt, a retired obstetrician and primary care doctor at Tutwiler at the time of the three deaths. Two other deaths have occurred this year, and officials should speedily investigate those, too. Outrageously, Dr. Englehardt, who provided the health care for one of the three prisoners who died last year, also performed her death review and concluded that there were no problems with the health care she had received. A policy of independent reviews would prevent such conflicts of interest. Dr. Michael Puisis of Illinois, an expert in correctional health care, studied the three women's deaths for a federal court. He discovered one patient suffered a brain hemorrhage and died a few months after Dr. Englehardt canceled tests recommended by an outside cardiologist. Another woman's extremely high cholesterol wasn't treated and "unquestionably contributed to her death." A third -- an obviously distraught woman who was denied adequate psychiatric care -- committed suicide. Dr. Puisis also found that other Tutwiler inmates received substandard care at the prison, including a lack of follow-up on treatments and mistakes in prescribing drugs. The inmates deserved better health care. When the state confines a person in a prison, preventing her from taking care of herself, then the state assumes the responsibility for the inmate's medical care. That's part of the cost of incarcerating people, and the moral duty it entails cannot be avoided. State officials must hold both the Department of Corrections and its private contractor, Prison Health Services of Tennessee, accountable for these and other lapses; and the public must hold the Legislature accountable for failing to provide funding for an adequate corrections system. The poor health care alone has subjected the state to three lawsuits so far from prisoners at Tutwiler, Limestone and Donaldson prisons. Moreover, it has exposed the state to possible suits by families of deceased prisoners. Department of Corrections managers apparently did not monitor the care provided by PHS or, if they did, they ignored or missed problems that should have been evident. The state, its taxpayers and its prisoners deserve better.

April 24, 2005 Birmingham News
Three women who died at Tutwiler prison last year received bad medical care - perhaps even bad enough in two of the cases to be blamed in the deaths. That's the conclusion of Dr. Michael Puisis of Illinois, an expert in correctional health care who was hired by a federal court to monitor Tutwiler's health care services for inmates. Specifically, Puisis found: The primary prison doctor at the time had "grossly mismanaged" the underlying medical problems of an inmate who suffered from lupus and died of a brain hemorrhage in March 2004. Her death came a few months after the doctor, for no clinical reason, canceled tests that had been recommended by an outside cardiologist. Another inmate received substandard care for three chronic conditions, including high cholesterol that went untreated and "unquestionably contributed to her death." After she died in August, the doctor responsible for her "substandard care" performed the death review and noted no problems with her treatment. An inmate hanged herself after being on suicide watch for five days in January 2004. The day before she died, she was crying, saying "Daddy, don't hurt me anymore," and banging her head against the wall. Yet she was not evaluated by a mental health professional except for a phone call to a psychiatrist who prescribed medicine. These kinds of stories hardly inspire confidence in the Department of Corrections or its medical contractor, Prison Health Services. And unfortunately, the cases aren't just extreme examples. In 19 of 22 cases Puisis reviewed at Tutwiler, he found problems with followup, drug errors and substandard care. Women with HIV, staph infections, diabetes and other conditions were consistently denied treatment, he said. His findings are simply alarming - especially if, as the Department of Corrections and Prison Health Services contend, inmate health care services are better now than they used to be. But scariest of all is that the department and PHS are now trying to keep Puisis' reports away from public view. The reports have typically been filed with the court and made public by the Southern Center for Human Rights, the Atlanta-based law firm representing prisoners in a lawsuit over health care. Now, the state and its medical contractor want to keep the reports confidential. That's absurd. The need for scrutiny is obvious: Inmates aren't getting proper health care, and some may be dying as a result. The problems need to be brought to light so they can be fixed. But keeping the monitor reports secret would be a bad idea even if they were glowing tributes to the health care services provided to inmates at Tutwiler. Alabama taxpayers are footing the bill for the prison system and for PHS' $143 million contract, and they have every right to know whether their money is being well-spent. If Gov. Bob Riley is serious about accountability, he shouldn't stand for his prison commissioner working to keep such information out of the hands of citizens.

April 21, 2005 Tuscaloosa News
Negligence and medical errors may have led to two of three inmate deaths last year at Tutwiler Prison for Women, according to a report by a physician and court monitor of the prison's medical system. Dr. Michael Puisis of Illinois, an expert in correctional health care, based his report on visits to the Wetumpka prison March 7-10. He reviewed records, interviewed staff and toured parts of the Wetumpka prison. His report, obtained by The Birmingham News and disclosed Thursday, was required by a 2004 federal court settlement of a lawsuit over crowded conditions and medical care at Alabama's only prison for women. With current patients, Puisis reported that private contractor Prison Health Services lacked follow-up, made mistakes in prescribing drugs and gave substandard care to 19 of 22 prisoners whose charts he reviewed. Women with HIV, staph infections, diabetes and other conditions were consistently denied treatment, he wrote. Two more women have died at Tutwiler this year, and their deaths are under investigation. Puisis has yet to review those cases. Dr. Samuel Englehardt, a retired obstetrician and the primary doctor at Tutwiler at the time of the review, worked there before PHS took over and was retained by the company. "Based on chart reviews, Dr. Englehardt should not be providing general internal medical care to the patients," the report states. Among the mistakes the report cited in the three deaths: -"This patient's underlying medical conditions were grossly mismanaged," Puisis wrote about one woman, a lupus patient who suffered a brain hemorrhage and died in March 2004, a few months after Englehardt canceled tests recommended by an outside cardiologist. "There is no clinical basis for this decision," Puisis wrote. -"Care (of three chronic conditions) was substandard and may have contributed to her death," Puisis wrote about a prisoner who died in August. Her hyperlipidemia, a form of high cholesterol, was untreated and "unquestionably contributed to her death," he wrote. This woman needed to go to a hospital, he wrote, but instead was kept in the prison infirmary and was not seen regularly by a doctor. -The third inmate hanged herself while on suicide watch. She was on suicide watch for five days, but was not evaluated by a mental health professional except for a phone call to a psychiatrist who prescribed medication. On Jan. 24, 2004, the woman was crying, saying, "Daddy, don't hurt me anymore," and was banging her head against a wall, a nurse reported. The next day she hanged herself. "It appears that the record is either incomplete or she was not seen for the duration of her suicide watch until she died," Puisis wrote. "This type of death review is inadequate and leaves many unanswered questions." In the report, Puisis discusses the publicity issue. While fear of liability keeps doctors from reporting errors and is counterproductive to improving care, "on the other hand some errors are due to negligence and gross incompetence," Puisis wrote.

Walnut Grove Correctional Facility
Leake County, Mississippi
Cornell Corporations
December 8, 2004 Commercial Appeal
The convictions of two Leake County prison inmates on charges of plotting an escape were upheld Tuesday by the state Court of Appeals. Steven Farris, serving a life sentence for a 1998 murder, and Thomas Frederick, serving a four-year sentence on car burglary, were accused of conspiring to escape the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility in 2001. The Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, in Leake County, is privately run and houses juveniles who have been sentenced as adults. Witnesses testified at their 2003 trial that prison officials intercepted telephone calls and letters between the inmates and their mothers, alerting them to the escape plans.

Walnut Grove Transition Center
Leake County, Mississippi
American Transition Services
October 21, 2009 Clarion Ledger
Seven probationers who absconded from an inmate re-entry facility in Walnut Grove Sunday night remain at large. Mississippi Department of Corrections has issued warrants for the escapees. A Walnut Grove Transition Center official said the men walked off the minimum-security campus during an evening smoking break. "They were in a fenced-in area and were able to take the bar that connects the chain link to the post and bend it to get out," said Cecil McCrory, a managing partner of the center. "These guys are kind of like parolees in a halfway house setting. They can walk away but most don't because they are there to pay restitution." McCrory said the absences were noticed during a routine head count, which guards conduct every two hours. All of the guards on duty at the time of the escape have been fired. And wardens have made head counts more frequent and have eliminated nighttime outdoor smoking breaks. The 200-bed center in Leake County is owned by American Transition Services and opened in March.

Wilkinson Correctional Facility
Woodville, MS
CCA
November 12, 2009 The Prisoner of the Census
County Supervisors in Wilkinson County, Mississippi faced a quandary after the last census. The Corrections Corporation of America had just opened a large private prison in the county, and, per its usual practice, the Census Bureau credited the population of the prison to the county. Should the county draw a county legislative district where almost half of the population was incarcerated in the private prison? This would give the actual residents of the prison district almost twice as much influence over county affairs as residents of the other districts. They wrote to State Attorney General Mike Moore to seek his advice. He replied: Inmates under the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Department of Corrections … are not deemed “residents” of that county or locality, as incarceration cannot be viewed as a voluntary abandonment of residency in one locale in favor of residency in the facility or jail. For purposes of the Census, these individuals should have been counted in their actual place of residence. Such inmates should not be used in determining the population of county supervisor districts for redistricting purposes by virtue of their temporary presence in a detention facility or jail in the county, unless their actual place of residence is also in the county. (Emphasis added. Opinion No. 2002-0060; 2002 WL 321998 (Miss. A.G.)) The Attorney General is right. Until the Census Bureau changes where it counts incarcerated people, the people who draw districts need to correct the Census.

November 11, 2004 The Advocate
A Louisiana State Penitentiary bloodhound chase team captured one of three escapees Tuesday night from a prison in neighboring Wilkinson County, Miss., Warden Burl Cain said. The team responded to a request for help from the Wilkinson County Sheriff's Office after three inmates escaped from the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, a private prison north of Woodville, Miss., Cain said.

July 15, 2002
Crime and politics drive the private prison industry, and Wilkinson County may have climbed aboard at the right time. But how long will the ride last? It is a question many people in the county are asking after state actions put the private prison industry's future in doubt. Five privately operated prisons were built in Mississippi during the late 1990s, including the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility (WCCF), which opened in 1998. The state's prison population soared then due to "truth in sentencing" laws, which required inmates to serve 85 percent of their sentences before parole eligibility. However, lower crime rates, shorter sentences for nonviolent first-time offenders an alternative sentencing options - such as drug courts and house arrests - have slowed the boom in private prison construction. Last week, Gov. Ronnie Musgrove announce plans to renegotiate state contracts with private prisons The result, he said, will save between $6 million and $12 million. The governor said he will call a special session of the Legislature to approve the smaller private prison budgets. Despite more than 2,500 empty state prison beds, the Legislature budgeted $54.7 million for private prison operations in the 2003 fiscal year, which began July 1. Shortly after the legislative session ended in April, Musgrove exercised a line-item veto power to cut the $54.7 million out of a larger appropriations bill. Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson has suggested closing or taking over privately run facilities in Greenwood and Holly Springs which house routine, medium-security inmates. Wilkinson County Chancery Clerk Thomas Tolliver said the prison has been "nothing but beneficial to the county." Tolliver also serves on the Wilkinson County Industrial Development Authority, a non-profit entity that was formed to recruit the prison and oversee its management. The Development Authority subcontracts the actual operation of the prison to Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). "The Development Authority receives $200,000 each year from CCA as a Community Impact Fee for economic development," he said, adding that the money is used to help recruit and support new industries. Wilkinson County and CCA are profiting from WCCF, but the taxpayers are paying the bill. WCCF's per diem is higher than some other private facilities are paid. The state is also paying the cost of building the prison. M. Binford Williams, a Jackson attorney who represents the Development Authority, said $31.4 million was raised to fund the construction in 1996. Williams said certificates of participation, which are similar to bonds, were sold to investors. (The Democrat)