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Albert Sneed Correctional Facility
La Villa, Texas
Texson Management Group
April 17, 2000
Two inmates, one convicted of aggravated sexual assault and attempted capital
murder, the other a repeated burglar, climbed through an air vent and over a
fence to escape. They escaped from the private prison in Texas around 4:00
a.m. (Valley Morning Star, Rio Grande Valley, TX)
Angelina County Jail
Angelina County, Texas
CiviGenics (formerly run by Correctional Services
Corporation)
October 26, 2005 Lufkin Daily News
When Angelina County's old downtown jail re-opens for business next year,
it will be under familiar leadership. Bob Prince, marketing liaison for CiviGenics Texas, Inc., told Angelina County
commissioners that when the jail re-opens under CiviGenics
early next year it would be with Ken Stewart at the helm. Stewart served as
Angelina County's jail administrator. Stewart was also a vocal supporter of
the county's campaign to pass a $10.5 million bond that financed the
construction of the county's current jail located on Lufkin Avenue. According
to Stewart, the downtown jail was built in 1983 with the ability to hold 63
beds. A 1990 addition to the building increased the jail's inmate capacity by
48 beds to 111 total. Aware of Stewart's recent
retirement and his reputation in the business of jail administration, CiviGenics contacted Stewart to see if he could be lured
out of retirement, Prince said.
October 12, 2005 Lufkin Daily News
Angelina County commissioners on Tuesday approved the purchase of new
electronic touch-screen voting equipment, made possible by a grant of almost
$600,000 through the Help America Vote Act. Commissioners did not take action
on Tuesday's agenda item to approve a lease of the county's old jail facility
by CiviGenics, a private corrections firm that
operates facilities in 16 states, including eight locations in Texas. County
Sheriff Kent Henson asked that the commissioners table the contract approval
until he could review the wording on the document. "I want to make sure
the county doesn't get stuck with some things like we did the last
time," Henson said, referring to the previous corrections firm that
pulled out after leasing the old county jail facility for less than a year.
Commissioners approved tabling the agenda item and will likely consider it at
their Oct. 25 meeting. Bob Prince, CiviGenics'
government liaison for marketing, was on hand at Tuesday's meeting and told
commissioners if his company came on board, it would employ 27 workers and
pump more than $1 million into the local economy. Payroll alone would account
for about $700,000, he said. In addition, CiviGenics
plans to use a familiar face to serve as the facility's administrator in
naming Ken Stewart - who served in the same capacity for the county sheriff's
office before the new jail facility was built - to oversee operations.
November 10, 2004 KTRE
The old Angelina County jail is locking up. The county started leasing
the building about eight months ago to the Correctional Services Corporation
so dozens of undocumented immigrants could be housed there. The Immigration
and Naturalization Service can no longer afford that arrangement.
Avalon Dallas
Transition Center
Aug 3, 2017 fox4news
Dallas County halfway house racks up $22.9k tab in 911 calls
A for-profit transitional home in Dallas County for people getting out of
prison with no place to live is running quite a tab for the county. The
residents of the Avalon Dallas Transition Center have placed excessive 911
calls for medical help and have resulted in a tab that since last October has
not been paid. The transitional home is operated by Corrections Corporation
of America. It’s getting hundreds of thousands of dollars to operate from the
state but not paying what the county says it owes for emergency medical
service. Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price is angry that a private
company providing a transition for people getting out of prison has not paid
its bill to the county for excessive 911 calls. “They owe us a quarter of a
million dollars, and my position is they're a for-profit corporation,” he
said. “We've met with them at least three or four times. The problem is they
are not moving. And, again, they are for profit.” Dallas County contracts
with the city of Hutchins to provide fire and EMS services to the
unincorporated areas in Southeast Dallas County. Each time an ambulance
responds to a call in the unincorporated areas, it costs Dallas County $450.
Documents obtained by FOX 4 show that from a ten month period from October
2016 through July 2017, there were 243 emergency calls made. The total cost
for the calls is $222,900. “That is a pretty high amount there that you know
we haven't been paid,” said Dallas County Fire Marshal Robert De Los Santos.
“We've dealt some correspondence with them, and we just haven’t received any
feedback from them.” De Los Santos says the unpaid price tag should make all
Dallas County residents sick. “Because that’s your taxpayer money, our
taxpayer money,” he said. “I live in Dallas County as well.” FOX 4 reached
out to the out-of-state managing director for comment. They promised to make
a response, but FOX 4 has yet to hear back.
Bartlett State Jail
Bartlett, Texas
CCA
Apr 30, 2017 tdtnews.com
Bartlett could see financial woes if jail closes
The city of Bartlett could face financial difficulties if the Bartlett
State Jail closes in September as proposed by the Texas Senate Finance
Committee. Closing the jail would save the state more than $24 million,
according to the workgroup discussions held by the Senate while working on is
biennium state budget. The state is hoping to cut $250 million from its
budget. Bartlett could lose about $528,000 annually in water and wastewater
revenue because the jail brings in about $40,000 monthly, Bartlett City
Attorney Elizabeth Elleson said. A joint committee
of the Senate and the Texas House will review the budget before it’s passed.
If closed, Bartlett inmates would be moved to other jails, the committee
report said. Elleson recommended that the Bartlett
City Council discuss the possible closing with state legislators and prepare
for the closure by making an economic development plan. The Sept. 1 proposed
closing is an issue that would “put the city in a bind for a few months,”
Mayor Pro tem Barbara Sandobal
said. “We’ll have to learn how to get a lot of things done and do it without
spending so much money,” she said. The jail has become a significant
contributor to Bartlett’s economy, Mayor James Grant said. Closing the jail
would reduce the demands on the city’s wastewater treatment plant, possibly
reducing the need to build a new plant — a move that would save Bartlett
thousands or possibly millions of dollars, Elleson
said. Officials said the city would be affected in several ways, including
the need to raise water and wastewater rates. The prison currently provides
almost 45 percent of the city’s water and wastewater revenue every month,
Grant said. The cost to provide the services is “relatively minimal,” he
said. Grant said the expense is less than 10 percent of the total resources
the city has. The city’s economy would be hit, officials said. Sales tax
collection will be reduced, and area residents who work at the jail might be
reassigned or laid off. Local business owners are concerned about the sharp
decline in revenue if the facility closes, Grant said. To bring Bartlett into
compliance with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and keep from
paying thousands of dollars in fines, the wastewater treatment plant needs
very expensive repairs and sludge cleanup work. Some of the problems came
from the state jail’s overload, but the problems won’t clear themselves up.
The city will have to pay for the repairs and look for grants and loans to
make that possible. Grant said the city’s problem with TCEQ is really about
the severe lack of maintenance and unqualified operators the city hired.
Invoices show that the city paid about $75,000 for water pumps for the state
jail, and that, plus other expenses stemming from the jail, is money that the
city won’t get back. The actual loss to the city that it must absorb and try
to find ways to recapture is actually about $675,000, Grant said. Grant said
that “the clock is still ticking and gaining momentum.” “The Council
majority’s idea that the facility will just be handed over to the city and
instantly converted into a strip mall by year’s end is sheer fantasy,” Grant
said. State Rep. Hugh Shine, R-Temple, was in the Legislature about 30 years
ago when the state was building jails because there was a large shortage of
beds, he said. “I heard presentations from communities on why they wanted
jails to be built there, and now the state is talking about closing jails,”
Shine said. Shine is aware that the Bartlett State Jail is a major industry
for the small town but, on the other side of things, he said he hopes that
means that recidivism is down and that law enforcement is very successful in
eradicating many of the criminal problems. Grant said his office is working
with state legislators to try to get everyone to understand the city’s
budgetary concerns and to identify options and possible alternatives to
closing the facility, he said. The 1,049-bed Bartlett jail, managed since
1995 by the Corrections Corp. of America, houses minimum to medium security
inmates. Jack Garner is the current warden and took the position in November.
More than 200 people work at the jail and, in addition to the revenue
provided through water and wastewater usage, the jail brings in about
$166,000 in local spending for goods and services, according to the jail’s
website. The jail housed 856 offenders on Tuesday, Jason Clark, director of
public information for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said. If the jail closes, the inmates would be transferred to other units that
have existing capacity, Clark said. Shine, the District 55 representative,
said he doesn’t know when the decision on the jail will be made. Although the
jail is in Williamson County, a different district from the one Shine covers,
he said closing it would affect Bell County because of the close proximity.
“Once it is revealed what the final decisions are, they will have a better
idea of the impact,” Shine said. “The economic impact is a little too early
to speculate.” Sen. Charles Schwertner, who
represents Williamson County and is a member of the Senate Finance Committee,
wasn’t available Friday for comment. Shine urged the community leaders to
anticipate what that impact could be and discuss that with the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice and their representatives, as well as county
officials. He also said that Bartlett’s leaders should look into future
prospects for the facility. “If they don’t put forth some effort, the last
thing they want is to be completely blindsided if they do lose it (the
jail),” Shine said.
April 30, 2011 Killeen Daily Herald
The largest private corporation operating prisons in the U.S. is suing the
city of Bartlett after the city threatened last week to shut off the water
supply to a state jail the company operates. Corrections Corporation of
America Inc. (CCA) was granted a temporary injunction Thursday, preventing
Bartlett from cutting off water and sewer to the 1,049-bed Bartlett State
Jail. CCA alleges the city has severely over-billed the company because of a
faulty water meter. Since December, CCA has disputed the amount the city has
charged for use of its water supply. According to court filings, CCA believes
Bartlett charged the company for 44 percent more water than was actually used
at the jail. The disputed water bills amount to $213,237. CCA claims it
requested hearings with city officials each time it disputed a bill, but was
rebuffed. The company also submitted checks to the city for water usage CCA
is not disputing; however, the city has not cashed those checks. In the
summer of 2010, jail officials became suspicious that the jail's water and
sewer bills were excessive, court documents state. CCA hired two experts to
examine water usage at the Bartlett State Jail. One expert confirmed the
suspicions of CCA officials by examining the jail's water tank. The expert,
Sutton G. Page, found that over a 24-hour period, the city's water meter
showed the jail used 68,595 gallons more than the amount he measured. A
second expert, an engineer named William Johansen, examined the city's water
meter. In an affidavit filed with the court, Johansen states that the water
meter is not working properly. The jail's low-flow meter was inoperable, so
Johansen measured it as 100 percent inaccurate. The high-flow meter made a
measurement error between 14.4 percent and 95 percent, Johansen stated.
"It is my opinion that the meters at the Bartlett, Texas, State Jail do
not function properly and cannot reliably account for the amount of water
flowing through the meters," he stated in court documents. According to
Bartlett's city charter, city officials must accept CCA's account of the water
bills. The charter places a time limit on water disputes. If city officials
do not meet with a water customer or respond to their complaints about a
disputed bill within a certain timeframe, the city is automatically
determined at fault. CCA claims city officials never attempted to meet with
jail officials regarding disputed bills. City officials could not be reached
for comment.
January 7, 2010 AP
A boil water notice has been issued for Bartlett where a shortage has led
to using an emergency well and portable toilets for a state jail. The
1,049-bed Bartlett State Jail ordered portable restrooms and 5,000 bottles of
water after briefly losing city service. Steve Owen with Corrections Corp. of
America says employees Wednesday occasionally shut off water so an onsite
tower could refill. Water levels in the city's two elevated storage tanks
have been declining. Officials suspect a pump malfunction. A backup well,
which failed an assessment less than two years ago, was brought online this
week after passing a bacterial test. Mayor Arthur White did not immediately
return a message Thursday from The Associated Press.
February 25, 2009 FOX 7
A former corrections employee, armed with a gun, had a central Texas jail
on full alert this morning. A swat team was called out to the Bartlett State
Jail around 11:00 Tuesday for a hostage situation. The standoff ended early
Wednesday morning, when a former employee of this jail was taken into
custody. A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice tells us
the woman confronted a current employee in the parking lot late last night.
Another employee came out to see what was going on, and the former employee
pulled out a gun and took the two men hostage, forcing them back into the
jail. That brought out the swat team and DPS, and the jail was locked down.
The hostages were in the jail's visitation area and were able to escape. At
that point, this was a standoff between the woman with the gun and the law
enforcement officers outside. By 1:25 this morning, the TDCJ spokesperson
tells us the woman was taken into custody and taken to the Williamson county
jail in Georgetown. This is a state jail under the authority of t-d-c-j, but
it's run by a private company called corrections corporation of America. The
woman accused of taking two employees hostages here is a former employee, who
stopped working here about a year ago.
January 8, 2002
Kyndall Dwight James, 22, who escaped from the
Bartlett State Jail in 2000, pleaded guilty Monday to charges of escape, a
second-degree felony, and unlawful use of a motor vehicle, a state jail
felony. James was sentenced to 20 years in prison. David Lee
Sanders, a second Bartlett inmate accused of escaping with James, will stand
trial today. (The Statesman)
August 28, 2000
Two convicted felons escape after breaking into the maintenance shop and
stealing a cutting tool to cut through the 12-foot perimeter fence.
They were caught the next day after a high speed car chase that ended with
the escapees' stolen truck tires being shot out. (Austin American-Statesman,
August 29, 2000)
Ben
Reid Community Correctional Facility
(AKA Southeast Texas Transitional Center)
Houston, Texas
GEO Group (bought Cornell Companies)
Oct 8, 2012 HoustonPress.com
The rapist of a 16-year-old girl is the latest sexual predator to slip
through the sieve that is the privately run Southeast Texas Transitional
Center. Thomas Lee Elkins, convicted of aggravated kidnapping and sexual
assault in 1991, absconded from the facility, 10950 Old Beaumont Highway,
October 5, according to reports. He's the sixth offender to float away from
Southeast in 24 months. Formerly known as the Ben A. Reid Community
Correctional Facility, Southeast is run by the Florida-based GEO Group,
which, despite its appalling track record in Texas and elsewhere, keeps
getting sweet state contracts. But hey, what's the big deal about losing a
child rapist or two, right? Elkins is 6-3, about 200 lbs., and has a "Fu
Manchu" mustache, which we're totally sure he hasn't shaved. We're also
sure GEO Group won't have to pay any sort of penalty for this escape. They
certainly weren't held accountable when another resident, Anthony Ray
Ferrell, took a stroll in October 2010 and wound up gunning down a Good
Samaritan who tried to stop Ferrell from stealing a woman's purse at a gas
station. Look, clearly the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has more
important things to do -- like monitor employees' Facebook use -- than make
sure its contractors, like, keep the public safe and stuff. Anyone want to
take bets on how long it'll be before another degenerate escapes?
April 6, 2012 Houston Press Blogs
A high-risk child rapist who hopped over his halfway house's barbed wire
fence Thursday night is the fifth sex offender to abscond from the privately
run Southeast Texas Transitional Center in 18 months. According to the
Houston Chronicle story linked above, authorities say Michael Elbert Young,
who might be "mentally unstable if not taking medication," removed
his electronic tracking monitor. He was "released from prison after
serving eight years for two aggravated assault convictions. Both were sex
related. He also served a 20-year term for sexual assault of a child and
attempted aggravated sexual assault." Oh, and he has a history of using
knives. Owned and operated by Florida-based GEO Group, the facility at 10950
Old Beaumont Highway was formerly known as the Ben A. Reid Community
Correctional Facility. Apparently, since GEO can't keep track of its
convicted sexual predators, it just figured changing the name would solve the
problem. After all, it's much cheaper than hiring a competent staff and
improving security. In October 2010, Anthony Ray Ferrell walked out of
Southeast Texas/Ben A. Reid, and was later charged with gunning down a Good
Samaritan who intervened when Ferrell allegedly tried to snatch a woman's
purse inside a gas station convenience store. A week before Ferrell strolled
off the grounds, Bruce McCain, convicted of two sexual assaults in 1986, fled
the facility. In December 2010, Arthur William Brown, who had served 31 years
for aggravated sexual assault of two women and a 16-year-old, did the same. A
month after that, sex offender Timothy Rosales Jr. absconded. Although some
of these folks were caught, the problem is, as we wrote earlier, the place is
like a freaking sieve, and GEO has a sweet contract with the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice: There's apparently no repercussion for escapes, and once
a resident absconds, it's no longer GEO's problem. All GEO personnel have to do is pick up a phone and notify real-life law
enforcement officers. Thanks, GEO. We certainly feel safer with y'all at the wheel. And thanks, TDCJ, for continuing to
do business with them.
January 25, 2011 KTRK
High risk, armed and dangerous are the words being used to describe a sex offender
who absconded from a Houston halfway house on Monday night. It's been nearly
24 hours since Timothy Rosales, Jr. disappeared from the halfway house and he
is no where to be found. The Texas Department of
Public Safety has since added him to it's Top 10
Most Wanted Fugitives list. Rosales was doing maintenance work in the lobby
of the Reid Center on Beaumont Highway around 6:15pm Monday when he bolted
through the front door, cut off his electronic monitoring device around his
ankle and fled. Rosales then did not report back to his parole officer and a
warrant was issued for his arrest. Across the street at Melba's Country
Kitchen, the owner and her staff had no idea he'd absconded until today.
Melba Barfield says she has no reservations being this close to a halfway
house where offenders can leave, so long as they have an approved schedule.
"I've been here nine years and I've had absolutely no problems from the
guys at the halfway house. I know that several have walked away but they
haven't stopped here to get my dollar," said Barfield.
January 25, 2011 Houston Press Blogs
Timothy Rosales Jr. is the first rapist of 2011 to escape from the privately
run Ben Reid halfway house, and the second to escape in a little over a
month. The 39-year-old sex offender fled from the Beaumont Highway facility
around 6:15 Monday night, according to the Department of Public Safety. He's
considered armed and dangerous. And, like Arthur William Brown, the rapist
who escaped in late December, he was able to remove his electronic monitoring
ankle bracelet. We wrote about the unsecured Reid facility, and its parent
company, the Florida-based GEO Group, in December. Two months before the
story ran, Anthony Ray Ferrell escaped from Reid and allegedly shot and
killed a 24-year-old good Samaritan who intervened in a gas station
purse-snatching. Another rapist split the Reid facility a few weeks before
Ferrell slipped out. Although the place is like a freaking sieve, there is
nothing in GEO's contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice about
a maximum number of vicious sexual predators that can be let loose on the
public in a given amount of time. And once these monsters step off the Reid
premises, they're no longer GEO's problem: It is up to actual real-life law
enforcement officers to apprehend the escapees. All GEO personnel need to do
is pick up the phone and make a few calls once they realize an offender
hasn't returned on time. Needless to say, we're a little concerned about the
kind of people who are standing between the public and some armed asshole who
likes to rape 16-year-old kids. You know who doesn't need to worry? GEO's top
executives. Their salaries and benefits are secure. They will continue to
make money off the Reid facility. And besides, their families don't live
anywhere near the facility. So what in the world would they have to worry
about?
November 16, 2010 Houston Press
The man charged with killing a Good Samaritan during a purse-snatching is the
third person to escape the same state-contracted halfway house in the last 20
months. Anthony Ray Ferrell had fled a "halfway house in the 10900 block
of Beaumont Highway" in October, according to the Houston Chronicle. The
home in that block is the Ben A. Reid Community Correctional Facility, from which
sex offender Bruce McCain escaped in October 2010 and Richard Williamson
Griffin Jr. escaped in February 2009. (McCain was arrested in the Rio Grande
Valley three weeks after his escape). The home was operated by private prison
group Cornell Companies, which was bought by its main competitor, the
Florida-based GEO Group, last April. The facility "provides temporary
housing, monitoring and transitional services for 500 minimum-security adult
male offenders," according to Cornell Companies literature. Its
"security measures include 24-hour custodial supervision, 12-foot
perimeter fence, outdoor lighting, close circuit cameras, secure entrances
and frequent census checks." Cornell Companies/GEO also operate
Houston's Leidel Comprehensive Sanctions Center. In
2005, before GEO bought Cornell, a Leidel resident
who got a day-pass for church and never bothered to return; he fled to Fort
Worth, where he killed three men. Ferrell is accused of murdering Sam Irick at a Meyerland convenience store last week. Irick tried to intervene as Ferrell allegedly was robbing
a customer.
September 9, 2004 Houston Chronicle
Drug use by employees at a privately run halfway house for paroled felons led
to seven resignations this week after the facility's corporate owners called
for staffwide drug tests. The departure of the
seven workers — including administrators, security guards and caseworkers —
was the latest problem at the Ben Reid Community Correctional Facility, which
houses up to 500 felons in northeast Houston. The facility is operated by the
Houston-based Cornell Companies Inc. The seven employees who resigned did so
after testing positive for drug use. In May, its director of employee
training, Roy Thomas, 50, was arrested after a police officer, acting on a
tip, searched his car and found 212 tablets of hydrocodone, an addictive
painkiller, and 123 tablets of Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, police said.
Cornell fired the Ben Reid House's director and several high-level managers
last year, citing poor management and violations of numerous company
policies.
Bexar County Courthouse
Bexar, Texas
Champion National Security
June 06, 2001
Dissatisfied with current security contractor, Commissioners Court voted
unanimously Tuesday to hire its own civilian guards to man the entrances to
Bexar County's three courthouse facilities. Henry Martinez, deputy
chief of courthouse security for Sheriff Ralph Lopez, said the current
contractor, Champion National Security, was assessed more than $85,000 in
fines for guards showing up late and for other performance infractions that
occurred over a 16-month period that ended April 30. Commissioners also
voted to reject all bids received by the March 30 deadline to take over
security operations. Among the bidders were Champion, DSS Services, the
Wackenhut Corp. and Lobo Security. "You're going to have a
better-trained guard in the future than we've had in the past," said
County Judge Nelson Wolff, who last week met with Lopez and Commissioner Paul
Elizondo to iron out the details of the sheriff's proposal. "The
position of the judges, unanimously, is that it (courthouse security) needs
to be done by the Sheriff's Department," said 226th District Judge Sid Harle, who is serving as the county's criminal
administrative judge. (The San Antonio Express-News)
Bexar County Jail
Bexar County, Texas
Aramark, Premier Management Enterprise
May 13, 2009 KSAT
Most people can simply run out to the store when they need a jar of
peanut butter or a loaf of bread, but people behind bars are a captive
audience for such necessities, literally. Inmates at the Bexar County jail are allowed to buy simple things like ramen soup, soap and
candy bars at the jail commissary, run by Aramark, but now some wonder if
they're not being ripped off. "The prices are just outrageous and
ridiculous,” said one inmate. "I think they're outrageous,” said
another. “They're terrible." Abel Gallardo agrees. "Here we go
baby. Where are we going, HEB?" Gallardo said to his small child as he
pushed the child in a toy car near the home they share on the southside.
Gallardo is trying to raise two kids while his wife is in jail. He said the
jail commissary’s high prices make it hard on families to get by, because
money has to be spent behind bars. "They need to treat these ladies and
these guys right,” Gallardo said. “Yeah, they committed a crime, well they're
sitting in jail paying for it." In a comparison
shopping trip, the KSAT 12 Defenders found that a bar of Irish Spring
soap is $1.29 in the commissary, but $.75 at a store. Candy bars are $1.09 in
the commissary versus $.74 in the store. Chili is $3.59 in the commissary,
$1.45 at the store. A tuna pouch is $2.99 in the commissary, $.89 in the
store and the ramen soup is $.69 in the commissary, but only $.15 in the
store. "It's just straight highway robbery," said an inmate. But
the jail said prices here are in line with convenience store prices, not
grocery store prices, and that the county takes 35 percent of the profits
from commissary profits and puts the money back into inmate services.
March 12, 2008 Express News
A small plane crash Monday night killed a Louisiana businessman whose
private prison services company, Premier Management Enterprises, was at the
center of a public corruption investigation that last year forced the
resignation of Bexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez. Patrick LeBlanc, 53, died
with the pilot while trying to land in rough weather in Lafayette, La.,
according to a family friend and local press reports. LeBlanc and his
brother, Michael LeBlanc, co-owned Premier and LCS Corrections Services,
which build or service prisons in several states, including in three South
Texas counties. The brothers' company remains the subject of an ongoing FBI
investigation into "contracting irregularities," a bureau official
confirmed. "He had great integrity and honor, unlike what some of you
guys tried to do to him," said Ron Gomez, a close friend and partner in
a small weekly newspaper that published its first edition last week. Gomez
said LeBlanc went into the news business as a response to negative publicity
about his company's role in a Bexar County corruption probe that caused him
to lose a race last fall for state legislative office. Premier Management
Enterprises, which has operated jail commissaries in Texas, was at the center
of a Bexar County district attorney's investigation involving a foreign
vacation gift to Lopez and cash payments to the sheriff's top aide, John
Reynolds, before, during and after the company was given commissary
contracts. The LeBlanc brothers have repeatedly denied all wrongdoing and
have not been indicted or formally accused of any crime related to the Bexar
County jail commissary contract. But Lopez resigned and pleaded guilty to
reduced misdemeanor charges for accepting a Costa Rica golf vacation from the
LeBlancs, while Reynolds last month was sentenced
to 10 years for demanding thousands of dollars in "consulting fees"
and charitable donations from Premier. The FBI took over from state
authorities, and over the last several months, agents have interviewed Lopez
and Reynolds as part of their respective plea deals. FBI Special Agent Erik Vasys said the bureau was well aware of LeBlanc's death
but declined to discuss whether the tragedy might affect the investigation.
December 4, 2007 San Antonio
Express-News
A Bexar County judge has agreed to dismiss a libel lawsuit brought against
the San Antonio Express-News by Premier Management Enterprises, a
Louisiana-based company that formerly ran Bexar County Jail's commissaries.
In the lawsuit, filed in February 2006 against Hearst Newspaper Partnership,
the San Antonio Express-News and reporter Elizabeth Allen, Premier's
principals, Patrick and Michael LeBlanc and Ian Williamson, claimed the
newspaper published two stories and one editorial containing “false and
misleading statements” accusing them of conduct that was “unethical,
incompetent and, in some cases, illegal.” On Thursday, Judge David Berchelmann of the 37th District Court signed an order
after both parties agreed to dismiss the suit with prejudice, meaning it
cannot be brought again. As part of the agreement, the newspaper acknowledged
three errors that ran in Allen's stories and in a subsequent editorial in
December 2005: LCS Correction Services is not Premier's parent company.
Michael LeBlanc had no past legal problems at the time the articles were
printed. Charges against Patrick LeBlanc, Michael LeBlanc's brother, in
connection with a charitable bingo operation on an American Indian
reservation were dismissed. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later
affirmed the dismissal. Since Allen's stories, Premier has phased out its
commissary operations at the jail. Former longtime Sheriff Ralph Lopez
resigned in August as part of an agreement with prosecutors regarding his
dealings with Premier. It included that Lopez plead no contest to three
misdemeanor charges, and pay a $10,000 fine, resulting from an
all-expenses-paid golfing and fishing trip to Costa Rica that Premier gave
him in August 2005. Lopez's plea deal also shielded his wife, Nancy, from any
potential state charges. Lopez's longtime campaign manager and friend, John
Reynolds, also pleaded guilty to one felony count of theft related to his
dealings with the company. Reynolds was Lopez's appointee to the Benevolent
Fund board, which awarded and oversaw the commissary contract. According to
court documents, Reynolds told Premier to contribute to Lopez's campaign and
give charitable donations through Reynolds in exchange for operating the
commissary. Premier attorneys have insisted that there was no wrongdoing in
the way the company landed the contract. Reynolds is awaiting sentencing.
November 8, 2007 Caller-Times
A new commissary company started this week in Kleberg County Jail after
Premier Management Enterprises and the county mutually ended Premier's
contract. Premier was investigated in Bexar County for buying a trip to Costa
Rica for former Sheriff Ralph Lopez. Lopez resigned and pleaded no contest to
three charges related to the trip. Premier, based in Lafayette, La., also
operated in Kleberg County since former Sheriff Tony Gonzalez signed the
contract in fall 2004. Sheriff Ed Mata said last month he wanted to end
Premier's contract because of the Bexar investigation and because of
performance issues. Keefe Commissary Network, based in St. Louis, began
providing commissary services Monday to the Kleberg County Jail. The one-year
contract gives the county 24 percent of net sales, defined as gross sales
minus non-commissioned items such as stamps. Keefe was chosen over Swanson
Sales Corp., which said in a proposal it could offer up to 30.25 percent of
net sales. Commissaries, which supply snacks and some toiletries, are
considered privileges for inmates. Texas law gives sheriffs sole discretion
over the contracts. A county's proceeds must be spent on items or activities
that contribute to inmates' well-being, such as education, libraries, writing
materials, clothing and hygiene items, according to state law. Kleberg Chief
Deputy Willie Vera said Keefe offered the better overall package despite the
lower commission. Some items will be marked up to make up part of the
difference. Plus, the company offered a one-year contract, while Swanson
initially wanted five, then agreed to three, Vera said. Premier had signed a
five-year contract with Gonzalez, and Vera said the current sheriff isn't
willing to sign such a long contract. "We have a year to evaluate this
company," Vera said. "If he needs to go out and search for another
company the door is still open." Keefe also recently began service to
the Nueces County Jail, making it easier for the company to add Kingsville to
its routes, Vera said. Keefe made the transition smoothly and the Kleberg
County Jail was never without commissary services, he said. Premier ran the
Nueces County Jail commissary under a contract signed by former Sheriff Larry
Olivarez until Nueces County Sheriff Jim Kaelin
terminated the agreement after taking office in January, citing performance
issues. Keefe gives Nueces County a commission of 39 percent of net sales.
Mata and Kaelin have said their staffs told them
their predecessors, Gonzalez of Kleberg County and Olivarez of Nueces County,
went on that trip to Costa Rica in August 2005. Neither Mata nor Kaelin has documentation corroborating the reports.
Gonzalez left office in 2004 after losing an election to Mata, and Olivarez
resigned in January 2006 to run for county judge. Gonzalez and Olivarez have
not responded to requests for interviews. Premier's principals, Patrick and
Michael LeBlanc, also own LCS Correctional Services, which is building a private
prison to house federal inmates near Robstown.
October 1, 2007 Caller-Times
Two local sheriffs are distancing themselves from their predecessors'
decisions to award jail commissary contracts to a company involved in a
criminal investigation in Bexar County. Kleberg County Sheriff Ed Mata said
last week officials are researching ways to end that county's five-year
agreement with the company, Premier Management Enterprises. Nueces County
Sheriff Jim Kaelin gave Premier a 30-day
termination notice on Jan. 24, after taking office. Former Bexar County
Sheriff Ralph Lopez resigned and pleaded no contest to accepting a trip to
Costa Rica from the principals of Premier. The Lafayette, La., based company
runs the county jail commissary. Neither Kaelin nor
Mata has documentation corroborating what their staffs have told them -- that
their predecessors, Larry Olivarez of Nueces County and Tony Gonzalez of
Kleberg County, went on that August 2005 trip. Neither Gonzalez nor Olivarez
has responded to requests for comment. There is no known investigation in
Nueces or Kleberg counties. "At this point no case has been submitted to
me," Kleberg County District Attorney John Hubert said. "If
something is submitted to me, I take every case on its own merits. I don't
have any information other than what I've read in the papers and -- no
offense to anybody -- that's not really evidence." Nueces County
District Attorney Carlos Valdez was out of the office late last week, and the
Bexar County District Attorney's Office did not respond. The FBI would not
comment. Olivarez signed a contract with Premier five months after the Costa
Rica trip involving the former Bexar County sheriff. Gonzalez signed a
contract in September 2004. Premier's principals, Patrick and Michael
LeBlanc, also own LCS Correctional Services, which is building a private
prison to house federal inmates near Robstown. A receptionist at Premier
referred all questions to the company's chief executive officer, Chris Burch,
who did not respond. An attorney for the company, Tonya Webber of Corpus
Christi, said her clients have not been commenting because of the open
investigation in Bexar County. She said she would check with her clients for
comment on the local contracts but did not respond after that. Kaelin and Mata both cited performance issues with
Premier as reasons for terminating the contract. Mata said the Bexar
investigation also played a part. "What I'm trying to do is just protect
this county," Mata said. "I'm not trying to pass any judgment if
something was done wrong." Kaelin said his
decision was based solely on Premier's performance. He met with Premier
officials about complaints before ending the agreement, according to
correspondence the Caller-Times obtained under the Texas Public Information
Act. Kaelin and Premier also tangled over payments.
A new contract, with Keefe Supply, also is potentially more lucrative for the
county. The Premier contract gave the county $130,000 or 31 percent of net
sales, whichever was greater. The new contract gives a minimum of 39 percent
with the possibility of 41 percent after the first year. Texas law gives
sheriffs sole discretion over commissary contracts. Commissaries supply
snacks, such as chips, candy bars and soda, as well as certain toiletries,
for inmates. Friends and family put money in an inmate's account to spend on
commissary items. A county's proceeds must be used for commissary staff,
social needs of inmates (such as education or counseling), libraries, writing
materials, clothing, hygiene items or other programs that contribute to
inmates' well-being, according to state law. Kaelin
said he uses commissary profits to buy newspaper subscriptions, televisions
and uniforms. Kaelin said inmates frequently
complained about Premier's service. Under that system, inmates would order
items to be packed into bags, shipped from San Antonio and handed out the
next day. Kaelin said his office received numerous
complaints about items being damaged or wrong. Keefe stores items at the
Nueces County Jail McKenzie Annex and brings items around on a cart twice a
week so inmates can choose and receive items immediately, Kaelin
said. Premier's accounting system also allowed inmates to buy on credit, and
as a result some inmates would leave custody owing money to Nueces County, Kaelin said. Keefe's system charges inmates' accounts
directly by scanning a bracelet inmates wear. An inmate can't buy items
unless there is enough money in the account.
September 25, 2007 San Antonio
Express-News
The longtime campaign manager and friend of resigned Bexar County Sheriff
Ralph Lopez pleaded guilty to one felony count of theft Tuesday that could
bring him up to a decade in prison and a $10,000 fine. John Reynolds' plea
stemmed from his demands that Premier Management Enterprises give charitable
donations, campaign contributions and other money "so you can take care
of us," in exchange for contracts to operate the jail and jail annex
commissaries, which were under the control of Lopez. According to the plea
deal, Reynolds ended up diverting the Premier money — $32,000 — for his
personal use. 'You're killing me' -- Premier's Texas point man at one time
was Ian Williamson, who no longer works for the company. Now a cooperating
witness, Williamson told Bexar County investigators that Reynolds "asked
for certain things" in exchange for awarding Premier the commissary
business. Specifically, Reynolds told Premier to pay the equivalent of 1
percent of commissary sales to Lopez's campaign fund and give three payments
of $7,500 each that Reynolds said were donations to the Optimists, when, in
fact, the money went into his own bank accounts. Williamson testified that he
called Reynolds this past spring, as the investigation was heating up, and
asked him for receipts for the three $7,500 donations. "Williamson said
there was dead silence until John Reynolds stated, 'You're killing me; you're
killing me,' at which time Ian Williamson claimed it was then that he
realized that John Reynolds had never delivered the donations,"
according to court documents. At one point, Williamson stated, Reynolds
demanded a consulting fee of $5,014. When Williamson asked why he shouldn't
write a check for a round $5,000, he said Reynolds
replied: "that $5,000 looked too funny." Other filings by the
district attorney's office have shown checks made out to Reynolds' accounts
and signed by Michael LeBlanc, who is an owner of Premier along with his
brother Patrick, and by Chris Burch, who replaced Williamson as Premier's
CEO. Burch said in a recent interview that he believed Reynolds'
representations that the checks were for legitimate charities. Premier's
lawyers have denied any wrongdoing. After the scandal broke, Premier mutually
agreed with the Sheriff's Office to prematurely end its Bexar County
commissary contracts. Recently, Lopez pleaded no contest to taking a gift
from Premier — an all-expense paid trip to Costa Rica for golf and fishing.
He was forced to resign and fined $10,000; his interim replacement, Roland Tafolla, was sworn in last week. Lopez claims he was
ignorant of how Reynolds was running his campaign finances. By pleading
guilty to third-degree theft, Reynolds will be going to prison, First
Assistant District Attorney Cliff Herberg said.
Under the parole rules, the 10-year sentence would make him eligible for
early release in 2.5 years. That is much less than the potential sentence he
could have faced had he been indicted. District Attorney Susan Reed's office
had threatened to indict Reynolds as a repeat offender because of Reynolds'
previous conviction for falsifying a furniture damage claim while he was in
the military. That would have made Reynolds' minimum sentence 15 years, the
Express-News confirmed. Reynolds entered his plea before 399th District Judge
Juanita Vasquez-Gardner on Tuesday afternoon and was released on a $10,000
bond. As part of his plea, Reynolds will have to tell all he knows to federal
authorities before his Jan. 4 sentencing as part of an FBI investigation that
may — or may not — continue for some time. "The investigation is very
fluid at the moment and to comment on the direction just wouldn't be prudent
right now," said Special Agent Erik Vasys, a
spokesman for the San Antonio-based FBI office. Goals met -- Reynolds' plea
effectively brings to a close Reed's public corruption investigation of the
lucrative jail commissary contracts, granted in 2005 and 2006 by the board of
the Benevolent Fund that was controlled by Lopez and chaired by Reynolds.
"Our goal was to go after the public officials that we believe engaged
in wrongdoing," Herberg said. "And with
John Reynolds' and the sheriff's plea, we believe we've accomplished our
goal." Also caught in the investigation was the ex-sheriff's wife, Nancy
Lopez, who kept her own close ties to Reynolds and whose signatures were
found on thousands of dollars worth of campaign
checks that Reynolds allegedly deposited into his private accounts. She was
given immunity from state prosecution. Reynolds will be required to talk with
federal investigators about "all transactions. This includes but is not
limited to, all of his experiences, whether illegal or not, with the Bexar
County Sheriff's Office, the BCSO Benevolent Fund, Michael LeBlanc, Patrick
LeBlanc, Premier Management Enterprises, LCS, Louisiana Corrections Systems,
and affiliated persons and entities," states a letter from Reed to
Reynolds' lawyer, outlining the plea deal. Louisiana-based Premier and the
prison-building company called LCS Corrections Inc., which is also owned in
part by Michael and Patrick LeBlanc, operate in five South Texas counties,
Louisiana and Alabama. Lopez and Reynolds weren't the only one to benefit
from their ties to Premier. The Express-News has reported that Premier also
gave a contract for temporary staffing to John E. Curran III, who, like
Reynolds, is a friend of Lopez's and a member of the Bexar County Benevolent
Fund board. Premier gave Curran the staffing business after he'd voted to
give Premier an initial commissary contract. He later recused himself from
further votes about Premier. In summer 2006, Reynolds, in a desperate attempt
to cover up the real reason he'd taken money from Premier, handed out
envelopes full of cash to his friends, purportedly college scholarships for
their children. District attorney investigators said Reynolds concocted the
Optimists scholarships as a disguise. One of the students whose parent
received the $7,500 told investigators "he did not know the name of the
organization that awarded him the scholarship money, he didn't know about an
organization named Optimist, nor does he know what the word 'optimist'
means." In fact, Reynolds' affiliation with the Optimists had ended
years earlier, investigators found.
September 8, 2007 The Advocate
This week’s conviction of a San Antonio area sheriff for his involvement
in a bribery and money laundering scheme has ties to a Lafayette company
owned by a candidate for the state House of Representatives. Pat LeBlanc and
his brother, Michael, own Premier Management Enterprise. Bexar County
prosecutors say now-resigned Sheriff Ralph Lopez and his long-time campaign
manager John Reynolds received money and a golf and fishing trip to Costa
Rica in exchange for awarding Premier Management the contract to run the
county jail’s commissary. LeBlanc, a Republican, qualified Thursday to run
for the District 43 seat being vacated by Ernie Alexander, R-Lafayette.
LeBlanc said Friday that he is cooperating with investigators and as such
cannot comment on the specifics of the case. But LeBlanc said he is confident
in his and his company’s integrity. “We haven’t done anything wrong,” LeBlanc
said. “We’re caught up in something that’s a lot bigger than us.” Lopez and
his wife, Nancy, pleaded no contest Monday to charges of receiving an
improper gift, failing to file the proper disclosures, and tampering with a
government record. According to the couple’s plea deal, they will be required
to cooperate with both local, state and federal authorities in the ongoing
investigation. Affidavits attached to search warrants in the case allege that
in April 2005, Reynolds began lobbying the sheriff’s office Benevolent Fund
board — which at the time ran the commissary operations — in an attempt to
have the board award the commissary contract for the jail annex to Premier
Management on a trial basis. Reynolds sat on the board at the time. In June
2005, a board member intended to present the board an analysis that showed
there would be a decrease in profits if the contract were agreed to,
according to the affidavit. Lopez, the board chairman and the skeptical board
member sent a letter to Premier Management in July 2005 telling the company
the board would not be awarding it the contract, the affidavit says. Soon
thereafter, the chairman resigned from the board and Reynolds took over as
chairman. Reynolds then called a special meeting on a date when he knew two
objecting board members would be out of town; and at that meeting, Reynolds
gave Premier Management the contract, according to the affidavit. Twelve days
later, Lopez and Reynolds attended an all-expense paid golf and fishing trip
to Costa Rica, hosted by Premier Management, according to the affidavit. A person investigators believe to be an Alabama state
senator also attended. In October 2005, the contract was formally signed. One
month later, Premier Management gave a $5,000 check to “Systems Analysts,”
which prosecutors say was a shell business controlled by Reynolds. In January
2006, Premier Management gave $7,500 to the “Optimist Club Scholarship Fund,”
which prosecutors say is a sham nonprofit controlled by Reynolds. Another
$7,500 check to Optimist followed on May 11, 2006, according to the
affidavit. Two weeks later, despite an analysis by the board’s accountant
that showed the commissary profits had decreased, the board voted to extend the
contract to the entire jail, not just the annex operations, the affidavit
says. In total, prosecutors allege, Premier Management or Michael LeBlanc
gave Reynolds’ organizations more than $32,000, which Reynolds then turned
into cash and deposited into his personal bank account. Pat LeBlanc said the
contracts his company signs with state and federal officials require a great
deal of disclosure, including the requirement that his company’s books be
open for review at a moment’s notice by those agencies. “I’m proud to say I
have passed muster,” LeBlanc said. “There’s probably no candidate in
Louisiana that gets more scrutiny.” LeBlanc said he and his brother started
the commissary business as a satellite business to serve their own prisons,
before deciding to branch off to serve other facilities. It’s not a large
part of the overall business, LeBlanc said. “I would never ever risk my
integrity over selling candy bars and potato chips,” LeBlanc said. LeBlanc
said that most voters see the issue as he sees it, as a “smear campaign.” He
said most Lafayette media outlets were tipped off on the San Antonio
prosecutions within a two-and-a-half hour period. “It’s politics as usual,”
LeBlanc said. “It’s the nature of the game. It’s a blood sport. People will
use every little piece of leverage they can.”
September 9, 2007 San Antonio
Express-News
Bexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez and some of his friends weren't the only
ones in South Texas who enjoyed the benefits of helping Premier Management
Enterprises secure lucrative jail commissary contracts, according to
interviews and records examined by the San Antonio Express-News. Like Lopez,
the sheriffs of two other counties awarded contracts to the Louisiana jail
services company, and either they or their associates reaped financial
benefits. Those sheriffs, now out of office, also boasted to their staffs
about going on a golf and fishing trip to Costa Rica with Premier officials,
the same trip that last week forced Lopez to resign. Here in Kleberg County,
then-Sheriff Tony Gonzalez, a close friend of Lopez, gave Premier a contract
to run his jail commissary when he was in office in 2004 and has been paid by
the company for consulting work of an unknown nature. "I've done some
consulting for them here and there," Gonzalez told the Express-News
during a brief interview at his ranch-style home on the outskirts of
Kingsville, declining to elaborate. "I'm just down here keeping my nose
clean." In Nueces County, one associate of former Sheriff Larry
Olivarez, another Lopez friend, reaped rewards after helping Premier win a
jail commissary contract there in 2005. The associate, a commercial real
estate broker who was appointed by the sheriff to an ad hoc committee that
awarded the contract, later earned a commission from the sale of 56 acres
where LCS Corrections Services Inc., another company owned in part by
Premier's principals, is building a private detention center, the
Express-News has learned. In addition, the former sheriff's chief deputy won
political backing from LCS when he ran as a candidate to replace Olivarez,
who had stepped down to run for county judge. Premier, which has come up
repeatedly in an ongoing public corruption investigation in Bexar County for
doing favors for influential people in a position to help the company, has
denied any wrongdoing. That investigation, so far, has narrowly targeted only
individuals in Bexar County, such as Lopez and his longtime campaign manager,
John Reynolds, and Reynolds' financial relationship with the sheriff's wife.
Lopez, Reynolds and at least one of their associates helped Premier land the
local jail food commissary contract in 2005. As part of an immunity deal with
Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed, the sheriff resigned, effective
Sept. 19, and pleaded no contest Tuesday to three misdemeanor charges, two of
which were related to the Costa Rica golf outing he accepted from Premier.
The deal protected him from further state prosecution; his wife wasn't
indicted. Reynolds, who played a key role in awarding the contract to Premier,
is suspected by Reed of bribery, extortion, theft, money laundering and
campaign finance violations. He also went on the Costa Rica trip and received
checks totaling more than $30,000 from Premier and one of its owners for
consulting and donations to fake charities Reynolds set up. An associate of
both Reynolds and the sheriff, John E. Curran, voted with Reynolds on a jail
board to give Premier the commissary contract, then won a contract himself
from Premier to provide temporary workers for the operation. Largely
unexamined is the broader picture of how Premier, its owners, Patrick and
Michael LeBlanc, and LCS conducted a business expansion with local government
partners throughout South Texas. A closer look at some of those operations
reveals similarities in conduct with local officials that have drawn none of
the law enforcement or media scrutiny seen in Bexar County. Nueces County
Sheriff Jim Kaelin, who succeeded Olivarez, is
among those who have been watching the news from San Antonio with keen interest
because LCS is about to open an 800-bed prison in his county. So far, no law
enforcement agency has contacted him, Kaelin said.
Close relationships -- LeBlanc-run companies Premier and LCS operate
jail-related businesses in five South Texas counties. The first started in
Brooks County in 2000. They have embarked on an aggressive expansion in
recent years that has capitalized on tighter federal immigration control
policies. In addition to the work at Bexar County Jail, the companies also
operate jails, commissaries or full-scale prisons in Brooks, Kleberg, Hidalgo
and Nueces counties. They also run four jails in the LeBlancs'
home state of Louisiana and one in Alabama. Current Texas law makes sheriffs
key gatekeepers for contracts such as those sought by Premier and to a
certain extent by the prison-building LCS. Under current law, Texas sheriffs
have almost unchecked authority to contract management of their commissaries
with no competitive bidding. County commissioners must approve deals to build
private prisons but often keep their sheriffs closely in the loop as resident
overseers and advisers. Premier, LCS or sometimes both arrived in counties
served by sheriffs who maintained close personal relationships with one
another and with Bexar County's Lopez, according to interviews with personnel
in several offices. Lopez's office calendar for the past few years shows he
often traveled to visit Kleberg's Gonzalez on weekends for golfing and that
Gonzalez traveled to San Antonio. The calendar also shows a number of trips
to visit Olivarez in Corpus Christi, where he still lives in a house near a
golf course. At the Kleberg County Sheriff's Office, Gonzalez's former
staffers say the three were often joined in golfing and hunting outings by
other sheriffs and elected officials in counties where Premier or LCS are
doing business today. Among them was Balde Lozano
of Brooks County, who did not return three calls for this story. "He
kept a close-knit circle of friends," said Yvonne Barbour, Gonzalez's
former office administrator. "I know Tony was a big golfer." Those
relationships would later prove mutually beneficial for the Louisiana
companies and the sheriffs or their friends. Gonzalez, for instance, used his
relationships in Nueces County to help Premier and LCS gain entrance there.
Assistant Deputy Chief Peter B. Peralta, who worked in the office when LSC
first began courting county business, remembered that it was Gonzalez who
made the introductions. Later, Gonzalez approved giving Premier a food
commissary contract for his jail during his final weeks in office. At some
point either before or after Gonzalez left office in late 2004, he accepted
private consulting work from Premier's owners, he and a company official
acknowledged. When Gonzalez transferred the commissary contract to Premier,
two lifelong Kingsville residents, brothers who run a small local grocery,
felt the pain. Betos Community Grocery had held the
contract since the 1970s and had come to rely on the modest commissary
revenue as competition from large grocery stores cut into Betos'
bottom line. They were told they should only bid for the contract if they had
a sophisticated computer system. "We didn't even get one computer until
last year," said Juan Garza, who co-owns the grocery with his brother
Albert and supported Gonzalez's last failed re-election bid. "It
hurt." It remains unclear what kind of consulting work Gonzalez did for
the company or when it started. But former five-term Brooks County Judge Joe
B. Garcia recalled one occasion — after Gonzalez lost his election — that he
came calling, apparently after hearing that Garcia had begun agitating for
Brooks County to renegotiate better terms from its LCS detention center
contract. It was during this time that Gonzalez phoned Garcia wanting to meet
for lunch and talk about local LCS operations. "I've known Tony for a
while. But I didn't want to talk to him about my contract with LCS,"
Garcia said. Garcia remembered another story he found disturbing, when
Michael LeBlanc himself showed up at his office, accompanied by the man
Garcia had just beaten in the election. That LeBlanc would travel to South
Texas was not unusual; he often has personally tended to his business
affairs. But Garcia said what he heard made him feel uncomfortable.
"They said if I had a campaign debt, they would contribute to my
campaign," Garcia said. He said he told them he had no campaign debt to
pay off and wouldn't have accepted the offer even if he did. "A lot of
people try to do those type of things," Garcia said. "I've always
been the type who, hey, I've worked hard for my education. I don't have fancy
cars, no ranches." Attorneys for LCS and Premier have declined all
requests for interviews regarding the ongoing investigation in Bexar County
or for this report. Last year, the LeBlancs sued
the Express-News, alleging they were libeled in articles the paper published
in late 2005. The lawsuit is pending. But Chris Burch, chief executive
officer of Premier, acknowledged that Gonzalez had done some consulting work
for the company under an arrangement with a predecessor, Ian Williamson, who
is no longer with the company. Burch said he was not privy to any details
about that work. Gonzalez still may be working for the company as a paid
consultant, Burch said. "I do know he has done some consulting work, but
I'm not the one who put this together." Benefits and campaign -- Like
Gonzalez, then-Nueces County Sheriff Olivarez helped Premier land a
commissary deal in his jail during his final days in office in late 2005. He
then quit, as required, to run for county judge. During his time as sheriff,
LCS had a "pass through" contract with Nueces to refer federal
prisoners to its other Texas facilities, and it advanced a proposal to build
the 800-bed detention center, now nearing completion. The project is expected
to generate $800,000 for the county in inmate transfer payments, plus
$350,000 to $400,000 in taxes. The Express-News has learned an ally of
Olivarez benefited financially from LCS' effort to build the detention center
— after helping the sheriff give the jail commissary contract to Premier.
Corpus Christi commercial real estate broker and developer Tim Clower served in late 2005 on an ad hoc selection
committee the sheriff appointed to examine bids for the commissary management
job, according to the office of Kaelin, the current
sheriff. In February 2006, several months after Clower
voted for the commissary contract, he brokered a real estate purchase of 56.6
acres on behalf of LCS for the $20 million detention center. The property's
seller, Patricia Ann Bernsen, said Clower's company
approached her and brokered the purchase of her farmland for $4,000 an acre,
or $225,000. "He did get a commission, that's for sure," Bernsen
said, declining to say how much. "It was a good commission." On
average, commercial real estate agents earn between 6 percent and 10 percent,
according to one South Texas commercial real estate broker. At the time of
the sale, the 2006 sheriff's primary race was heating up. Clower
co-signed for a $20,000 campaign loan to Olivarez's former chief deputy,
Jimmy Rodriguez, whose opponent at the time was publicly criticizing him for
helping bring LCS to town. LCS went to Rodriguez's aid by lambasting his
opponent. At one point in the campaign, LCS went public with a threat to halt
construction of its detention center if Rodriguez did not win the Democratic
primary. "We're not going to work with or for someone who doesn't
respect our company," Michael LeBlanc was quoted in the Corpus Christi
Caller-Times as saying about Rodriguez's opponent. "If Mr. (Pete)
Alvarez wins, we're out of Nueces County — plain and simple," LeBlanc
said. Rodriguez won the primary but lost the general election. Last week, he
insisted that he was paying off the $20,000 bank loan he said Clower co-signed. "He's been a friend for a long
time," Olivarez's former chief deputy said of Clower.
"He had a long history with the department before we even got
there." Clower did not return repeated calls
seeking comment about the loan or his commission on the LCS land purchase.
Traveling together -- The Express-News could not substantiate or refute
comments from those in the Sheriff's Office that Olivarez, while he was
sheriff, went on the same Costa Rica trip in August 2005 with Lopez, Reynolds
and Premier officials. Olivarez did not return numerous phone calls or
respond to a message left during a visit to his home. Kaelin
said Olivarez boasted of the Costa Rica trip and a separate hunting trip to
employees who remain on staff. Kleberg's Gonzalez, while in office, also told
some of his staff of going on the same Costa Rica trip, said Kleberg Sheriff
Ed Mata, who beat Gonzalez in the 2004 election. Mata conceded that he can't
prove the story, but he wondered why no one has investigated as in Bexar
County. Gonzalez, during the recent interview at his home near Kingsville,
was asked several times if he would deny going on the trip. He declined each
time. The Costa Rica trip was not the only reputed benefit Kaelin heard about in regard to Olivarez. Shortly after
taking office, Kaelin said, a staff person phoned
him to report that Olivarez had appeared with a small group of businesspeople
seeking to tour the detention center project. Kaelin
said he was told that Olivarez had represented himself as an "unpaid
spokesperson for LCS." Kaelin called LCS
officials to inquire as to whether Olivarez might have been hired to run the
detention center, a prospect Kaelin worried would
undermine his office's working relationship with it. But he was told Olivarez
had no known connection to the company or employment prospects. Bexar Sheriff
Lopez's office calendar indicates he planned to attend the detention center
groundbreaking with Olivarez on Feb. 23, 2006, after Olivarez had left office
to run, unsuccessfully it turned out, for judge. Today, Olivarez works as a
manager for the Corpus Christi branch of CGT Law Group International,
according to a woman who answered the phone there. Richard Harbison, a vice
president in charge of LCS' Texas operations, is certain that Olivarez has had
no financial relationship with LCS. As he was preparing to take his own
vacation to Costa Rica, Harbison also said by phone that he was unaware of
any paid trips involving sheriffs in Texas and the LeBlancs.
Burch, of Premier, said he was not working for the company at the time of the
August 2005 trip. In Bexar County, where the public corruption investigation
has been in high gear lately, District Attorney Susan Reed has said she is
mainly interested in prosecuting local individuals such as Reynolds, whom she
called "rotten fruit." None of Premier's San Antonio offices have
been searched, Reed acknowledged. "I'm not finished, so I'm not ready to
make any definitive determination yet" about Premier, she said. The FBI
and Texas Rangers, which have been involved in the Bexar County
investigation, aren't commenting. Patrick LeBlanc, who last week formally
became a candidate for the Louisiana Legislature, is running in part on a
message that he will fight against political corruption that "robs us of
our confidence in government." Last week, he told the Lafayette Advocate
that he has been cooperating with investigators in Bexar County but couldn't
elaborate. "We haven't done anything wrong," he told the newspaper.
"I would never, ever risk my integrity over selling candy bars and
potato chips."
September 1, 2007 San Antonio
Express-News
With an indictment hanging over his head, Sheriff Ralph Lopez resigned Friday
in a deal struck with prosecutors that guarantees him no jail time in
exchange for a no contest plea and $10,000 fine, a source familiar with the
negotiations told the San Antonio Express-News. Lopez's brief resignation
letter marked the end of his 15-year reign as Bexar County sheriff. The
letter was faxed to District Attorney Susan Reed at 5:36 p.m., following what
the Express-News confirmed were ongoing negotiations about resolving his
criminal case. Lopez faces misdemeanor charges stemming from an investigation
into a jail commissary contract awarded to a Louisiana private jail services
company called Premier Management Enterprises. "I, Rafael Lopez, hereby
resign my position as Sheriff of Bexar County, Texas, effective at 5:00 p.m.
on August 31, 2007," Lopez's resignation letter said. Reed turned the
resignation letter over to Commissioners Court, whose members plan to meet
Tuesday to begin choosing a successor. A new sheriff could be named by Sept.
19. The resignation was the product of a deal Lopez and his attorneys struck
with Reed's office, a source familiar with the agreement confirmed. Under the
undisclosed terms, Lopez agreed to plead no contest to all three
misdemeanors, and to pay a $10,000 fine. A review by the Express-News of the
court's records Friday showed no plea agreement was filed, and judges who
could have formalized the deal had left the building by the time Lopez's
resignation was made public. Sources familiar with the negotiations, however,
confirmed the sheriff will formalize the proposed deal in front of a judge,
possibly as early as next week. Reed declined to comment. So did Lopez's
lawyer, Mike McCrum: "I cannot comment about anything regarding his
pending case," he said. After formally resigning, Lopez retreated to the
privacy of his Leon Valley home, which raided last week by investigators, and
did not answer calls from the media. Through other officials, he requested to
be left alone. County Commissioner Paul Elizondo said Lopez may issue a
public statement in the coming days. The indictments against Lopez, issued
just as the statute of limitations was about to expire, are part of a broader
ongoing investigation into just how Premier Management Enterprises came to
win the jail commissary contract. Lopez faces three misdemeanor counts:
accepting a gift, accepting an "honorarium," and failing to
disclose the gift and honorarium in his finance reports to the county. The
alleged gifts were in the form of a golfing and fishing trip to Costa Rica in
August 2005, at a time when Premier's contract was in jeopardy. Key questions
remain unanswered. Chief among them is whether Lopez or his wife, Nancy
Lopez, still might be subject to charges in the public corruption
investigation. She has been named as a suspect in bribery, money laundering
and campaign finance law violations. Also unknown is whether Lopez and his
wife will become cooperating witnesses against others who have been named as
suspects or who have been called before the grand jury. The grand jury's term
was extended until late September. "The sheriff clearly wants to spend
more time with his family, and he's confident that his department is being
left in capable hands," said McCrum, who declined to comment on Nancy
Lopez's status or any possible deal involving Lopez himself. "He's proud
of the Bexar County Sheriff's Office and that it is in capable hands. Because
of a lot of different factors, he's decided to resign to spend more time with
his family." County officials called a news conference late Friday
afternoon to announce the resignation. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff
described a calm, professional interaction with the sheriff during which
Lopez disclosed his intention to resign. Wolff said he didn't ask Lopez any
questions. "He did say he's going to take some time with his family and
wanted some privacy," Wolff said, later adding: "The last two or
three weeks have obviously been difficult. I think at least I feel relieved
in the sense that it's come to a conclusion, and we now know a timeline in
which we will take action. It's never good when any elected official has
legal problems." Elizondo and Commissioner Tommy Adkisson
also expressed regret. "It is sad for a person who came in with great
aplomb and reception ... to come to this juncture," Adkisson
said. "I had a very good relationship with the sheriff, and I always
really respected him," Elizondo said. "He's had an outstanding
career in law enforcement and he's done a lot to modernize and upgrade the
Sheriff's Office during his career. It's sad that it comes to this
juncture." Wolff said he had no successor in mind for Lopez. Sheriff's
Deputy Al Damiani, president of the Bexar County Sheriffs
Deputy Law Enforcement Officer's Organization, long considered a Lopez ally,
expressed dismay over the resignation. The union, known as LEO, has had its
records subpoenaed, along with some of its top members, and long has retained
longtime Lopez campaign manager John Reynolds as a political consultant. The
investigation into the jail commissary contract also has encompassed
Reynolds, who served on the nonprofit board. "If this hadn't have come
up, they would have been naming buildings after Ralph Lopez," Damiani
said. "He took our organization from the dark ages to a situation where
we're a viable modern law enforcement organization." Damiani, who only
recently became LEO's president, said he has ordered a full 10-year audit of
the organization's books that will focus on any dealings involving Reynolds.
He also urged Commissioner's Court to appoint an interim sheriff who knows
the department well and isn't currently a declared candidate for the office.
He said the office has been in "absolute turmoil." "We want
someone who can stabilize things and get us back to the business of serving
the public," Damiani said. Premier took over management of the jail food
commissary contract at the urging of Lopez, who used close associates on a
nonprofit corporate board overseeing the jail commissary to push the contract
through when a majority of other board members were prepared to vote it down.
Through their attorneys, Ralph and Nancy Lopez and Reynolds have denied any
wrongdoing.
August 15, 2007 San Antonio
Express-News
Bexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez was indicted Thursday on three
misdemeanor criminal charges related to benefits he allegedly took from a
jail contractor, but the four-term officeholder avoided the indignity of
getting booked into his own jail. The indictments accused Lopez of accepting
and failing to report a gift and an "honorarium" — both involving
the same 2005 all-expenses paid golfing/fishing trip to Costa Rica — from a
company he helped get the contract to run his jail's food commissaries. In
particular, the indictments allege that he solicited and accepted food,
lodging, transportation and entertainment, including golfing and fishing,
from two officials of Louisiana-based Premier Management Enterprises, which
now runs the commissaries. One indictment labels the trip as a gift to a
public servant; the other an "honorarium," or informal payment,
that "was in consideration for services that the defendant would not
have been requested to provide but for defendant's official position and
duties." The third charges that he failed to report the gift on his
personal financial disclosure form. Lopez remains in office, as allowed by
law for an official under indictment, but if found guilty, Lopez would be
automatically disqualified for service and could end up behind bars. Despite
warrants issued for his arrest Thursday, Lopez never had to join his
prisoners. After reporting to a judge, he was allowed to remain free on a
personal recognizance bond. The charges are the first to surface as part of a
wider-ranging public corruption probe that District Attorney Susan Reed said
focuses on the relationship between Premier, Lopez, his longtime campaign
manager John Reynolds, members of a nonprofit board the sheriff set up and
appointed to run the jail commissaries, and others. Attorneys for Premier did
not respond to requests for comment Thursday. After testifying under subpoena
for 45 minutes before the grand jury Thursday morning, Lopez said, "I've
done nothing wrong." A Democrat who recently announced he would run for
re-election next year, Lopez called the 18-month investigation by Republican
Reed "a political witch hunt." Jason Davis, one of Lopez's
attorneys, said, "We are looking forward to our day in court." In
previous interviews, Lopez has acknowledged accepting the trip to Costa Rica
for an undisclosed business purpose, a kind of favor to friends, but has
insisted it had no bearing on his decision to help Premier take over the jail
commissaries. He maintains he has never received any form of payment from
Premier for his help. Reed characterized the indictment of Lopez as merely a
stepping-stone in an investigation that is far from over, involving the FBI
and Texas Rangers. She said the misdemeanor indictments against Lopez were
presented Thursday only because the legal time limit for filing such charges
would have ended on Monday. Reed dismissed the sheriff's accusation that the
investigation was political, noting that it began long before Lopez declared
he would run for re-election. "That is a fairly typical response from
any politician who has been indicted. In fact, I can't remember anyone not
claiming that," she said. "The sheriff has run for office before
and I have kept my distance. I didn't even support the candidates who were
running. I made no public endorsements. I felt I needed to work with him.
He's the sheriff." The charges against Lopez fall short of more
penalty-heavy public corruption or bribery, which challenge prosecutors to
present evidence that meets a more stringent standard. Instead, the two
charges characterizing the trip as a payment or benefit, if proved, each
carry up to a year in prison, a $4,000 fine, or both. A third charge accusing
Lopez of failing to report it as required on financial disclosure statements
carries a penalty of up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine. Jail business
-- The sheriff's Costa Rica trip came at a time when Premier's prospects of
getting the jail business was in jeopardy, and he wasn't the only one who
benefited from a relationship with the company. Until the fall of 2005, the
county's two jail commissaries were being run and managed directly by the
sheriff's office through the nonprofit Benevolent Fund. By most accounts, the
commissaries were run efficiently and had some $2 million a year in revenue.
But starting earlier in 2005, the sheriff began pushing hard for his
appointed board members to hand over management to Premier, on grounds that a
private company could run the commissaries more professionally. Premier's
principals were brothers Michael LeBlanc and Patrick LeBlanc, as well as CEO
Ian Williamson. But some of Lopez's own staff and appointed Benevolent Fund
board members strongly objected to the change. A background check turned up
information about Premier that was generally critical of the company and
cited specific examples where another company run by the LeBlancs,
a private prison firm, had faced legal challenges to their operations. A
majority of board members were prepared to vote against the project. Even
Lopez momentarily withdrew his support, but he was soon pushing for it again.
A key meeting that broke the logjam occurred in August 2005, when Reynolds
became chairman of the board and pushed the Premier contract forward, minutes
show. In a recent court filing seeking to force Reynolds to give up
handwriting samples, the district attorney's office accused him of accepting
more than $27,000 in unreported "donations" to "shell"
charities and "consulting" fees from Premier during the time that
Reynolds was also helping the company win the jail commissary business as a
sheriff-appointed member of the Benevolent Fund board. He is a target of the
investigation, subpoenaed at least three times by the grand jury. Neither
Reynolds nor his attorney has returned phone calls. He has invoked the Fifth
Amendment right against self-incrimination all three times. It was also later
that month, from Aug. 20-23, that Lopez accompanied Michael LeBlanc and Ian
Williamson to Costa Rica, according to the sheriff's calendar and the
indictments. Investigators have interviewed a number of other current and
former Benevolent Fund board members. Among them is John E. Curran III, a
longtime political and business associate of both the sheriff and Reynolds.
The Express-News reported July 29 that Curran runs a temporary worker company
that got a contract to staff Premier's commissary operations after he helped
the Louisiana company overcome Benevolent Fund board opposition to gain a
footing at the jail during the summer of 2005. Curran said he fully disclosed
his contract, worth an estimated $15,000 annually, to the sheriff and fellow
board members and abstained from further voting as a board member on Premier
business.
August 11, 2007 The Independent
A Lafayette company headed by brothers Michael and Patrick Leblanc has
turned up in the middle of a public corruption investigation centered on the
Bexar County Sheriff’s Office in west Texas. Sheriff Ralph Lopez was recently
indicted on three misdemeanor charges related to unreported benefits he
received from the Leblancs’ company, Premier
Management Enterprise. Lopez took an all-expenses-paid golfing/fishing trip
to Costa Rica with the Leblancs, at a time when
Premier was vying for a lucrative contract to run the county jail’s
commissary stores. Court filings also show that one of the sheriff’s close
associates, John Reynolds, appears to have laundered money from Premier into
his own personal bank account, through a fraudulent charity scholarship
organization named Optimists. “We were duped,” says Pat Leblanc. “I really
don’t know the whole length and breadth of the story, but I can tell you
this: If somebody played funny with our money, I want to prosecute them to
the end of the world.” Leblanc, who is a candidate for District 43 state
representative, also distanced himself from the company, which he says is
primarily run by his brother and another associate, Ian Williamson. Michael
Leblanc says he is working closely with investigators and anticipates the
entire issue should soon be resolved. “Unfortunately, we didn’t know who this
guy was,” he says, referring to Reynolds. “Shame on us.” While it appears
Premier is unlikely to face any charges from the investigation, the
circumstances surrounding its contract with the Bexar County jail have
certainly created a perception of quid pro quo. The district attorney has
labeled Lopez’s golf trip as an honorarium that “was in consideration for
services that the defendant would not have been requested to provide but for
defendant’s official position and duties.” Lopez began pushing to farm out
the county jail’s commissaries to Premier in 2005. Initially the idea met
resistance from the board of the “Benevolent Fund” — a nonprofit Lopez had
set up to manage the commissaries several years ago. One board member, Amadeo
Ortiz — who now is running against Lopez for sheriff — commissioned a
background report that was critical of Premier and another Leblanc company.
After Ortiz resigned, the issue came up again. The board approved moving
ahead with a six-month trial contract with Premier in August 2005. The vote
came at a special meeting held while two board members were out of town.
Reynolds was elected chairman of the board at the same meeting. A few weeks
after that meeting, the Leblancs took both Lopez
and Reynolds on the trip to Costa Rica. Sheriff Lopez has stated the trip,
which John Reynolds also attended, was a private conference unrelated to any
county business. Pat Leblanc says the conference addressed security issues
related to one of the Leblancs’ private prisons in
Alabama. In addition to Premier, the Leblancs own
LCS Prisons, the fifth largest prison system in the U.S. with facilities
across the Gulf Coast region. “In our jail business, we hold conferences with
various law enforcement agencies to discuss security and issues having to do
with operation. That was the basis of the trip,” says Pat Leblanc. He adds
the business also “routinely entertains clients. We take them fishing and we
take them golfing,” he says. “That’s business culture; everybody in the
business world does that. All the service companies here do it.” Premier
signed its six-month contract with the Benevolent Fund’s board in October
2005, and in the months following made a total of $27,500 in contributions to
charities now known to be controlled by Reynolds. The district attorney’s
office has bank records showing that Reynolds transferred the funds into his
personal account. Reynolds is yet to be called before a grand jury. For his
part, Sheriff Lopez, a Democrat, has maintained that he is the victim of a “political
witch hunt” by the Republican district attorney. Premier’s Texas-based
attorney, Tonya Webber, issued the following statement on behalf of her
clients: “Neither PME nor any of its employees or principals has engaged in
any misconduct. While both the company and the Leblancs
typically make charitable and political contributions they had every reason
to believe that any such charities were legitimate and that all contributions
or benefits were reported by the recipients as required by law.” Pat Leblanc
says that in hindsight, his company was too trusting of the Brexar County officials. “We’re out of towners,” he says.
“We’re not from that area. We went in, we sold our service; they wanted us to
do the commissary service. We operate a good, clean business and to think
that we might have been taken advantage of in that regard just turns my
stomach.”
July 29, 2007 San Antonio News-Express
In the summer of 2005, a determined effort by Bexar County Sheriff Ralph
Lopez to privatize the county jail commissary stores — which generated some
$2 million a year in gross sales — was on the verge of foundering. In Texas,
elected sheriffs enjoy wide leeway and independence in managing and operating
county jails, including the jail commissary, where inmates can purchase
everything from snacks to toiletries. But Lopez had met strong resistance
from several board members of a nonprofit "Benevolent Fund"
corporation that he had established several years earlier to run the
commissaries. They saw no good reason to contract out the operation to a
private vendor of Lopez's choice, Premier Management Enterprises, or any
other business. The deal seemed all but dead when Premier's fortunes took an
abrupt turn for the better. Some board members, including the chairman who
staunchly opposed the deal, resigned. The new leaders of the board along with
a new member, all allies of Lopez, would push the Premier contract through
the rough patch. Within weeks of the contract approval by the sheriff's
Benevolent Fund board in August 2005, Lopez, an avid golfer known to travel
the country playing at elite resorts, was visiting Costa Rica, where he spent
time on the greens with Premier officials at the expense of Premier's
principal owners, Patrick and Michael LeBlanc. Later, less than a month after
the contract was officially inked, board Chairman John Reynolds was allegedly
depositing the first of four checks totaling $27,500 from Premier into
accounts named for charities that were "shells" and
"fronts," according to court documents filed by a district attorney
investigator. And within four months, board Vice Chairman John E. Curran III
was preparing to cut his own financial side deal with Premier. Curran's
temporary worker company, PersoNet, now provides
the very commissary employees that Premier uses to carry out the contract
Curran helped along as vice chairman. In a recent interview, Curran said his
own ongoing business with Premier, based in Louisiana, to supply the jail
commissaries with about a dozen temporary workers is worth between $12,000
and $15,000 a year to him. Curran said he did nothing criminally or ethically
wrong, and that he verbally disclosed the relationship with Premier to the
sheriff and abstained on relevant votes once his company had Premier's
business in April 2006. "I had the sheriff's permission prior to doing
any business with Premier, and I asked the board's permission. Both granted
it," Curran said. "I wanted to be sure there was no conflict of
interest. I did not want anyone to find out in the newspaper, or any other
way, that one of my clients was Premier." The sheriff did not reply to
several telephone messages last week. Neither Reynolds nor his attorney
returned messages requesting comment for this article. Even if no laws were
broken, disclosures about Premier's generosity toward elected and appointed
officials who have helped it win lucrative contracts have left — at the least
— a public perception of wrongdoing in how the sheriff and his allies conduct
business. "Ugh," Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff groaned when told
of Premier's arrangement with Curran's company. "This thing's worse than
it already has been. This is not good at all. Nothing about it looks good.
Whether you've violated a criminal act or an ethics issue, or neither, it's
still not appropriate behavior. It looks bad." District Attorney Susan
Reed's public corruption investigators, joined by the FBI and the Texas
Rangers, are conducting interviews and have sought grand jury subpoenas
regarding Reynolds. On several occasions, he's invoked his Fifth Amendment
right against self-incrimination in response to subpoenas, according to court
documents. First Assistant District Attorney Cliff Herberg
said his office would not discuss the investigation. Curran acknowledged that
investigators have questioned him about PersoNet's
relationship with Premier. Asked if he had ever shared any of the Premier
revenue with Reynolds or anyone else, Curran replied: "I'm not sharing
my revenue with anyone but my kids. My staff is not donating to anybody.
There's just nothing there." One of Premier's attorneys, Tonya Webber of
Corpus Christi, wrote in an e-mail reply, in part, that: "Temp-to-hire
services are a prudent business practice. This was an arms-length transaction
documented in writing with an experienced temp-to-hire company." Webber
said she wasn't at liberty to respond to specific e-mailed questions, such as
why Premier chose a Benevolent Fund board member's company, rather than more
than a dozen other area licensed temp worker companies. Created in 2002 by
Lopez, the Benevolent Fund appears to be the only one that exists in the
state for the purpose of running a jail commissary. Sheriffs in other
counties have contracted the job directly with private companies in line with
state laws that allow them to do so without competitive bidding. Because of
the Benevolent Fund's unique existence and function, said Lauri Saathoff, a
spokeswoman for the Texas attorney general's office, the question of how the
state's conflict of interest law might apply has never come up. "We don't
have any previous attorney general's opinions for a board like this,"
Saathoff said in response to an Express-News request. Three-way alliance --
Curran's ties to the sheriff and Reynolds date to the late 1990s when Curran
worked as a senior analyst in the Bexar County Personnel Division. Close
alliances were built among the three over the years, each assuming positions
of potential benefit to the others. Lopez and Reynolds have known each other
for at least 15 years; Lopez has hired Reynolds as his campaign manager for
years and once made Reynolds his chief of staff. Curran began serving on
various boards alongside Reynolds, doing business with a deputies' union
considered aligned with Lopez, and working on the sheriff's campaigns that
Reynolds managed. While Reynolds was chairman of the West San Antonio Chamber
of Commerce, which he helped found, Curran was treasurer. Reynolds also
nominated Curran in 2004 for appointment to the Alamo Workforce Development
board, one of 28 such boards across the state that spend Texas Workforce
Commission funds to help the unemployed find work. Curran and Reynolds also
share a connection through the Bexar County Sheriff's Deputies Law
Enforcement Organization's union. The fact that LEO routinely hires Reynolds
as its paid lobbyist has led to the perception among some deputies that Lopez
wields some influence over the organization. LEO also has given consulting
contracts to Curran to conduct salary surveys the union uses to justify pay
raise requests, he said. And Lopez's wife, Nancy, served at one time with
Reynolds on a now-defunct nonprofit fundraising arm of LEO. Curran, for his
part, said he has donated PersoNet's "time and
energy" to man phone banks soliciting past Lopez election campaign
contributors and will again for the sheriff's 2008 re-election campaign. When
Lopez founded the Benevolent Fund, Curran was among the first whom the
sheriff asked to serve on it. The alliance between Curran, Reynolds and the
sheriff would come into play at a critical moment during the summer of 2005,
in ways that would yield fruit for more than just Premier. Opposition to
proposed contract -- Starting in early 2005, when commissary revenues were
approaching record highs of $2 million under Benevolent Fund board
management, Lopez began pushing for Premier to run the jail annex commissary,
the smaller of two, on a six-month trial basis. If that worked out, the
contract would be expanded to the main jail commissary. Rather than contract
out the commissary at first, Lopez had opted to set up a Benevolent Fund with
a seven-member board to do the job in-house. He has authority to nominate and
appoint members. Lopez said last month that he later wanted to switch to
Premier because the commissary operations were outgrowing the limited expertise
of board members and it was time for professional management. "None of
us had experience," Lopez said. "Running a jail is not just putting
guys in jail. It's detention ministries; it's banking and other services.
It's all comprehensive." Some of the sheriff's subordinates on the board
immediately opposed the change. But the endeavor did not run into serious
trouble until the eve of a scheduled board vote on the pilot contract June
22, 2005. The chairman at the time, Deputy Chief Amadeo Ortiz, released the
results of a background investigation of Premier that he had quietly
commissioned from the Houston law firm McFall, Sherwood & Breitbeil. The report was generally critical of Premier
and cited specific examples where another company in which the LeBlancs also were shareholders, LCS Corrections Services
Inc., had faced legal challenges to their operations. The background report —
and a financial analysis projecting an initial revenue loss of $103,790 if
Premier took over — raised sufficient concern for Reynolds to table the
Premier contract that day, according to meeting minutes and two former board
members. Ortiz, who resigned from the board shortly after that meeting and is
running for sheriff against Lopez, said he believes he knows why. "It
would have failed a vote at that time," said Ortiz, guessing the board
would have voted 4-2 against Premier. "My fellow board members didn't
like the contract because there was nothing wrong with the way the commissary
was being run." Even the sheriff momentarily wavered in his support for
Premier because of the background report. But Lopez was soon pushing again.
And in the sheriff's corner, Ortiz and another board member said, were the
only two who had supported the proposal all along and who would go on to
break the stalemate: Curran and Reynolds, "the two Johns," as Ortiz
and other board members sometimes referred to them. Doing 'business with
friends' -- On Aug. 9, 2005, Reynolds and Curran called a special meeting.
Ortiz had by then resigned, and the two other board members were out of town,
at least one of whom was firmly opposed. Reynolds and Curran were joined by
Dr. Bert Cecconi, a 71-year-old dentist and
occasional candidate for local political office who had recently been added
to the board. Only weeks earlier Reynolds has asked him to join the board as
a favor to the sheriff, Cecconi recalled in an
interview last week. He said he'd gotten to know Reynolds and Lopez over the
years at Saturday morning community breakfast meetings downtown. The three,
enough for a quorum, elected Reynolds the new board chairman and Curran the
new vice chairman. Lopez put in a brief but rare appearance at the meeting.
Then, according to meeting minutes, the trio "approved and unanimously
recommends implementation immediately" of the Premier annex commissary
tryout program. Curran acknowledged the purpose of that Aug. 9 special
meeting. "That meeting was called to help get things going
forward," he said. "We were just trying to coordinate it to get
things up and going." Cecconi, who described
himself as a "passive member" of the board, said he served for just
four meetings, dropping off shortly after signing the Premier contract. Cecconi was given to believe the Premier deal was a
routine matter requiring little scrutiny. "To me, I thought it was like
a machine with Cokes coming out of it or something. I didn't know it was a
major deal," Cecconi said last week about
transferring the $2 million a year jail commissary operations to Premier.
"I probably just said, 'OK.' I didn't give it much thought, for better
or for worse." Later that month, from Aug. 20-23, the sheriff, who
frequently played golf with Premier's owners, traveled to Costa Rica, his
office calendar shows. Lopez recalled last month that the LeBlancs
paid all of his expenses to Costa Rica for an
undisclosed business trip, unrelated to county affairs, that included tee
time. Lopez still refuses to fully disclose the business purpose of the trip,
only that it involved a favor to his Premier friends, a foreign ambassador
and a senator, neither of whom he would name in deference to a
confidentiality agreement he said he struck with all involved. He also said
he was not paid. "The LeBlanc people paid for the Costa Rica trip,"
the sheriff said. "I was over there carrying my resume with me for
credibility for part of the trip." From August on, Lopez and Premier
would encounter no more dissent. After several resignations, the board, under
the guidance of Chairman Reynolds and Vice Chairman Curran, would
reconstitute itself with new members who would continue clearing the path for
Premier's pilot six-month contract. On Oct. 19, 2005, Cecconi,
as board secretary, signed the contract with Premier for the pilot program, a
copy of the agreement shows. A short time later, Cecconi
dropped off the board. He told the Express-News his dental practice had
gotten too busy. About three weeks after the contract was signed, Premier
wrote a $5,014 check for "consulting" to Systems Analysts Inc.,
described as Reynolds' "alter ego," according to allegations by
district attorney investigators. Three more Premier checks, totaling another
$22,500, to Reynolds-controlled accounts would follow, according to court
filings. Webber, Premier's attorney, said last month when asked about the
checks that there is no evidence of Premier being connected to any alleged
wrongdoing. Curran's firm gets hired Once Premier had its signed the pilot
contract, Curran said a company official asked him for advice about staffing
the limited operation. Premier was going to need only four of its own
workers. Curran said he offered to let Premier conduct interviews in the
offices of PersoNet, free of charge, as a favor. As
vice chairman, Curran continued to consider and discuss Premier's status
until about February 2006, by which time the tryout period was more than half
over, and it was clear to board members that Premier would secure a five-year
contract to run both jail commissaries. Curran confirmed that was about when
Premier first broached the topic of his company getting paid to provide
commissary workers for the anticipated expansion. He said he tried to refer
the business elsewhere but that the company insisted on PersoNet.
"They said, 'We need employees,'" Curran recalled. "I
recommended a couple of different avenues for them because I am in the
business, and they chose not to follow those, so ..." While there are a
dozen licensed temporary staffing companies in the greater San Antonio area,
Curran said Premier preferred to do business with him because "I guess
it's all networking. You like to do business with friends." During the
February 2006 board meeting, minutes show, Reynolds disclosed Curran's
pending business relationship with Premier. The sheriff, Reynolds announced,
had requested that Curran's company "bid" on work to supply Premier
with workers. Curran's fellow board members then approved a motion that he
recuse himself "from voting on matters that may create a conflict of
interest with the (Benevolent) Fund's activities," according to the
minutes. When the time came for the Benevolent Fund to extend the contract in
April 2006, Curran abstained. PersoNet had penned
its deal with Premier. Once Premier had all the commissary business, the
Benevolent Fund no longer needed to employ the 13 commissary workers. Some
were laid off; others were encouraged to reapply to Premier for their old
jobs, at substantially lower pay and with no benefits, according to two
former employees. PersoNet handled the initial
reapplication process, bringing some of the old commissary employees into PersoNet's fold as temporary workers. It also became the
equivalent of Premier's human resources department, outsourced. Curran said
he hopes his company grows with Premier, which has contracts elsewhere in
South Texas. "We want them to do well, both as a board member and as a
client," Curran said. "Their success — just like all my other
clients' success is — if I can help them be more successful, then I'm
successful. "That's business."
Bexar
County Secure Juvenile Correctional Treatment Center
Bexar County, Texas
Children’s Comprehensive Services/CCS
October, 1998
On October 21, three male inmates kicked open a rear gate and escaped. Less
than a week later, another inmate escaped through an unlocked front gate.
(San Antonio Express-News, November 11, 1998)
Big
Spring Complex
Big Spring, Texas
GEO Group (bought Cornell)
Mar
16, 2016 thenation.com
Family Sues Private-Prison Operator Over Deaths at Immigrant-Only
Facilities
An investigation found dozens of questionable deaths related to cost
cutting in privatized federal prisons. The family of Nestor Garay, a federal prisoner, filed a wrongful death lawsuit
on March 4 alleging that private prison operators negligently left inmates in
the care of underqualified medical workers who failed to respond properly to a
medical emergency. This article was reported in partnership with the
Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute, with support from the Puffin
Foundation. Garay was 41 when he died on June 28,
2014, shackled to his bed in Midland Memorial Hospital in Midland, Texas. The
cause, according to the neurologist who examined him there, was a stroke he’d
suffered two days earlier and 40 miles away, in Big Spring Correctional
Center. The facility is operated by the Geo Group and its medical
subcontractor, Correct Care Solutions (CCS). Garay’s
story was the subject of a Nation investigation on medical neglect in federal
contract prisons, reported in partnership with the Investigative Fund and
Reveal News. Garay suffered the stroke in a 10-man
cell in the 3,500-bed prison, one of 11 federal facilities that house only
noncitizens. His cellmates were startled awake at around 1:30 a.m. on June 26
by the sounds of his pained moans. When they found Garay
unresponsive, nearly falling off of his top bunk, and covered in sweat and
urine, they called for help. But the only medical staff member on duty that
night was a licensed vocational nurse, or LVN, whose licensure required only
one year of training. In most settings, LVNs typically serve as support staff
for more highly trained registered nurses or medical doctors. The LVN phoned
a physician’s assistant who was on call for a consult; rather than order Garay to be delivered to an emergency room, the PA
ordered a dose of antiseizure meds and had Garay
returned to his cell until morning. When the morning nurse found Garay on a mattress on the floor of a cell at 6:15 a.m.,
his face was drooping and his right arm was contracted. It was only then,
roughly five hours after Garay’s cellmates first
reported the stroke, that he was ordered to an ER. It took another hour
before Garay was finally on the way to the
hospital. The Midland neurologist said that for ischemic strokes, the window
for intervention is typically three hours; after the long delay, he said,
treatment “was pretty futile.” In the family’s lawsuit, Garay’s
parents, Indalecio and Alvara
Garay, who have lived for decades in California’s
Napa Valley, allege that their son’s “life threatening conditions were left
untreated.” “The nurses on staff were severely undertrained and were not
equipped to recognize, diagnose, or treat patients with serious illnesses or
conditions,” the complaint reads. Geo Group and CCS said they would not
comment on pending litigation. But Big Spring’s own mortality review faulted
both the LVN and the PA for failing to alert the clinical director when Garay’s condition did not improve. The review found that
the PA “did not respond correctly to the initial report from nursing
describing new onset of presumed seizure of a previously healthy 41 year old
male.” It also found that neither diagnosis nor treatment was “appropriate
and timely.” Big Spring, like the other 10 contract prisons that the Federal
Bureau of Prisons uses to hold noncitizens, is not an immigration detention
center, but a federal prison for low-security inmates. The segregated,
private prisons operate under less strenuous rules than the rest of the
bureau’s facilities. Garay is one of at least 137
men who have died while incarcerated in privately run Bureau of Prisons
facilities. Medical records obtained through a federal open-records lawsuit
revealed systemic shortcomings in their medical care. Doctors who reviewed
103 of the medical files agreed that in 25 cases, including Garay’s, substandard medical care likely contributed to
prisoners’ premature deaths. The reviewers repeatedly found evidence that the
private contractors operating these facilities—Geo Group, Corrections
Corporation of America, and Management and Training Corporation—and medical
subcontractors have used low-trained medical workers like LVNs to fill
positions that in Bureau of Prisons–operated facilities would be staffed by
more highly trained registered nurses. The prison contractors are not bound
by the bureau’s staffing plans. Garay had been
sentenced to a five-year term for selling drugs near his parents’ home in
Napa. Like nearly every other prisoner held in Big Spring, he probably would
have faced deportation to Mexico after completing his sentence. But he died
just one year into his sentence. “We don’t want prisoners who are still in
the prison to be mistreated anymore,” Indalecio Garay said after filing the lawsuit. “We don’t want
others to suffer. We want them to pay for the damage they’ve done.”
Apr
17, 2015 kfyo.comTexas
Three were sentenced this week in connection to a prison smuggling ring at
the Big Spring Correctional Center (BSCC) including one employee, the second
in as many weeks sentenced for smuggling contraband to inmates. Eva Bermea, a recreational specialist at the BSCC, was found
guilty of smuggling tobacco and creatine to inmate Jonas Cruz, 34, who was
selling the products to other inmates. Bermea, 42,
was sentenced to three years probation, eight
months of which she will be under house arrest. Cruz had two years added to
his 17 year methamphetamine distribution sentence to be served concurrently.
Cruz and Bermea pleaded guilty to bribery of public
officials and aiding and abetting. The third party, Kami Nicole Bennet, 32,
who assisted the operation by receiving money from Cruz’s brother and
packaging the contraband, was sentenced to one year probation after pleading
guilty to misprision of a felony and superseding information. Big Spring
Correctional Center is contracted to a private corporation, The GEO Group,
Inc., through the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Calls made to both the Federal
Bureau of Prisons and The GEO Group have not been returned.
Feb
13, 2015 newswest9.com
BIG SPRING - Families who have loved ones locked up at the Big Spring
Correctional Facility are speaking out. They claim the inmates are not
getting proper medical care. This comes on the heels of an investigation by
the American Civil Liberties Union who looked into five private prisons in
the state. Texas has five private prisons, all of which detain undocumented
immigrants. Two are in West Texas: Big Spring and Reeves County. Marcy
Torres's father is in the Big Spring facility. She says he needs medications
daily for his liver disease. "When he goes to the doctor [at the
facility], he has to tell them what he's there for because basically they
don't know. They're changing doctors so many times, they don't have the
staff," Torres said. On Tuesday, Attorney William McBride filed a
lawsuit against the Willacy County Private Prison after allegations of
maltreatment against the immigrants detained there. He says he plans to
expand his efforts to all five private prisons in Texas. "He's just told
me that if anything happens, for me to look further into it because he's not
getting the care he's supposed to," Torres said. An inmate at the Big
Spring Correctional Center claims he needs medications as well but hasn't
received any since he arrived over nine months ago. "We need to demand
medicine. The flu is going around and they don't give us any medications
because we have to buy them, but we can't afford them," the inmate said.
"They don't clean our underwear. We get used underwear even with blood
stains on them. You can just imagine," he added. The inmate claims the
bathrooms never get fixed. He also says he knows prison food isn't supposed
to be the best, but when they do eat well is when inspectors are coming.
"They tell the guards in advance when they're coming. So they get up
early and fix the maintenance and fix every little detail in the prison for that
day. They give us better food, they check if we're alright. They give us
chicken. But after the inspection, everything goes back to barbaric
conditions," the inmate said. "The abuse from the employees is
terrible. They humiliate us. They say they're gonna
deport us because we don't have rights," he added. NewsWest
9 reached out to the company who owns the Big Spring and Reeves County
facilities, The GEO Group. They said in a statement, "Our company has
had a long-standing public-private partnership with the Federal government
that dates back to the mid-1980s. GEO's facilities provide high quality
services in safe, secure and humane residential environments, and our company
strongly refutes allegations to the contrary. Our facilities adhere to strict
contractual requirements and standards set by the Federal government and
federal agencies employ several full-time, on-site contract monitors who have
a physical presence at each of GEO's facilities. Additionally, GEO's
facilities provide office space for federal personnel, immigration attorneys,
immigration court judges, non-governmental organizations and other
constituent groups who have access to each facility. All of GEO's facilities
are audited and inspected by respective federal agencies on a routine and
unannounced basis. GEO's facilities are also independently accredited by the
American Correctional Association (ACA), which is widely recognized as the
foremost independent detention accreditation agency in the United States.
During the most recent ACA accreditation audits, the Big Spring Correctional
Center and the Reeves County Detention Center received an average score in
excess of 99%."
November 9, 2010 NewsWest
9
An accidental shooting on Tuesday at the federal prison in Big Spring put an
inmate in the hospital. The shooting happened right before noon at the Flight
Line Prison, located at the airpark in Big Spring. According to medics, a
Hispanic man was accidentally shot by a gun in the upper arm. The wound was
not serious, but he was taken to Scenic Mountain Medical Center for a follow
up. He was alert and conscious while being transported. We still don't know
how the prisoner was shot. Details are limited at this time, but we've
learned the shooting is under investigation. NewsWest
9 has contacted the Geo Group, which currently runs the prison, and they have
not commented on the incident. NewsWest 9 will
continue to follow this story and will bring you the very latest information
when we get it.
September 14, 2008 Permian Basin 360
Questions remain unanswered concerning Friday night's prison riot in Big
Spring. Fires reportedly broke out in several buildings at the Big Spring
Correctional Center's FlightLine unit. Ambulances
were seen leaving the scene. Cornell Companies currently operates the site.
"All we do is establish a perimeter. That's all we do in these
instances. They handle all the security inside the fence," said Sgt.
Tony Everett of the Big Spring Police Department. The unit is specifically
for prisoners who commit immigration violations. At this time, Cornell
Companies has yet to respond to our calls.
September 13, 2008 NewsWest
9
Questions still remain unanswered after a prisoner fire and riot on Friday
night. Facility officials are being very cautious of what information is
being disclosed. Big Spring authorities rushed to the scene of a riot and
fire from the Flightline Correctional Center near
the Big Spring airport. The facility takes prisoners from the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Services, but since it is a privately owned
facility the plan for police was to secure a perimeter. "The only reason
we are here, our only purpose is if spills outside of the fenced
facility," Sergeant Tony Everett, with the Big Spring Police Department,
said. In total, about 15 police officers stayed outside managing traffic
while Big Spring firefighters went inside. "My understating is that may
be one or two buildings were on fire," Everett said. Several ambulances
left the scene towards Scenic Mountain Medical Center where family members were
advised not to disclose any information. But the mother of one of the injured
employee was thankful to hear her son was doing better. "I feel a whole
lot better, I feel relieved that he is O.K. Like I said earlier, I just left
it in the hands of God and he is the one who pulled me through," Inez Heins, Mother of a facility Employee, said. NewsWest 9 also received a couple of calls from relatives
who say that seven facility staff were injured and were treated for minor
injuries. According to officials from the correctional center the riot never
posed danger to the public.
September 13, 2008 KWES TV
State and local authorities have responded to a private prison near the
airport in Big Spring after an apparent riot. Big Spring Police responded to
the riot around 9:00p.m. Friday night, and quickly set up a perimeter around
the prison. There have unconfirmed reports of injuries, but a mother of an
injured guard tells NewsWest 9 that her son did
sustain injuries to the face. We were also told that three ambulances also
left the prison after the riot, which is run by Cornell Companies. Viewers
also reported seeing smoke coming from the prison, but our crew did not see
any smoke when they arrived to the scene. Sgt. Tony Everett with the Big
Spring Police Department did confirm that a fire was started in the prison
but it is now under control. Authorities tell NewsWest
9 that the situation has calmed down for the night. The prison handles INS
cases for the federal government. There have been no reports of inmates
escaping the prison at this time.
September 12, 2008 KOSA CBS 7
Emergency officials are currently responding to a fire at the Flightline Prison located at the Big Spring airport. CBS
7 News has confirmed that a riot broke out at the prison about 9:00 p.m.
Several ambulances were seen leaving the prison. Fire crews confirm there are
six to eight people who were injured and taken to the hospital. No word yet
on the severity of the injuries. According to Big Spring Police spokesperson
Tony Everett, the riot is under control and Big Spring police have set up a
perimeter around the facility. CBS 7's Greg Sherman was the first reporter on
the scene. He says thick black smoke was seen coming from the prison. The Flightline unit handles low-risk inmates who are
primarily incarcerated for immigration violations.
August 16, 2005 AP
Investigators want to know what started an inmate disturbance at a privately
run prison in West Texas that left five workers hurt. The assaults happened
at the Flightline Unit of the Big Spring
Correctional Center. Center spokeswoman Janice Bishop says one staffer
required hospital treatment, while the other four suffered minor injuries.
Bishop says the unit was slightly damaged in Saturday night's incident. No
inmates were injured. Bishop today declined to release further information
about the assaults. Big Spring police say the disturbance was contained
inside the prison. Texas troopers and the Howard County sheriff's department
also responded to the center run by the Houston-based Cornell Companies.
March 13, 2001
A Cornell Corrections inmate escaped over a fence late Sunday night but his
freedom was short lived. The inmate, 29-year-old Ernesto Soto-Olivarez
climbed over the fence at the Airpark unit around 9:30 p.m. Sunday and was
spotted by correctional officers who took after him on foot. He lost
the officers in the darkness and about 30 minutes later, he approached a
house in the 2600 block of Dow where he asked the resident to call for an
ambulance, saying he was suffering from chest pains. The resident called for
an ambulance and then, according to Big Spring Police Sgt. Roger Sweatt, the resident made another call to the police
station. "The inmate, without realizing it, had come to the
residence of an off-duty police officer," said Sweatt.
(Big Spring Herald, March 13, 2001)
Bill Clayton Detention Center
Littlefield, Texas
Southwestern Corrections (formerly run by GEO Group, formerly Correctional
Services Corporation, formerly run by Corrections Concepts)
Texas
prison boom going bust: by Mitch Mitchell, September 3, 2011, Star-Telegram.
Expose on troubles facing many communities that bought into the private
prison bonding scam.
Wanted:
Inmates and Investors Texas Lockups Go on the Block: July 19,
2011, Bond Buyer: Private prison bonding not panacea.
September 16, 2011 KCBD
After auctioning off the Bill Clayton Detention Center back in July, the
City of Littlefield thought they were free from the financial strains.
However, the private bidder has backed out of their $6 million offer. The
private buyer made the offer via telephone during the July auction. Thirty
days after the bid, the contract on the property was supposed to close.
However, the City received word that the deal had fallen through. "It
didn't happen and the reason it didn't happen was because the person who put
in the highest bid basically backed out on their bid and kind of put us in a
tailspin," City Manager Danny Davis said. After years of mismanagement
and broken contracts, the $11 million dollar detention center sat vacant. The
city was left to foot the bill, still owing more than $9 million on the
property. The city was certain the bid of $6 million would help close the gap
on their debt. The news of the bidder's change of heart is frustrating for
Davis. "With the detention center, nothing has happened easy. It's been
a struggle for us all along, so, in some ways, we were not that surprised
that we've got a continued struggle," Davis said. It was a struggle that
listing agent Jef Conn says he wasn't entirely
surprised by. "We always hope for the best and plan for the worst. It's
never the best when a contract falls out," Conn said. Conn says he is
working with the City of Littlefield to come up with a plan to get the
detention center sold. "There are some interested parties and we will be
working with them and the city of Littlefield to find the best possible
option and have them come in and buy the prison," Conn said. For Davis,
he is hopeful the detention center can be sold quickly to alleviate concerns
all across the board. "I'm retiring in two weeks, and I was very hopeful
that this would be one problem my successor wouldn't have to deal with,"
Davis said.
July 28, 2011 Dallas Morning News
A debt-ridden West Texas town auctioned off the empty prison at the source of
its money problems for $6 million Thursday morning. A private prison company
bought the Bill Clayton Detention Center from the city of Littlefield, whose
approximately 5,700 residents had barely been scraping by to pay the $9
million they still owed on the facility. The company placed their offer as a
confidential bidder and is requesting to remain that way until the 30-day
period for settling the sale is complete, according to Jef
Conn, a real estate specialist for Coldwell Banker Commercial Rick Canup Realtors. The five-pod facility was built in 2000
by hopeful city officials wanting to rake in revenue for the small
cotton-growing town. Instead, Littlefield was saddled with more than $9
million in debt once prisoners were pulled out and the private company
operating the center left. After the sale, Littlefield will only owe between
$3 million and $4 million on the facility, officials said.
July 27, 2011 American Independent
City officials in Littlefield have big hopes for tomorrow morning’s auction,
where a minimum bid of $5 million could be enough to buy your own little
slice of Panhandle heaven: the 383-bed Bill Clayton Detention Center. It’s
being billed as a “turn-key medium security detention center,” a 383-bed
bargain with slick promotions courtesy the Williams and Williams Worldwide
Real Estate Auction house. The 11-year-old prison was refurbished in 2005,
and looks great in the slideshows and teaser trailers produced for the
auction. (Here’s a longer video tour, but scroll down for a look at the best
one, a “Battlestar Galactica” inspired tour, all quick cuts and drums.) For
the City of Littlefield, though, the prison’s last couple years haven’t been
such a thrill ride. The town paid for the prison with a $10 million bond
issue, planning for a bright future with the Texas Youth Commission. But
after TYC pulled pulled its charges from the
facility in 2003, Littlefield’s credit rating suffered as the South
Florida-based private prison giant GEO Group shopped around the country for
inmates to fill its beds — first with Wyoming’s, then with Idaho’s Department
of Corrections. Idaho pulled its prisoners in 2008, GEO Group after them, and
the town’s been stuck with the empty prison it hasn’t finished paying for.
Now it’s raising taxes and fees on its 6,500 residents to make room for bond
payments. The empty prison is the driving force behind cuts to the city
budget this year, according to a City Manager’s message in the budget: The
budget for 2010-2011 has presented new challenges for us since the debt
payments for the Bill Clayton Detention Center (BCDC) have been pushed front
and center by the lack of a source of prisoners to provide a revenue stream
for those bond payments. Earlier this week, The Bond Buyer looked at the Bill
Clayton facility and a handful of others now sitting empty around Texas.
While many towns found ways to avoid leaving taxpayers on the hook if
operators left, that didn’t happen here: Like many of the speculative
detention centers built in sparsely populated counties, the Clayton facility
was meant to be an economic stimulus instead of an economic drain. But
Littlefield took the somewhat unusual step of pledging its full faith and
credit to the bonds. City officials were either on vacation or didn’t reply
to interview requests from the Independent. The advocacy group Grassroots
Leadership has made a case study of Bill Clayton, warning of the hidden
dangers private prisons can create for a town, and folks with the group say
Texas’ shrinking prison population doesn’t tell the half of the Littlefield
story. “This was like a soap opera,” said Grassroots Leadership executive
director Donna Red Wing, recalling a 2004 prison break police said was aided
by a pair of guards, and a 2008 suicide that sparked a suit against GEO Group
from the family of the inmate, alleging he’d been left in solitary for more
than a year. “You couldn’t make this stuff up, the stories are horrible,” Red
Wing said. “If you wrote that screenplay, they wouldn’t take it.” When the
Idaho DOC left the Clayton facility in 2008, state Correction Director Brent
Reinke said it was pulling out because of “an ongoing staffing issue,” the
Associated Press reported at the time, referring to an Idaho audit that found
guards had been falsifying reports of their inmate checks. “Littlefield is a
difficult place to have a facility. It’s a long way from an employment base,”
said Grassroots Leadership’s Bob Libal, who edits
the blog Texas Prison Bid’ness. Libal
said the Clayton facility was part of a much greater prison-building rush
around Texas that ended around 2007, followed by national searches for
inmates to fill them. The only growth lately, Libal
said, has been in facilities for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A $35
million prison in Jones County was built by New Jersey-based Community
Education Centers last summer, and now sits empty, as local TV station KTXS
reported, “ready to bring nearly 200 jobs to the area.” In that case, the
county formed a Public Facility Corporation to help minimize the taxpayers’
liability — but Libal said it could still mean
trouble for the county because its credit rating is still tied to the prison
debt. In January, Littlefield officials hoped the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice would sign off on an application from Avalon Correctional Services to
operate the prison, but nothing came of it. Now the city just wants it off
the books, even at half of what they paid. NPR featured both the Clayton
facility and Jones County’s new prison back in March, before Littlefield had
announced its auction: “Too many times we’ve seen jails that have got into it
and tried to make it a profitable business to make money off of it and they
end up fallin’ on their face,” says Shannon Herklotz, assistant director of the [Texas Commission on
Jail Standards]. The packages look sweet. A town gets a new detention center
without costing the taxpayers anything. The private operator finances,
constructs and operates an oversized facility. The contract inmates pay off
the debt and generate extra revenue. The economic model works fine until they
can’t find inmates.
July 14, 2011 Willams
Auction
This is a unique opportunity to acquire a turn-key medium security detention
center in Littlefield, TX. New owners will benefit from support from the town
that built the facility, the area's low cost of living as well as a ready
local workforce. Conveying with the buildings on auction day are furniture,
linens, computers, kitchen supplies and other equipment used in the operation
of the facility. Located approximately 45 minutes northwest of Lubbock, it is
easily accessible from Highway 84, the Littlefield Municipal Airport, as well
as Preston Smith International Airport. The Bill Clayton Detention Center was
built in 2000 and updated in 2005. Standing on 30+/- acres, the center has
94,437+/- sq ft of space. It consists of five
one-story air-conditioned buildings constructed of concrete block with a
brick veneer and pitch seamed metal roofs. It has a capacity of 383 inmates
in 5 housing pods, complete with dayrooms and other amenities. The buildings
are contained behind a strengthened perimeter of double fences with an
electronic shaker detection system and eight video surveillance cameras.
Approximately 10 acres are contained within the fence. The facility also has
a freestanding gymnasium, maintenance shed, armory and parking lot. At the
opening bid of $5 million, the cost per bed is approximately $13,055!
May 19, 2011 Bradenton Herald
Fitch Ratings has taken the following action on Littlefield, Texas'
combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation (COs) during the
course of routine surveillance: --$1 million combination tax and revenue COs,
series 1997 affirmed at 'BB+'. -- The Rating Outlook is Negative. -- RATING
RATIONALE: --The 'BB+' rating and Negative Outlook reflect the ongoing
financial pressures resulting from Littlefield's challenges in servicing
outstanding debt issued for a now vacant detention center. The city tapped
reserve funds to help make the August 2010 debt service payments on the
series 2000 and 2001 COs (not rated by Fitch); $268,825 was used from the
combined reserves - that money has since been repaid and the reserves are
fully funded. No reserve funds were used to make February 2011 payments.
--Despite ongoing efforts to find a new tenant/operator, the city's detention
center remains empty. The city council recently entered into a contract with
an auction company to auction off the facility within 120 days. --Financial
resources to make debt service payments have been aided by the adoption in
fall 2010 of a debt service property tax and transfers from the city's two
economic development corporations' sales tax revenues; transfers from the
city's water and wastewater utility fund, which are secondary pledged
revenues for the Series 1997 COs, remain the main source of debt service
support. --General fund finances remain weak, with limited reserves. -- WHAT
COULD TRIGGER A DOWNGRADE A failed auction would maintain financial pressure
on the city, forcing it to continue with the current practice of cobbling
together debt service payment amounts from various sources; utility system
cash levels could decline and additional reserve fund draws could occur. --
SECURITY: The series 1997 COs are payable from and secured by a limited ad
valorem tax pledge against all taxable property in the city, plus surplus
revenues of the city's waterworks and sanitary sewer system. -- CREDIT
SUMMARY: The city has been unable to locate a new tenant and/or permanent operator
of its detention facility since the State of Idaho removed its prisoners in
January 2009 and the GEO Group terminated its operating agreement at the same
time. With no facility revenues to service the debt associated with the
facility, the city in subsequent months patched together payments from
various city sources, primarily available revenues of the water and
wastewater utility system. The city was current on its payments until August
2010, when legal questions surrounding the city's ability to use sales tax
revenues from its 4A economic development corporation delayed use of those
funds. The city used nearly $269,000 from the debt service reserves
associated with the series 2000 and 2001 COs issued for the detention center
to make the August 2010 payment on these COs. Since
then, the legal question regarding use of economic development corporation
sales tax revenues has been resolved favorably for the city and the debt
service reserves were fully replenished. Also, last fall the city council
established a debt service property tax for the first time, which is expected
to generate roughly $115,000 annually to help meet debt service requirements.
Finally, Littlefield voters last fall approved the creation of a second 4B
economic development corporation (also with sales tax collection authority),
and that corporation's sales tax receipts will supplement the revenue stream.
The combination of sales tax revenues and property tax revenues, a utility
system transfer and a loan of other city funds enabled the city to make the
February 2011 principal and interest payment on the detention center COs
without tapping the reserve funds. Acknowledging the difficulty in securing
new prisoners for the facility, the city recently executed a contract with a
national auction house which will put into motion the process of auctioning
off the detention facility within 120 days. Management reports that a $5
million reserve (minimum bid) will be included in the bid specifications.
While a sale at this price will not retire the $9.5 million outstanding in
related CO debt, it would enable the city to call a significant portion of
the COs, reduce the annual debt requirement correspondingly, and relieve the
current financial pressure measurably. Conversely, a failed auction will mean
the city continues with its current practice of piecing together city
revenues from various sources to meet debt payments - a challenging prospect
that will keep pressure very high. Financial flexibility remains limited. The
general fund balance is modest, with the city recording a $17,000 fund
balance at fiscal 2010 year-end, or less than 1% of expenditures and
transfers out. While the water and sewer fund maintains healthy liquidity and
has historically provided significant general fund and detention center fund
support, available surplus funds are expected to decline going forward as
excess revenues are used to continue support of the general fund. The new
debt service property tax and additional sales tax revenues help, but do not
eliminate the need for utility system support. Utility debt service support
was budgeted at more than $390,000 for fiscal 2011, or 50% of the $781,000
annual CO debt requirement. If the auction fails, reliance on utility system
transfers until the COs are retired does not appear feasible; an alternative
permanent solution would need to be devised. Littlefield, with a population
of nearly 6,400, is located approximately 35 miles northwest of Lubbock and
serves as the county seat for Lamb County. The area is primarily rural in nature,
with agriculture services, government, manufacturing, and trade as key
components of the county's economy. County unemployment rates have risen,
with a 7.6% posted for February 2011; however, the rate remains below the
statewide average of 8.2%. While there is moderate taxpayer concentration
among the top 10 taxpayers, there is generally a good mix of industries
within the list.
March 28, 2011 NPR
Private Prison Promises Leave Texas Towns In Trouble by John Burnett The
country with the highest incarceration rate in the world — the United States
— is supporting a $3 billion private prison industry. In Texas, where free
enterprise meets law and order, there are more for-profit prisons than any
other state. But because of a growing inmate shortage, some private jails
cannot fill empty cells, leaving some towns wishing they'd never gotten in
the prison business. It seemed like a good idea at the time when the west
Texas farming town of Littlefield borrowed $10 million and built the Bill
Clayton Detention Center in a cotton field south of town in 2000. The
charmless steel-and-cement-block buildings ringed with razor wire would
provide jobs to keep young people from moving to Lubbock or Dallas. For eight
years, the prison was a good employer. Idaho and Wyoming paid for prisoners
to serve time there. But two years ago, Idaho pulled out all of its contract
inmates because of a budget crunch at home. There was also a scandal
surrounding the suicide of an inmate. Shortly afterward, the for-profit
operator, GEO Group, gave notice that it was leaving, too. One hundred prison
jobs disappeared. The facility has been empty ever since. A Hard Sell
"Maybe ... he'll help us to find somebody," says Littlefield City
Manager Danny Davis good-naturedly when a reporter shows up for a tour. For
sale or contract: a 372-bed, medium-security prison with double security
fences, state-of-the-art control room, gymnasium, law library, classrooms and
five living pods. Davis opens the gray steel door to a barren cell with bunk
beds and stainless-steel furniture. "You can see the facility here.
[It's] pretty austere, but from what I understand from a prison standpoint,
it's better than most," he says, still trying to close the sale. For the
past two years, Littlefield has had to come up with $65,000 a month to pay
the note on the prison. That's $10 per resident of this little city. A
Resident Burden Is the empty prison a big white elephant for the city of
Littlefield? "Is it something we have that we'd rather not have? Well,
today that would probably be the case," Davis says. To avoid defaulting
on the loan, Littlefield has raised property taxes, increased water and sewer
fees, laid off city employees and held off buying a new police car. Still,
the city's bond rating has tanked. The village elders drinking coffee at the
White Kitchen cafe are not happy about the way things have turned out.
"It was never voted on by the citizens of Littlefield; [it] is stuck in
their craw," says Carl Enloe, retired from Atmos Energy. "They have
to pay for it. And the people who's got it going are all up and gone and they
left us... " "...Holdin' the bag!"
says Tommy Kelton, another Atmos retiree, completing the sentence. The
Declining Prison Population The same thing has happened to communities across
Texas. Once upon a time, it seems every small town wanted to be a prison
town. But the 20-year private prison building boom is over. Some prisons are
struggling outside Texas, too. Hardin, Mont., defaulted on its bond payments
after trying, so far unsuccessfully, to fill its 464-bed minimum security
prison. And a prison in Huerfano County, Colo., closed after Arizona pulled
out its 700 inmates. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the total
correctional population in the United States is declining for the first time
in three decades. Among the reasons: The crime rate is falling, sentencing
alternatives mean fewer felons doing hard time and states everywhere are
slashing budgets. The Texas legislature, looking for budget cuts, is
contemplating shedding 2,000 contract prison beds. Statewide, more than half
of all privately operated county jail beds are empty, according to figures
from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. "Too many times we've seen
jails that have got into it and tried to make it a profitable business to
make money off of it and they end up fallin' on
their face," says Shannon Herklotz, assistant
director of the commission. The packages look sweet. A town gets a new
detention center without costing the taxpayers anything. The private operator
finances, constructs and operates an oversized facility. The contract inmates
pay off the debt and generate extra revenue. The economic model works fine
until they can't find inmates. In Waco, McLennan County borrowed $49 million
to build an 816-bed jail and charge day rates for bunk space. But today
because of the convict shortage, the fortress east of town remains more than
half empty. The sheriff and county judge, once champions of the new jail, now
decline to comment on it. Former McLennan County Deputy Rick White, who
opposed the jail, had this to say about the prison developers who put the
deal together: "They get the corporations formed, they get the bonds
sold, they get the facility built, their money is front-loaded, they take
their money out. And then there's no reason for them to support the success
of the facility." Two of Texas' busiest private prison consultants —
James Parkey and Herb Bristow — declined repeated
requests for interviews. The Inmate Market Private prison companies insist
their future is sunny. A spokesman for the GEO Group declined to speak about
the Littlefield prison, but he sent along a slew of press releases
highlighting the company's new inmate contracts and prison expansions across
the country. Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest private
prison operator, says the demand for its facilities remains strong,
particularly for federal immigration detainees. New Jersey-based Community
Education Centers, which has been pulling out of unprofitable jails across Texas,
issued a statement that "the current (jail) population fluctuation"
is cyclical. One of the places where CEC is cancelling its contract is Falls
County, in central Texas, where a for-profit jail addition is losing money.
Now it's up to Falls County Judge Steve Sharp to hustle up jailbirds:
"If somebody is out there charging $30 a day for an inmate, we need to
charge $28. We really don't have a choice of not filling those beds," he
said. Another place where they're desperate for inmates is Anson, the little
town north of Abilene, Texas, once famous for its no-dancing law. Today,
Jones County owns a brand-new $34 million prison and an $8 million county
jail, both of which sit empty. The prison developers made their money and
left. Then the Texas Department of Criminal Justice reneged on a contract to
fill the new prison with parole violators. The county's Public Facility
Corporation that borrowed the money to build the lockups owes $314,000 a
month — with no paying inmates. They've got a year's worth of bond service
payments set aside before county officials start to sweat. "The market
has changed nationwide in the last 18 months or two years. It's certainly a
different picture than when we started this project. And so we're continuing
to work the problem," Jones County Judge Dale Spurgin
says. Grayson County, north of Dallas, said no to privatizing its jail. Two
years ago, the county was all set to build a $30 million, 750-bed behemoth
twice as big as was needed. But the public got queasy and county officials
ultimately scuttled the deal. "When you put the profit motive into a
private jail, by design, in order to increase your dollars, your revenues,
your profits, you need more folks in there and they need to stay
longer," says Bill Magers, mayor of the county
seat of Sherman, a leading opponent. When the supply of prison beds exceeds
the demand for prison beds, there are beneficiaries. The overcrowded Harris
County Jail in Houston, the nation's third largest, farms out about 1,000
prisoners to private jails. Littlefield and most other under-occupied
facilities in Texas have all been in touch with Houston. "It really is a
buyer's market right now, especially a county our size," says Capt.
Robin Kinetsky, who is in charge of inmate
processing for the Harris County Sheriffs
Department. "They're really wanting to get our business. So, we're
getting good deals." Nearby, disheveled and unsmiling men are brought
from a holding cell to stand before a booking officer for their intake
interviews. The detainees are wholly unaware that they may soon become the
newest commodities of the volatile inmate market. Aarti Shahani contributed
to this NPR News investigation and report.
February 3, 2011 KCBD
While the Lubbock County Detention Center is filling up with inmates, other
counties are struggling to find an inmate. Taxpayers of those counties are
now being held prisoners by their own prisons as they're forced to pay the
price of empty facilities. About an hour from Lubbock, the Bill Clayton
Detention Center in Littlefield hasn't had a single inmate in the last two
years. "This was not built to house local inmates; it was built to house
inmates from other parts of the state or other parts of U.S. It was built to
bring economic development to the city of Littlefield," said Danny
Davis, Littlefield city manager. For a while it did bring money into
Littlefield, until the State of Idaho decided to remove its inmates from the
center when the economy tanked back in 2009. "Everybody was cutting back
it seemed, and it was very difficult to find other inmates from out of state
to come in and fill the facility," said Davis. Nearly 100 people lost
their job in the area, and with $9 million left to pay for the now empty
building, residents are stuck paying the price through increased taxes and
fees." Jokingly I've told people when I took this job I weighed a lot
more and had a lot more hair, so that's how I guess you can say how the
frustration level is. It has been a frustrating situation for the whole
community," said Davis. About two hours away Dickens County faces a
similar fate. Their contractor CEC didn't renew their contract with the
Dickens County Correctional Center. In mid-December the remaining inmates
were moved to Lubbock County's new facility, and nearly 120 jobs were lost -
huge hit to the small communities of Dickens County. "It cost money to
put people in jail. The state of the economy, the governments don't have as
much money. Our own state is cutting the budget, and there's one way to save
money…that's not to incarcerate them, and so that's why I believe our inmate
population is down," said Lesa Arnold, Dickens County Judge. So far
Dickens County hasn't had to increase taxes to foot the prison's one million
dollar bill each year, but that option might soon surface. "We need to
get this thing going within a year, and hopefully a whole lot sooner than
that before that issue comes up as to who's going to make those bond
payments," said Arnold. So how can Lubbock County fill its newly built
facility while these two and others around the U.S. are failing? It comes
down to why these facilities were built in the first place. Littlefield and
Dickens County didn't have an inmate population for the large prisons they
built; instead they were built to make a profit for the towns by contracting
out the prison cells to other parts of the state and U.S. Lubbock on the
other hand, needed the bigger facility. All 1,063 inmates currently in the
Lubbock County Detention Center are from Lubbock County, which means their
cells will constantly be filled with a local inmate population. The other
facilities are staying hopeful a new inmate population will come their way.
"I can't worry about why we have it because that's in the past. I can
only worry about what can we do with it now that we have it, and that's what
we work on every day," said Davis.
January 3, 2011 Avalanche-Journal
The city of Littlefield comes into 2011 hoping it will have a new tenant
renting the Bill Clayton Detention Center in a few months. The prison, which
closed in January 2009 after the Idaho Department of Corrections canceled a
contract with private operator GEO Group and moved its prisoners from
Littlefield to Oklahoma. Since then, the city has stretched itself
financially to keep making payments on revenue bonds it issues to build the
facility, which opened in 2000 as a juvenile detention center. The present
ray of hope comes with Avalon Correctional Services, which has applied to
TDCJ to operate an Intermediate Sanction Facility, which is a short-term
facility that houses offenders who violate terms of their community
supervision or paroles. The state issued a request for proposals in June, but
no decisions have been made yet. “It’s been on (TDCJ’s) agenda a couple of
times, but reading between the lines, it’s probably waiting until the state
gets a better handle on its budget,” said Danny Davis, Littlefield’s city
manager.
September 1, 2010 Smart Money
Owners of municipal bonds issued to pay for jails might not get to pass
Go--and could have trouble collecting interest payments as well. These tax
free bonds don't have a monopoly on defaults, but they're well represented
among failures and troubled issues among the more speculative classes of
municipal bonds. Data from Municipal Market Advisors reveals a slew of
tax-free bonds issued to fund construction of privately run prisons and
detention facilities in states from Texas to Rhode Island to Montana. The
most recent example is Littlefield, a West Texas town of about 6,500 people.
Located between the New Mexico border and Buddy Holly's hometown of Lubbock,
Littlefield had to dip into reserves to cover payments for about $1.2 in
bonds and other debt used to finance the Bill Clayton Detention Center. The
bonds were issued in 2000, but the expected revenue stream evaporated when, after
a prisoner suicide in 2008, the 310-bed private prison lost its contract to
house out-of-state inmates. In 2009, the Geo Group (GEO), formerly known as
Wackenhut Security, ended its operating agreement with the detention center,
leaving it unoccupied. In April, Fitch Ratings, which in 2009 lowered the
bonds to BB from BBB, affirmed a negative rating outlook. Littlefield city
manager Danny Davis says the city is scrambling to avoid default on the
$780,000 worth of annual payments and plans to cut police and fire service
while dramatically raising property taxes when the new fiscal year begins
Oct. 1. The property could be sold or could be taken over by the state,
though neither option is certain. "It's going to be difficult," he
says. "In the meantime, we're just trying to keep our heads above water
until we get to a solution." Bob Libal is the
Texas campaign coordinator for Grassroots Leadership, a lobbying group which
opposes for-profit prisons, and the editor of the blog Texas Prison Bid'ness. He says many small towns agree to build
"speculative prisons" to be run by private contractors using
municipal bond financing but that many of these projects in a post-Sept. 11
boom have had trouble. Libal criticizes the
development groups that get paid up front for building detention centers thus
saddling the bond-issuers (usually special public facilities corporations
created solely for those projects) with risky debt. "They go after a lot
of towns without a lot of sophistication and resources to do the due diligence,"
Libal says. "If they let the bonds go under,
it's very difficult for them to issue any more debt." Matt Fabian,
director of research at Municipal Market Advisors, cites similar bond woes in
Central Falls, R.I.; Hardin, Mont.; and Baker County, Fla., where about $105
million in total debt has run into trouble because the prison projects
haven't worked out as expected. "The incarceration rates drives
speculation," he says. "There's an idea that you can profit from
this prison trend." Investors in these increasingly-insecure jail bonds
have certainly had to assume more risk, even though they get higher yields.
The $99 million Central Falls Detention Facility bond issue of 2005 entered
technical default in 2009 when it drew on its reserves to make payments. The
bonds, issued at par with a yield of 7.25%, last traded at the end of 2009 at
85.3 cents to the dollar, with a yield of 8.69%. Municipal revenue bonds
issued in 2002 that funded the West Alabama Youth Services detention facility
defaulted in 2005. The bonds last traded in February at 9 cents to the dollar
with a yield of 73.6%. Fabian says some of the biggest private prison busts
are unlikely to have simple resolutions. A shopping center is easy to
repurpose; a detention center is not. "It's hard to restructure,"
he says. "Even the land underneath a prison isn't worth as much as it
was." Even with a resurgent effort by the private prison industry to use
their facilities to detain illegal immigrants and an attempt by the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to overhaul detention procedures,
problems persist. The Baker Correctional Development Corporation, created to
finance a correctional facility and immigration detention center west of
Jacksonville, Fla., dipped into reserves for its August payment to holders of
bonds issued in 2008. With those bonds trading last at 71.25 cents to the
dollar with a yield of 20.73%, investors looking to lock up their money
should probably seek less risky types of municipal bonds.
June 17, 2010 Courthouse News
A man claims a corrupt private prison company, The GEO Group, bribed the
government to get contracts and then abused inmates, including his father,
who died at the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas, from
"grossly inhumane treatment, abuse, neglect, illegal and malicious
conditions of confinement." Daniel McCullough sued Texas-based GEO Group
and its top executives, all of Florida, and the warden of the jail where his
father, Randall, died on Aug. 18, 2008. In his complaint in Comal County
Court, Daniel McCullough says his father "was found dead after
supposedly being monitored by GEO and its personnel." The complaint
states: "McCullough's death was caused by specific breaches of duty by
the Defendants ... who engaged in grossly inhumane treatment, abuse, neglect,
illegal conditions of confinement, and subsequent coverup of
wrongdoings." McCullough claims that "GEO and its personnel were
found to have fabricated evidence, including practicing 'pencil whipping,' a
policy and practice of GEO to destroy and fabricate log books and other
relevant evidence." He claims that GEO and its officers "personally
engage in efforts to illegally influence public officials in Austin, Texas
and in the Texas counties where the GEO prisons are located, including
Laredo, Webb County, Texas. Their goal is to conceal, deflect, hide or
exculpate themselves and their company from all forms of personal civil or
criminal liability, censure, detriment, or punishment in order to procure and
continue their lucrative contracts at the expense of the inmates' and their
families' suffering. They and their company, GEO, engage in a pattern and
practice of abuse, neglect, public corruption, and cover up." McCullough
claims that GEO and its officers "have a history of illegally
neglecting, manipulating, and abusing inmates, and then covering up their
wrongful and illegal conduct." He claims these abuses include
"making illegal payments to governmental entities in exchange for
contracts and permits; ... destruction of evidence and lying to state
investigators; and misrepresentations to state and governmental entities
regarding conditions inside their facilities." He seeks damages of $595
million - GEO's net worth - for gross negligence, breach of duty, wrongful
death, and pain and suffering. He is represented by Ronald Rodriguez of
Laredo.
April 14, 2010 Business Wire
Fitch Ratings takes the following rating action on Littlefield, Texas'
(the city) as part of its continuous surveillance effort; --Approximately
$1.2 million in outstanding combination tax and revenue certificates of
obligation (COs), series 1997 rated 'BB.' The Rating Outlook remains
Negative. RATING RATIONALE: --The majority of the city's outstanding debt is
for a detention center (not rated by Fitch), which had been self-supporting
from detention center operations. However, both detention center prisoners
and the private operator left the facility in 2009, and despite the city's
active efforts to locate prisoners or sell the facility, the detention center
remains vacant. --The lack of a debt service tax levy has resulted in
considerable operating pressure. --A fully funded debt service reserve
remains in place, with the February 2010 principal and interest payment made
from available funds, primarily excess water and sewer system revenues.
Officials plan to make the next interest payment in August 2010 from
available funds as well, although there is a possibility debt service reserve
funds may be needed. --General fund reserves are minimal; however, the water
and sewer fund maintained about $800,000 in unrestricted net assets for the
close of fiscal 2009. The city is considering making future detention center
debt service payments from a combination of budget reductions, available city
funds, and the imposition of an interest and sinking fund tax beginning in
fiscal 2011. --The city's tax base has shown moderate annual growth, and
county unemployment rates, although higher than a year ago, remain below the
state and nation. Proximity to the Lubbock metropolitan area offers
additional employment opportunities for residents.
August 24, 2009 Ad Hoc News
Fitch Ratings has downgraded to 'BB' from 'BBB-' the rating on Littlefield,
TX's (the city) outstanding $1.3 million combination tax and revenue
certificates of obligation (COs), series 1997, and removed the ratings from
Rating Watch Negative. The CO's constitute a general obligation of the city,
payable from ad valorem taxes limited to $2.50 per $100 taxable assessed
valuation (TAV). Additionally, the COs are secured by a pledge of surplus
water and sewer revenues. The Rating Outlook is Negative. The downgrade
reflects events related to the operation of the city's detention center
facility, which accounts for the majority of outstanding debt (which was not
rated by Fitch but is on parity with the series 1997 bonds). To the surprise
of city officials, Idaho announced their plans to leave the Littlefield
facility in January 2009, citing the need to consolidate all of its
out-of-state prisoners into a larger facility in Oklahoma. In addition, the
detention center's private operator, the Geo Group, unexpectedly announced
termination of their agreement to manage the facility effective January 2009.
The move to leave Littlefield by the Geo Group is significant, given that the
established private operator had made sizable equity investments in the
detention center reportedly totaling approximately $2 million. In the past,
the ability of the Geo Group to quickly replace prisoners with little
disruption in operations, as well as their investment in the Littlefield
detention center were cited as credit strengths. On Dec. 9, 2008, Fitch
placed the series 1997 bonds on Rating Watch Negative, reflecting the city's
active pursuit of various alternatives to remedy the situation and possibly
resolve it within the next several months. Funds to repay debt service on
detention center COs through August 2010 had been identified through
available city funds as well as a debt service reserve fund. The city
indicated to Fitch in May 2009 that it was in negotiations with another
established jail operator (the operator) to assume management of the
Littlefield facility and that the operator was attempting to secure an
agreement with a federal agency to house prisoners. Resolution or near resolution
of this agreement was expected by August 2009. However, the operator has yet
to secure a prisoner agreement and the timing for resolution remains
uncertain. The downgrade to 'BB' reflects the uncertainty as to when and if
the city can secure an operator for the detention center as well as the
city's limited financial resources to repay the detention center debt. While
the city continues to pursue an agreement with the operator (and other
private companies in the event negotiations with the operator break down),
the Negative Outlook reflects the potential financial hardship placed on the
city if a long-term viable solution is not found. Although the detention
center COs are also secured by an ad valorem tax pledge, the city levies a
property tax for operations only. Officials report that the 2010 proposed
budget does not include any property tax levy for debt service, but the city
is investigating funding alternatives for future detention center debt
service. In order to fully support the detention center COs, the ad valorem
tax rate would have to double, which is not politically feasible.
December 13, 2008 Lubbock On-line
GEO Group Inc. says it has canceled its contract with the city of
Littlefield and plans to terminate 74 employees at the Bill Clayton Detention
Center effective Jan. 5 The Boca Raton-based Fla. company gave official
notice last month, filing a mass layoff Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act
letter with the city in accordance with federal law. The letter was obtained
by The Avalanche-Journal. Under the law, an organization terminating 50 or
more employees must give at least 60 days notice.
GEO's decision was made shortly after it learned its own contract had been
canceled with the Idaho Department of Corrections, which according to the Times-News
in Twin Falls, Idaho, cited prisoner safety concerns. IDOC had contracted
with the for-profit corporation to house 300 of its inmates in the one-time
youth detention facility owned by the city. Some of those inmates, according
to the Times-News, will be transferred to the North Fork Corrections Facility
in Sayer, Okla., which is operated by Corrections Corp. of America. "We
understand the gravity of the situation and the citizens' concerns, but we
are working hard toward a solution," said Danny Davis, Littlefield city
manager, who was informed about GEO's decision on Nov. 7. He said the city
has since hired Woodlands-based Carlisle & Associates, a municipal
consultant, which has been brought on board to sell the 372-bed prison.
Littlefield, which issued revenue bonds to construct the facility as part of
an economic development strategy, still owes $10 million. However, Davis
said, the city had already set aside a year's worth of bond payments as a
precautionary measure when it made the decision to build. "We have
enough to make at least the next three payments," adding the city should
not have to tap those reserve funds until August. Danny Soliz,
director of business services for WorkForce
Solutions South Plains - the area's largest job placement/training
organization - said he met with Littlefield prison guards during 12 hours of
informational sessions Wednesday. "We'll be doing everything we can to
help them," he said. Soliz said many of the
workers told him they have no intention of leaving Littlefield, while others
showed interest in applying for jobs at the new Lubbock County Jail and the
Montford Psychiatric Unit operated by the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice. Soliz said WorkForce
brought in an expert from Fort Worth to assist workers in filing for
unemployment benefits. Davis said the city is working on a number of
scenarios involving filling the facility with inmates from other areas on a
temporary basis. "We've also talked with a number of people who are
interested in buying it. There are a lot of entities out there looking for
beds, but it takes time for these solutions to transpire," he said.
December 9, 2008 Yahoo
Fitch Ratings has placed the 'BBB-' rating on Littlefield, TX's (the
city) outstanding $1.4 million combination tax and revenue certificates of
obligation (COs), series 1997 on Rating Watch Negative. The CO's constitute a
general obligation of the city, payable from ad valorem taxes limited to
$2.50 per $100 taxable assessed valuation (TAV). Additionally, the COs are
secured by a pledge of surplus water and sewer revenues. The Negative Watch
reflects recent events related to the operation of the city's detention
center facility, which accounts for the majority of outstanding debt.
Officials are pursuing various alternatives to remedy the situation, with
possible resolution within the next several months. Funds to repay debt
service on detention center COs (which were not rated by Fitch) over the next
one to two years have been identified through available city funds as well as
a debt service reserve fund. However, failure to develop a viable long-term
solution within the near term will have a negative impact on the rating.
Detention center operations support approximately $1.4 million in outstanding
2000 COs and $9.0 million in outstanding 2001 COs issued for the construction
of the facility. The detention center has a history of difficulties,
beginning with construction delays and the subsequent loss of Texas Youth
Commission (TYC) prisoners in 2003 and State of Wyoming prisoners in 2006.
Detention center operations began to stabilize with the near immediate
replacement of the State of Idaho prisoners in the facility. The city's
contract with Idaho was scheduled to expire in July 2009, with negotiations
for contract renewal planned for January 2009. However, to the surprise of
city officials, Idaho recently announced their plans to leave the Littlefield
facility in January 2009, citing the need to consolidate all of its
out-of-state prisoners into a larger facility in Oklahoma. In addition, the
detention center's private operator, the Geo Group unexpectedly announced
termination of their agreement to manage the facility effective January 2009.
The move to leave Littlefield by the Geo Group is significant, given that the
established private operator had made sizable equity investments in the
detention center reportedly totaling approximately $2 million. In the past,
the ability of the Geo Group to quickly replace prisoners with little
disruption in operations as well as their investment in the Littlefield
detention center were cited as credit strengths. In response to the sudden
loss of both prisoners and operators, city officials are investigating
various options. According to the city, a number of other jail operators have
expressed interest in managing the Littlefield facility. In addition,
officials are considering selling the facility and retiring the outstanding
debt. Officials have expressed the need to resolve this issue quickly and
hope to have additional information within the next several months. In the
interim, officials report that sufficient funds are on hand to make the Feb.
1 debt service payment, with the subsequent payments made from other
resources, including the water and sewer fund as well as the debt service
reserve fund. Prior to fiscal 2006, the detention center fund required
transfers primarily from the water and sewer fund to meet operating and debt
service needs. Since that time, detention center net revenues have been
sufficient to cover its debt, providing 1.1 times (x) coverage in fiscal
2007. The water and sewer fund, which supports the remainder of the city's
general obligation debt, continues to record positive results and for fiscal
2007, net revenues were $1.4 million, providing more than 3x coverage on water
and sewer related CO debt service. In addition, the series 2000 and 2001 CO
sales included provisions for a fully funded debt service reserve fund.
Although the city utilized the reserve fund to meet debt service requirements
in 2001 due to the delay in opening as well as the moratorium on TYC
transfers to the detention center, officials report that the reserve is
currently fully funded and has not been utilized since 2001 to meet debt
service needs. For fiscal 2007, the restricted reserve stood at $1.1 million
compared to fiscal 2007 debt service of approximately $780,000. Although the
detention COs are also secured by an ad valorem tax pledge, the city levies a
property tax for operations only. Officials report that they are considering
levying a property tax to partially support the detention center COs. However, in order to fully support the detention
center COs, the tax rate would have to double, which is not feasible given
political realities. Littlefield, with a population of 6,500, is located
approximately 35 miles northwest of Lubbock and serves as the county seat for
Lamb County. The area is primarily rural in nature, with agriculture
services, government, manufacturing, and trade as key components of the
county's economy. The city's population and TAV had been flat until recently;
for fiscal 2008 the city's tax base increased nearly 5% due to the
construction of several commercial projects as well as residential
development. While there is moderate taxpayer concentration among the top 10
taxpayers, there is generally a good mix of industries within the list.
General fund finances have stabilized over the past several years,
benefitting from the recent imposition of a 0.25% increase in the sales tax
rate as well as tax base growth. Debt ratios are very low given the level of
non-property tax support for outstanding COs although payout is slow. Fitch
issued an exposure draft on July 31, 2008 proposing a recalibration of
tax-supported and water/sewer revenue bond ratings which, if adopted, may
result in an upward revision of this rating (see Fitch research 'Exposure
Draft: Reassessment of the Municipal Ratings Framework'.) At this time, Fitch
is deferring its final determination on municipal recalibration. Fitch will
continue to monitor market and credit conditions, and plans to revisit the
recalibration in first quarter-2009.
November 14, 2008 Magic Valley
Times-News
Families of two Idaho inmates who apparently killed themselves in lockups
run by private prison company GEO Group Inc., pleaded Thursday with Texas
state senators to bar out-of-state prisoners from the Lone Star State. The
Idaho Department of Correction has housed more than 300 prisoners at GEO-run
Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas, but recently announced
plans to move them to the private North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre,
Okla. The move follows allegations that GEO falsified reports and
short-staffed the Texas facility where Idaho inmate Randall McCullough, 37,
died. Families of Idaho inmates spoke Thursday at a Texas state Senate
hearing in Austin, Texas. The hearing, which dealt with general oversight of
the Texas prison system and did not result in specific action, was webcast
live over the Internet. Among those testifying was lawyer Ronald Rodriguez,
who represents McCullough's family as well as that of Idaho inmate Scott
Noble Payne, 43, who killed himself last year at another GEO-run prison in
Dickens, Texas. "Idaho prisoners need to be in Idaho where they have
access to their court - Where they have access to their families,"
Rodriguez on Thursday told the Texas Senate Committee on Criminal Justice.
Payne's mother, Shirley Noble, spoke to Texas lawmakers last year and again
on Thursday. "It seems that no lessons were learned," Noble said.
"If changes had been placed - Randall would not have been so desperate
to take his own life, as my son did." Texas Sen. John Whitmire,
D-Houston, chairman of the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, questioned
why the "little" state of Idaho recently decided to pull its
prisoners from Geo-run Bill Clayton. "Should we be following their
lead?" he asked. But a Texas Department of Criminal Justice official
told Whitmire that Texas inmates aren't held at Bill Clayton, and warned
against painting private prisons in Texas with a broad brush. Inmate
McCullough's sister, Laurie Williams, told Texas senators that they should do
a review of all private prisons in their state - including GEO competitor
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). Idaho prisoners are to be taken to
CCA-run North Fork in Oklahoma, where another Idaho inmate, David Drashner, was allegedly murdered in June. IDOC's decision
to move prisoners from one privately run lockup to another out-of-state
facility concerns Williams, as well as Drashner's
wife, Pam Drashner, who have said they want Idaho
to stop shipping away its inmates. Idaho doesn't have enough room for all its
prisoners, and sending them out-of-state has been widely unpopular. Williams
also wants to talk to Idaho lawmakers, she said. "We should be addressing
the Idaho Senate," said Williams, after Thursday's hearing in Texas.
"This is Idaho sending its inmates out of state whether it's Texas that
takes them or Oklahoma and that's what we have to have stopped." GEO
made $4.9 million in annual operating revenues off its contract with Idaho to
manage prisoners at Bill Clayton. GEO officials said shareholders won't lose
out from Idaho's withdrawal because of an expanding contract with the state
of Indiana.
November 9, 2008 Magic Valley
Times-News
Private prison company GEO Group Inc. isn't lamenting the loss of a
multimillion dollar contract with Idaho to manage more than 300 inmates at a
Texas lock-up owned by the city of Littlefield. Idaho was only 1 percent of
Baca Raton-based GEO's business, according to a 2007 annual report from the
company. "The discontinuation of GEO's contract with the Idaho DOC will
have no material impact on GEO's previously issued pro forma earnings
guidance for the fourth quarter of 2008," according to a GEO press
release Friday. GEO made $4.9 million in annual operating revenues off its
contract with Idaho to manage state inmates in Texas, and the company
announced Friday that revenue won't be lost because it's expanding a contract
with the state of Indiana. "GEO expects the discontinuation of its
contract with the Idaho DOC to be more than offset by the 420-bed contract
expansion with the Indiana DOC," according to the press release. Idaho
Department of Correction officials told the Associated Press Thursday it was
pulling out of the contract with GEO and cited inmate safety risks at the
Bill Clayton Detention Center, which is owned by the city of Littlefield.
GEO, however, claims Idaho pulled out of the contract for a different reason
than inmate safety or staffing levels. GEO officials said Friday that Idaho
ended the contract because the state wants to consolidate all its
out-of-state prisoners into one private facility. "We understand the
decision by the state of Idaho to consolidate its out-of-state inmate
population into one large-scale facility," said GEO Chief Executive
Officer George Zoley in the press release.
"The consolidation effort has led to the discontinuation of our
out-of-state inmate contract with the Idaho Department of Correction at the
Bill Clayton Detention Center." IDOC officials told the Times-News
Friday that staffing at Bill Clayton and consolidation efforts were both
factors in its decision to cancel the contract with GEO. IDOC didn't reply to
the Times-News when asked which factor may have weighed more heavily. The
pull-out announced Thursday by IDOC came after a two-month-old audit showed
GEO guards weren't checking on inmates enough. GEO is also terminating its
contract with the city of Littlefield to run Bill Clayton, which it has
operated since 2005, the company announced Friday. GEO decided not to manage
Bill Clayton anymore in Littlefield, a town populated by about 6,500 people,
"due to financial underperformance and lack of economies of scale,"
according to the Friday press release. The first formal IDOC audit of Bill
Clayton dated Sept. 3 followed an apparent suicide of Idaho inmate Randall
McCullough, 37, of Twin Falls in August. IDOC had been monitoring the
facility at least two weeks out of every month since last fall, an IDOC
official said. IDOC's original two-year contract with GEO signed in 2006
could have ended on July 20, 2008. IDOC extended it a year until July 20,
2009, but now says all inmates will be out of Texas by January and moved to
the Northfork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Okla.
- run by GEO competitor, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which
holds hundreds of other out-of-state Idaho inmates.
November 7, 2008 The Olympian
Idaho Department of Correction officials still don't know the cause of
death for an inmate who apparently committed suicide in a private Texas
prison in August. But what they do know is disturbing: The prison was so
understaffed that the warden himself was working the midnight shift at the
Bill Clayton Detention Center on Aug. 17, the night Randall McCullough died.
A state investigation found that regularly scheduled checks on inmates either
weren't done or were done incorrectly, and there was no effective check done
on McCullough from the time he turned in his dinner tray at 5:45 p.m. to the
time his body - already cold and stiff - was found just after midnight. Log
books from that night are inaccurate, according to the investigation, and the
videotape from the prison's security system shows neither the correct date
nor the arrival of emergency workers, prompting Idaho investigators to
speculate that it might not be the tape from that night at all. "You can
see where the train wreck is coming, can't you?" state Department of
Correction Chief Investigator Jim Loucks told The Associated Press in an
interview Thursday. Department officials this week announced they're
terminating the state's multimillion dollar contract with The GEO Group, the
for-profit private prison company that runs the Bill Clayton Detention
Center. Within 60 days, the roughly 300 Idaho prisoners there will be
transferred to the Correction Corp. of America-run North Fork Correctional
Institution in Sayre, Okla. The inmates have been housed out of state because
of overcrowding in Idaho prisons. As of Oct. 1, Idaho had nearly 7,300 total
inmates. The staff at the Bill Clayton center - from then-warden Arthur
Anderson down to the correctional officers - didn't follow prison policy or
respond properly to McCullough's death, according to documents obtained by
The AP from the Idaho Department of Correction through public records
requests. Pablo Paez, spokesman for The GEO Group,
has not returned repeated phone calls from The AP. The GEO Group Vice
President Amber Martin said she couldn't comment on the documents or Idaho's
decision to end the contract. McCullough was found dead in his cell by
Anderson at about 12:15 a.m., according to the state's investigation. Two
letters were found in his cell as well - one to his sister, Laurie Williams,
and another addressed to Anderson and the Idaho Department of Correction.
"To hom it may concern," the misspelled,
handwritten letter read. "I'v been puting this off for long anuff.
I can't set here and slowly die. Sorry for the
inconvenience." The apparent suicide surprised those who knew
McCullough, according to the investigation. The inmate, who was serving time
on a robbery charge, was within a few months of an expected parole hearing
and apparently believed he would be sent back to Idaho sometime around the
end of the year, pending a cell opening in the state's overcrowded system.
McCullough had been in segregation for several months at the Texas facility
after he was accused of assaulting a staff member. The prison, located in the
tiny town of Littlefield, Texas, competes for employees with nearby oil
fields, which often pay more than residents can make working as a
correctional officer, Loucks said. That contributed to the chronic
understaffing. Around the time McCullough died, prison employees were working
as much as 20 hours of overtime every week, and often resorted to calling in
sick just to get some time off, Loucks said. On the night of Aug. 17, 2008,
five people didn't make it in to work - leaving the prison with just 10
correctional officers for the 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift, below the
state-mandated minimum of 12, and well below the 15 officers generally
scheduled, according to the report. To deal with the shortage, the shift
supervisor persuaded two dayshift employees to stay until 10 p.m., and got
two employees scheduled for the next day to come in four hours early, at 2
a.m. But that still left the prison short two officers from 10 p.m. on Aug.
17 to 2 a.m. on Aug. 18, Loucks said. That's when Warden Anderson and Chief
of Security Dennis Blevins agreed to come in to work those middle-of-the
night hours. The short-staffing led to a few bad habits at the prison,
according to the report. Officers often committed a practice known as
"pencil-whipping," filling out the log books to show they had made
security checks on the inmates every 20 minutes, even if the checks hadn't
been done. It also meant that the prison was often without a utility officer,
an employee charged with fueling the vehicles, emptying the trash and doing
other non-guard duties. Because the segregation unit had fewer inmates than
other areas, the correctional officer guarding the unit was generally pulled
away from his duties to take care of the utility officer chores, Loucks said.
That happened the night of Aug. 17, he said, and as a result no one noticed
that McCullough was unmoving and unresponsive until 12:18 a.m., when Warden
Anderson walked by the cell. Anderson radioed for help when he noticed
McCullough wasn't responding to knocking on the cell door. Medical personnel
came within four minutes, but didn't bring the necessary equipment to treat an
unresponsive patient and so had to go back to another part of the prison to
get it, according to the report. Staffers began CPR, but didn't move
McCullough's body from the bed to the floor, where they would have had a
firmer surface and more effective chest compressions, investigators found.
Prison officials didn't call 911 for 15 minutes, according to the report, but
Anderson reportedly told investigators that was because he was trying to
notify enough other employees so they could safely unlock McCullough's door
and go into the cell. McCullough was dead and apparently had been for some
time - his body was cold to the touch, according to the report. Prison
officials immediately suspected that McCullough might have overdosed on
medication, and his body was sent for toxicology tests and an autopsy. Those
tests have been completed, but the Texas coroner's report has not yet been
finished, so Idaho Department of Correction officials still don't know just
how or why McCullough died. But one thing is clear: Idaho prisoners will be
removed from Bill Clayton. State Correction Department chief Brent Reinke
notes the state prison system is expanding, with roughly 600 more beds to be
added next year. Reinke hopes that will provide enough room to bring all the
out-of-state prisoners home. "It's a real unfortunate situation - it
always is," Reinke said. "But there's no question that Idaho
inmates are much better to manage in Idaho."
November 6, 2008 AP
The Idaho Department of Correction has terminated its contract with private
prison company The GEO Group and will move the roughly 305 Idaho inmates
currently housed at a GEO-run facility in Texas to a private prison in
Oklahoma. Correction Director Brent Reinke notified GEO officials Thursday in
a letter. Reinke said the company's chronic understaffing at the Bill Clayton
Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas, put Idaho offenders' safety at risk.
An Idaho Department of Correction audit found that guards routinely falsified
reports to show they were checking on offenders regularly — even though they
were sometimes away from their posts for hours at a time. "I hope you
understand how seriously we're taking not only the report but the safety of
our inmates," Reinke told The Associated Press on Thursday. "They
have an ongoing staffing issue that doesn't appear to be able to be
solved." The contract will end Jan. 5. Reinke said the department wanted
to pull the inmates out immediately, but state attorneys found there wasn't
enough cause to allow the state to break free of the contract without a
60-day warning period. In the meantime, Reinke said, Idaho correction
officials have been sent to the Texas prison to help with staffing for the
next two months. GEO will be responsible for transferring the inmates to the
North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayer, Okla., which is run by Corrections
Corp. of America. GEO will cover the cost of the move, Reinke said, but Idaho
will have to pay $58 per day per inmate in Oklahoma, compared to $51 per day
at Bill Clayton. Amber Martin, vice president for The GEO Group, of Florida,
said she couldn't comment on the audit or on Idaho's decision to end the
contract. She referred calls to the company spokesman, Pablo Paez, who could not immediately be reached by the AP. As
of Oct. 1, Idaho had nearly 7,300 total inmates. The Bill Clayton audit
describes the latest in a series of problems that Idaho has had with shipping
inmates out of state. Overcrowding at home forced the state to move hundreds
of inmates to a prison in Minnesota in 2005, but space constraints soon
uprooted them again, this time to a GEO-run facility in Newton, Texas. There,
guard abuse and prisoner unrest forced another move to two new GEO
facilities: 125 Idaho inmates went to the Dickens County Correctional Center
in Spur, Texas, while 304 went to Bill Clayton in Littlefield. Conditions at
Dickens were left largely unmonitored by Idaho, at least until inmate Scott
Noble Payne committed suicide after complaining of the filthy conditions
there. Idaho investigators looking into Payne's death detailed the poor
conditions and a lack of inmate treatment programs, and the inmates were
moved again. That's when the Idaho Department of Correction created the
Virtual Prisons Program, designed to improve oversight of Idaho inmates
housed in contract beds both in and out of state. The extent of the Bill
Clayton facility understaffing was discovered after Idaho launched an
investigation into the apparent suicide of inmate Randall McCullough in
August. During that investigation, guards at the prison said they were often
pulled away from their regular posts to handle other duties — including
taking out the garbage, refueling vehicles or checking the perimeter fence —
and that it was common practice to fill out the logs as if the required
checks of inmates were being completed as scheduled, said Jim Loucks, chief
investigator for the Idaho Department of Correction. For instance, Loucks
said, correction officers were supposed to check on inmates in the
administrative segregation unit every 30 minutes. But sometimes they were
away from the unit for hours at a time, he said. The investigation into
McCullough's death is not yet complete, department officials said. The audit
also found several other problems at Bill Clayton. The auditor found that
"the facility entrance is a very relaxed checkpoint," prompting
concerns that cell phones, marijuana and other contraband could be smuggled
past security. In addition, the prison averages a 30 percent vacancy rate in
security staff jobs, according to the audit. Though it was still able to meet
the one-staffer-for-every-48-prisoners ratio set out by Texas law, employees
were regularly expected to work long hours of overtime and non-security
staffers sometimes were used to provide security supervision, according to
the audit. "Based on a review of payroll reports, there are significant
concerns with security staff working excessive amounts of overtime for long
periods of time," the auditors wrote. "This can lead to compromised
facility security practices and increased safety issues." When the audit
was done, there were 29 security staff vacancies, according to the report.
That meant each security staff person who was eligible for overtime worked an
average of 21 hours of overtime a week. That extra expense was borne by GEO,
not by Idaho taxpayers, said Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff
Ray. The state's contract with GEO also required that at least half of the
eligible inmates be given jobs with at least 50 hours of work a month.
According to the facility's inmate payroll report, only 35 out of 371
offenders were without jobs. But closer inspection showed that the prison
often had several inmates assigned to the same job. In one instance, nine
inmates were assigned to clean showers in one unit of the prison — which only
had nine shower stalls. So although each was responsible for cleaning just
one shower stall, the nine inmates were all claiming 7- and 8-hour work days,
five days a week. GEO is responsible for covering the cost of those wages,
Ray said. "While the contract percentage requirement is met, the
facility cannot demonstrate the actual hours claimed by offenders are spent
in a meaningful, skill-learning job activity," the auditors wrote.
Auditors also found that too few inmates were enrolled in high school diploma
equivalency and work force readiness classes.
October 1, 2008 AP
For a decade, Idaho has been shipping some of its prisoners to
out-of-state prisons, dealing with its ever-burgeoning inmate population by
renting beds in faraway facilities. But now some groups of prisoners are
being brought back home. Idaho Department of Correction officials are
crediting declining crime rates, improved oversight during probation, better
community programs and increased communication between correction officials
and the state's parole board. The number of Idaho inmates has more than
doubled since 1996, reaching a high of 7,467 in May. But in the months since
then, the population has declined to 7,293 -- opening up enough space that 80
inmates housed in the North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Okla., and
at Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas, could be bused back
to the Idaho State Correctional Institution near Boise. The inmates arrived
Monday night. Idaho Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke hailed
their arrival as one of the benefits the system was reaping after years of
work. "It's more about having the right inmates at the right place at
the right time," Reinke said. "People are communicating better and
we're working together better than we were in the past."
September 21, 2008 Times-News
Pam Drashner visited her husband every weekend
in prison, until she was turned away one day because he wasn't there. He had
been quietly transferred from Boise to a private prison in Sayre, Okla. She
never saw him again. In July, she went to the Post Office to pick up his
ashes, mailed home in a box. He died of a traumatic brain injury in Oklahoma,
allegedly assaulted by another inmate. David Drashner
was one of hundreds of male inmates Idaho authorities have sent to private
prisons in other states. About 10 percent of Idaho's inmates are now
out-of-state. The Department of Correction say they want to bring them all
home, they simply have no place to put them. Drashner,
who was convicted of repeat drunken driving, is one of three Idaho inmates
who have died in the custody of private lockups in other states since March
2007, and was the first this year. On Aug. 18, Twin Falls native Randall
McCullough, 37, apparently killed himself at the Bill Clayton Detention
Center in Littlefield, Texas. McCullough, serving time for robbery, was found
dead in his cell. IDOC officials say he left a note, though autopsy results
are pending. His family says he shouldn't have been in Texas at all.
"Idaho should step up to the plate and bring their prisoners home,"
said his sister, Laurie Williams. Out of Idaho -- Idaho
has so many prisoners scattered around the country that the IDOC last year
developed the Virtual Prison Program, assigning 12 officers to monitor the
distant prisons. In 2007 Idaho sent 429 inmates to Texas and Oklahoma. This
year; more than 700 - and by one estimate it could soon hit 1,000. But
officials say they don't know exactly how many inmates may hit the road in
coming months. The number may actually fall due to an unexpected drop in
total prisoner head-count, a turnabout attributed to a drop in sentencings,
increased paroles and better success rates for probationers. The state will
also have about 1,300 more beds in Idaho, thanks to additions at existing
prisons. State officials say bringing inmates back is a priority. "If
there was any way to not have inmates out-of-state it would be far, far better,"
said IDOC Director Brent Reinke, a former Twin Falls County commissioner,
noting higher costs to the state and inconvenience to inmate families. Still,
there's no end in sight for virtual prisons, which have few fans in state
government. "I do think sending inmates out-of-state is
counter-productive," said Rep. Nicole LeFavour,
D-Boise, a member of the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee.
LeFavour favors treatment facilities over prisons.
"We try to make it (sending inmates out-of-state) a last resort, but I
don't think we're doing enough." Even lawmakers who favor buying more
cells would like to avoid virtual lockups. "It's more productive to be
in-state," said Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee,
who said he would support a new Idaho prison modeled after the state-owned
but privately run Idaho Correctional Center (ICC). "We don't want to
stay out-of-state unless we have to ��- It's undesirable." A decade of movement --
Idaho has shipped inmates elsewhere for more than a decade, though in some
years they were all brought home when beds became available at four of
Idaho's state prisons. The 1,500-bed ICC - a state-owned lockup built and run
by CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) - also opened in 2000. But that
wasn't enough: "It will be years before a substantial increase in prison
capacity will allow IDOC to bring inmates back," the agency said in
April. In 2005, former IDOC director Tom Beauclair
warned lawmakers that "if we delay building the next prison, we'll have
to remain out-of-state longer with more inmates," according to an IDOC
press release. That year inmates were taken to a Minnesota prison operated by
CCA, where Idaho paid $5 per inmate, per day more than it costs to keep inmates
in its own prisons. "This move creates burdens for our state fiscally,
and can harden our prison system, but it's what we must do," IDOC said
at the time. "Our ability to stretch the system is over." Attempts
to add to that system have largely failed. Earlier this year Gov. C.L.
"Butch" Otter asked lawmakers for $191 million in bond authority to
buy a new 1,500-bed lockup. The Legislature rejected his request, but did
approve those 1,300 new beds at existing facilities. Reinke said IDOC won't
ask for a new prison when the next Legislative session convenes in January.
With a slow economy and a drop in inmate numbers, it's not the time to push
for a new prison, he said. Still, recent projections for IDOC show that
without more prison beds here, 43 percent of all Idaho inmates could be sent
out-of-state in 2017. "It's a lot of money to go out-of-state," Darrington said. Different cultures -- One of eight
prisons in Idaho is run by a private company, as are those housing Idaho
inmates in Texas and Oklahoma. The Bill Clayton Detention Center in Texas is
operated by the Geo Group Inc., which is managing or developing 64 lockups in
the U.S., Australia and South Africa. The North-Fork Correctional Facility in
Oklahoma is owned and operated by CCA, which also has the contract to run the
Idaho Correction Center. CCA houses almost 75,000 inmates and detainees in 66
facilities under various state and federal contracts. Critics of private
prisons say the operators boost profits by skimping on programs, staff, and
services. Idaho authorities acknowledge the prisons make money, but consider
them well-run. "Private prisons are just that - business run,"
Idaho Virtual Prison Program Warden Randy Blades told the Times-News.
"It doesn't mean out-of-sight, or out-of-mind." Yet even Reinke
added that "I think there's a difference. Do we want there to be?
No." The Association of Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations
(APCTO) says on its Web site that its members "deliver reduced costs,
high quality, and enhanced accountability." Falling short? Thomas
Aragon, a convicted thief from Nampa, was shipped to three different Texas
prisons in two years. He said prisons there did little to rehabilitate him,
though he's up for parole next year. "I'm a five-time felon, all grand theft
and possession of stolen property," said Aragon, by telephone from the
ICC. "Apparently I have a problem and need to find out why I steal. The
judge said I needed counseling and that I'd get it, and I have yet to get
any." State officials said virtual prisons have a different culture, but
are adapting to Idaho standards. "We're taking the footprint of Idaho
and putting it into facilities out-of-state," Blades said. Aragon, 39,
says more programs are available in Idaho compared to the Texas facilities where
he was. Like Aragon, almost 70 percent of Idaho inmates sent to prison in
2006 and 2007 were recidivists - repeat IDOC offenders - according agency
annual reports. GEO and CCA referred questions about recidivism to APCTO,
which says only that its members reduce the rate of growth of public
spending. Aragon said there weren't enough case-workers, teachers, programs,
recreational activities and jobs in Texas. Comparisons between public and
private prisons are made difficult because private companies didn't readily
offer numbers for profits, recidivism, salaries and inmate-officer ratios.
During recent visits to the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield,
Texas - where about 371 Idaho inmates are now held - state inspectors found
there wasn't a legal aid staffer to give inmates access to courts, as
required by the state contract. Virtual Prison monitors also agreed with
Aragon's assessment: "No programs are offered at the facility," a
state official wrote in a recently redacted Idaho Virtual Prison report
obtained by the Times-News. "Most jobs have to do with keeping the
facility clean and appear to be less meaningful. This creates a shortage of
productive time with the inmates. "Overall, recreational activities are
very sparse within the facility ��- Informal attempts have been made to encourage the
facility to increase offender activities that would in the long run ease some
of the boredom that IDOC inmates are experiencing," according to a
Virtual Prison report. The prison has since made improvements, the state
said. Only one inmate case manager worked at Bill Clayton during a recent
state visit, but the facility did increase recreation time and implemented
in-cell hobby craft programs, Virtual Prison reports show. Other inmate
complaints have grown from the way they have been sent to the prisons.
Inmates describe a horrific bus ride from Idaho to Oklahoma in April in
complaints collected by the American Civil Liberties Union in Boise. The
inmates say they endured painful and injurious wrist and ankle shackling,
dangerous driving, infrequent access to an unsanitary restroom and
dehydration during the almost 30-hour trip. "We're still receiving a lot
of complaints, some of them are based on retaliatory transfers," said
ACLU lawyer Lea Cooper. IDOC officials acknowledge that they have also
received complaints about access to restrooms during the long bus rides, but
they maintain that most of the inmates want to go out-of-state. Many are sex
offenders who prefer the anonymity associated with being out-of-state, they
said. Unanswered questions -- Three deaths of Idaho interstate inmates in 18
months have left families concerned that even more prisoners will come home
in ashes. "We're very disturbed about...the rate of Idaho prisoner
deaths for out-of-state inmates," Cooper said. It was the razor-blade
suicide of sex-offender Scott Noble Payne, 43, in March 2007 at a Geo lockup
in Dickens, Texas that caught the attention of state officials. Noble's death
prompted Idaho to pull all its inmates from the Geo prison. State officials
found the facility was in terrible condition, but they continue to work with
Geo, which houses 371 Idaho inmates in Littlefield, Texas, where McCullough
apparently killed himself. Noble allegedly escaped before he was caught and
killed himself. Inmate Aragon said he as there, and that Noble was hog-tied
and groaned in pain while guards warned other inmates they would face the
same if they tried to escape. Private prison operators don't have to tell
governments everything about the deaths at facilities they run. The state
isn't allowed access to Geo's mortality and morbidity reports under terms of
a contract. Idaho sent additional inmates to the Corrections Corporation of
America-run Oklahoma prison after Drashner's
husband died in June. IDOC officials said an Idaho official was inspecting
the facility when he was found. IDOC has offered few details about the death.
"The murder happened in Oklahoma," said IDOC spokesman Jeff Ray,
adding it will be up to Oklahoma authorities to charge. Drashner
said her husband had a pending civil case in Idaho and shouldn't have been
shipped out-of-state. She says Idaho and Oklahoma authorities told her David
was assaulted by another inmate after he verbally defended an officer at the
Oklahoma prison. Officers realized something was wrong when he didn't stand
up for a count, Drashner said. "He was
healthy. He wouldn't have been killed over here," she said.
August 28, 2008 Times-News
An Idaho prison inmate held at a private facility in Texas through the
state's Virtual Prison Program was in solitary confinement for more than a
year when he apparently killed himself, authorities have confirmed. Idaho
Department of Correction is still investigating the cause and manner of death
for the inmate, Randall McCullough, 37, who was found unresponsive Aug. 18 in
his cell, which measured 7.5 feet, by 12 feet, by 8 feet, said Idaho
Department of Correction Spokesman Jeff Ray. McCullough had been segregated
from other inmates since Dec. 13, 2007, after he allegedly assaulted a staff
member at the Bill Clayton Detention Center run by Geo Group Inc., said Ray.
He apparently wasn't criminally charged for that alleged assault in Texas.
"It's our understanding that the prosecutor in Texas had not made a
decision on whether or not to file charges," said Ray. "The staff
assault occurred in Texas and would be considered a Texas crime. IDOC would
not have a direct connection to it." Authorities at Geo Group's Bill
Clayton Detention Center directed all questions from the Times-News on Wednesday
back to the Idaho Department of Corrections. McCullough was in prison for a
2001 Twin Falls County robbery conviction. He had a criminal record involving
charges of escape, forgery, controlled substance possession, grand theft,
burglary, resisting arrest, and driving violations, according to court
records. Imposing inmate segregation for one to two years as a result of an
assault on a guard would not be uncommon, and wardens at out-of-state
facilities holding Idaho inmates can decide if an inmate is put in
segregation, said Ray. Inmates in segregation eat meals in their cells and
can shower once every 72 hours. Toilets are in cells and McCullough had a
television, said Ray. Lights at the Texas facility are on 24 hours a day, Ray
said, adding that some facilities in Idaho dim lights at sleeping times.
August 21, 2008 The Times News
The state's Virtual Prison Program is only a year old and the Monday
death of inmate Randall McCullough, 37, could be the second suicide involving
the initiative outside of Idaho. Idaho prison officials said Wednesday
they're still investigating if McCullough committed suicide at a private
contracted facility in Texas - Bill Clayton Detention Center run by the GEO
Group Inc. - which is holding 371 inmates each at $51 per day under a
contract that expires in July 2009. The Virtual Prison Program started in
July 2007, but the state started putting inmates in non-state owned
facilities in October 2005, said Idaho Department of Correction Spokesman
Jeff Ray. Six state inmates have committed suicide since July 2006, not
including McCullough, Ray said.
December 11, 2007 AP
Inmates from Idaho housed at a private West Texas detention facility could
face new charges following an attack on a female guard. The woman was
attacked about 7:30 p.m. Monday after she apparently tried to take tobacco
away from at least two of the inmates at the Bill Clayton Detention Center,
Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray said. The woman suffered
non-life threatening injuries, he said. Afterward, as many as 15 inmates
refused to return to their cells and additional officers were called in to
help, Ray said. The inmates then agreed to return to their cells, he said.
Officials with the Littlefield police department, which is investigating the
incident, did not immediately return a phone call Tuesday. A deputy warden
with the Idaho agency is on his way to Littlefield to investigate, a release
from that department said. Those involved in the attack could face charges,
and inmates who refused to return to their cells will likely face
disciplinary sanctions, the release said. The prison is operated by The GEO
Group Inc., a Boca Raton, Fla.-based company that owns or operates 68
facilities worldwide. "We will be working cooperatively with the Idaho
Department of Correction as they conduct their investigation," said
Pablo Paez, a GEO spokesman. A lack of space in
Idaho prisons brought hundreds of inmates to Texas in early 2006. They were
first housed here at a GEO facility in Newton in East Texas. They were moved
to Littlefield in August 2006 after allegations of abuse by guards prompted
an investigation. Three employees at Newton's facility were disciplined as a
result of the investigation.
July 31, 2007 Idaho Statesman
Idaho's Department of Correction has created a new position to manage Idaho's
roughly 2,400 inmates in private, out-of-state prisons and county jail beds.
Randy Blades, who has been the warden at the Idaho State Correctional
Institution south of Boise, will monitor the 500-plus inmates, now in three
Texas prisons managed by the Geo Group Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla. He will also
monitor the 240 inmates soon to be transferred from Idaho to a private prison
in Oklahoma, and the inmates in county jail beds across the state. Correction
Director Brent Reinke created the position after disclosing that conditions
at one of those prisons were so bad that inmates will be moved elsewhere.
Inmates at the Dickens County Correctional Center are being moved to the Bill
Clayton Detention Center after an inmate suicide at Dickens revealed filthy
living conditions and poorly trained and unprofessional staff. “Times have
changed and we simply need to get in front on this issue,” Reinke said in a
statement. “We must be proactive. We need to make sure inmates are being
treated adequately and taxpayers are getting what they are paying for.”
October 24, 2006 Yahoo.com
Fitch downgrades the rating on Littlefield, TX's (the city) outstanding
$1.6 million combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation (COs),
series 1997 to 'BB+' from 'BBB+.' The Rating Outlook is Stable. The downgrade
primarily reflects the city's significantly weakened financial position. The
general fund balance has been at minimal levels for the past several years,
while the detention center fund, which supports the bulk of the city's
general obligation debt, is in a deficit unrestricted net asset position,
created by the pull-out of Texas Youth Commission (TYC) prisoners in 2003.
Some signs of financial improvement are evident, and projected fiscal 2006
results are expected to show a moderate increase in general fund reserve
levels as well as a small operating surplus in the detention center fund.
Further, the detention center is now fully occupied. Nevertheless, financial
stabilization has not been achieved, and the city remains highly dependent on
housing outside prisoners to meet operational and debt service requirements
of the detention center. Detention center operations, which experienced
problems at the onset primarily due to construction delays, were again
negatively impacted by the loss of all TYC prisoners in 2003. While TYC
offenders were subsequently replaced with state of Wyoming prisoners, the
impact on finances was severe and continued through fiscal 2005, evidenced by
a $351,000 unrestricted net asset deficit recorded in the detention center
fund. In addition, the detention center fund had to rely on support from
other funds, most notably a sizable transfer from the water and sewer fund in
fiscal 2004, to meet operational and debt service needs. The contract to
house Wyoming prisoners was terminated in 2006, and subsequently a new
contract with the state of Idaho was implemented. For 2006, officials report
that no outside financial support was required and that a $30,000 operating
surplus is expected. However, the large deficit will likely remain for sometime and the historical movement of prisoners in and
out of the Littlefield facility demonstrates the difficulty of maintaining
long-term prisoner contracts. If the city had to levy an interest and sinking
fund tax to meet detention center related debt obligations, officials
estimate that the overall tax rate would have to double over the current
operations and maintenance tax rate, which Fitch believes would be extremely
difficult to impose.
September 17, 2004 Star-Tribune
Four Texans have been jailed on charges of assisting two Wyoming inmates in
escaping from the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas, last
week. Three of the Texans worked as guards at the prison, Littlefield Police
Chief Bill McMinn said. Arrested and charged with permitting and facilitating
the escape of a convicted felon were Roy Sosa and Yvonne Delagarza, who both
worked as guards at the detention center. They were being held in the Lamb
County Jail on $50,000 bond each and face two to 20 years in prison if
convicted. Delagarza's brother, Robert Sandoval, and Tammy Harper, another
prison guard, also have been charged in the incident with hindering the
apprehension of a felon, a crime that carries a one- to 10-year prison
sentence. They were also in jail on $50,000 bonds. McMinn said the motive for
the escape appears to be that the women guards, Harper and Delagarza, were in
love with the inmates.
September 16, 2004 Houston Chronicle
Four of the five federal inmates who escaped from a Frio County private
prison last month remained at large Thursday, but officials said they've
nabbed two people who helped the escapees vanish into a protective underworld
of prison-gang sympathizers. Held on charges of instigating or aiding a
federal escape are Randy Folsom, 42, and Debra Ayala, 44, both of San
Antonio. U.S. Marshals Service officials, who arrested them Wednesday, said
Folsom drove as many as four of the "Frio Five" escapees from the
Pearsall lockup Aug. 6. The five inmates exited the private prison in
daylight through cuts in the chain-link fencing of the recreation yard. Investigators also
are trying to determine whether prison personnel aided in the escape.
September 11, 2004 Casper Star
Tribune
Two Wyoming inmates were back in custody Friday, after escaping from a Texas
detention center the night before. Michael Solis and Jeremiah Zupko apparently cut through a fence to escape from the
Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas.
September 10, 2004 KCDB
Littlefield police arrested five people involved in a prison break at the
Bill Clayton Detention Center, a private facility in Littlefield. So far,
their investigation has led them to believe two female prison guards, Iyvonne Delagarza and Tammy Harper, may be involved.
Janet Simmons' daughter works at the prison with one of the women who is
suspected. At around 9:30 Thursday night, 35-year-old Michael Solis and
22-year-old Jeremiah Zupko cut their way through
two layers of fence and razor wire using some kind of cutting tool. Police
say they are investigating how the inmates got the tool. Police have not
figured out a motive for the prison break and why these two female guards
would have reason to help them. The inmates initially were serving time
for selling methemphetamines and heroin in Wyoming.
August 26, 2003
As the deadline nears for the Texas Commission for Youth to leave the Bill
Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, interest in the facility continues
to heat up. TCY intends to vacate the premises by Sept. 1, transferring
juvenile residents to other TCY facilities. Corrections Concepts Inc.,
a faith-based organization headquartered in Dallas, devoted about five hours
last week to meet with Littlefield city officials and tour the facility.
"At this point we're considering some of the things they talked
about," City Manager Danny Davis said Monday. The two entities
plan to meet again in September. "They're going to try to have
facilities for males, females, juveniles and geriatrics," Davis said.
"Ours would be more likely ... adult males." Financial terms
were not discussed, he said. "We did tell them what it would take
to make our facility cash (needs)," Davis said. Corrections
Concepts would use the facility for a Christian-based prison program. The
organization is in the final stage of starting a similar facility in Coleman
that will likely house state and federal prisoners. "This is
falling in line with President Bush's faith-based initiatives," Davis
said. He added that the community of Littlefield is "really
interested" in faith-based programs for the detention center.
"We're interested in seeing men's lives changed," said Bill
Robinson, chairman of trustees of Corrections Concepts. Under the
program, men in their final 12 to 24 months of their prison terms, regardless
of their offenses, could be transferred to the facility. There they would
receive Christian-based transition training. If Corrections Concepts
were to use the Littlefield facility, about $1.5 million in capital improvements
would be made in constructing a work center, Robinson said. Those funds would
come from a "number of sources," he said. Private industry
would be allowed to set up shop in the medium-security facility and hire
inmates at prevailing wage rates. (Lubbock Online)
Bi-State Jail/Bowie County Detention Center
Bowie County, Texas
Correctional
Medical Services, CiviGenics
Dec
19, 2019 wfaa.com
For-profit
jail company could face sanctions pending outcome of next surprise
inspection. The Bowie County jail, run by LaSalle Corrections, has failed 7
inspections since 2015.
AUSTIN,
Texas — State regulators are threatening to reduce the number of prisoners
that an embattled private, for-profit company can house in its Bi-State jail
in Texarkana after its most recent failed annual inspection. The jail run by
LaSalle Corrections has failed three annual inspections and four special
inspections since 2015. At the Texas Commission on Jail Standards meeting in
November, commissioners unanimously approved a recommendation that the jail’s
capacity be reduced by about 50 beds if it does not pass a re-inspection by
Jan. 1. On Tuesday, LaSalle notified the state that it was ready for a
re-inspection. Regulators said they would schedule an unannounced visit
before the end of the month. If the jail fails again, LaSalle executives
would have to appear at the board’s February meeting and face the possibility
of the bed count being reduced further. “We continue to deal with some of the
same issues year after year after year,” Brandon Wood, executive director of
the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, told LaSalle executives during a
commission meeting last month in Austin. “You are able to fix them for a
period of time and then by the time the next annual inspection occurs we see
the same issues again.” LaSalle officials were forced to appear at the
commission’s November meeting as a result of a new law that requires private
jail operators to appear before the jail commission whenever they fail an
inspection. Lawmakers created the requirement following a WFAA investigation
that exposed significant problems in the way the company runs its jails in
Texas. In its most recent annual inspection in October, regulators found that
the Texarkana jail wasn’t properly documenting the distribution of
medications, and that guards were not checking on prisoners as required. The
company failed a special inspection in August after regulators found that
jail checks were not conducted in a case involving a suicide. It failed
another special inspection involving the death of Holly Austin after
regulators found medications were not properly dispensed or documented. Jay
Eason, the company’s director of operations, told commissioners that guards
would be disciplined for not making checks and that if the company discovered
that guards had falsified documents indicating checks had been done, they
would be terminated. “We’re going to step up our game on these checks,” Eason
told commissioners. Guards falsifying jail checks is not a new problem for
LaSalle. A WFAA investigation found that in several prisoner deaths, checks
were not properly performed even though paperwork said they were. Former
jailers told WFAA that LaSalle often has too few guards on each shift to
watch all the prisoners in order to save on salary costs. Eason also told
commissioners that he planned to meet with the jail’s nursing staff to ensure
they understand the importance of making sure prisoners get medical attention
when they need it. “It’s going to be all hands on
deck,” he told commissioners. “We’re going to get these issues resolved. The
staff are going to know that if they’re not doing their job, they are going
to be held accountable.” Jail commissioners seemed skeptical about Eason’s
assurances, however. “What is concerning to me is that these are routine
things that need to be carried out every day at the jail,” said Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, the commission’s
vice-chair. “These are the type of things that are … not complicated.” “We
are struggling with the checks and getting employees to take those checks
seriously today and getting their checks done … in a timely manner,” Eason
told the commission. Wood told Eason that if it did not fix its staffing
shortages, the commission would limit the number of prisoners its facility
could hold. That means the company would have fewer beds for not only county
prisoners, but also federal inmates – which bring in significantly more
revenue. “I understand the needs of the federal government, but we need to
take care of our own first,” Wood said. It marks the second time that the
Texas jail commission has threatened to reduce the number of jail beds at one
of LaSalle’s facilities to force the company to follow the rules. Earlier
this year, one of LaSalle’s jails near Waco failed two special inspections
and an annual inspection in five months. After the state jail commission said
it would reduce the number of beds LaSalle could use there, the company
decided that it no longer wanted to operate that jail. The McLennan County
sheriff’s department has since taken over the operation of the facility.
Since 2015, four prisoners have died inside in the LaSalle’s Bi-State jail in
Texarkana. Jailers in each of the four cases falsely claimed to have
conducted checks on the inmates when they actually had
not done them. In 2015, Michael Sabbie, a diabetic
with asthma and heart problems, repeatedly told nurses he was having trouble
breathing. Guards pepper-sprayed him as he screamed, "I can't
breathe." Sabbie, 35, was found dead of a
heart attack on his cell floor. In 2016, 20-year-old Morgan Angerbauer, also a diabetic, died from a lack of insulin
in her cell. Jailers and a nurse ignored her as she screamed for help for
hours. A nurse was convicted for her role in Angerbauer’s
death. In March, 59-year-old Franklin Greathouse was found dead in his cell.
Earlier that day, he had complained he was having a seizure, but jail
officials wrote this in a report to the state: “Greathouse was responsive and
able to walk to his own cell...dispelling his claim of seizure.” In July,
48-year-old Michael Rodden was found hanging by socks tied together.
Jun 27, 2018 texarkanagazette.com
Suit moves forward for family of man who died in local jail
A federal civil lawsuit stemming from the July 2015 in-custody death of a
man in Texarkana's Bi-State Justice Building jail is moving forward. Michael Sabbie, 35, was found dead in his cell shortly after 6
a.m. on July 22, 2015. He had been arrested by Texarkana, Ark., police and
booked into the jail on a misdemeanor charge the afternoon of July 19, 2015,
following a verbal argument with his wife, according to a complaint filed in
May 2017 on behalf of Sabbie's family in the
Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. Upon intake, Sabbie told jail staff he suffered from asthma, heart
disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Despite his medical conditions and
his need for medications to treat them, Sabbie
allegedly was given no drugs during his incarceration. Also, nursing staff
failed to conduct even routine monitoring of his blood pressure and blood
sugar, even though such testing was ordered by the intake nurse, the
complaint states. Sabbie repeatedly showed and
complained of symptoms of severe medical distress, which should have moved
jail personnel to take him to a hospital but allegedly were ignored,
according to the complaint. Sabbie allegedly told
nursing staff he was short of breath and "unable to breathe while lying
down" at 3:30 a.m. July 20, 2015. A jail nurse noted that his blood
oxygen level was down about 8 percent from the day before and that his heart
rate was significantly higher, but jail workers allegedly failed to conduct
even basic tests that might have illuminated his dire need for treatment,
according to the complaint. Nursing staff allegedly continued to ignore Sabbie's constant breathing complaints, and officers
reportedly wrote him up July 20, 2015, for faking illness and breathing
problems. Sabbie's worsening condition was
allegedly obvious to court staff at a hearing July 21, 2015, and the judge
offered to let Sabbie sit during the proceeding.
About 4:15 p.m. the same day, jail cameras recorded Sabbie
speaking to a correctional officer while holding a tissue to his face and
leaning against a wall. In the recording, Sabbie
briefly moves out of the camera's view, and the next images depict officers
piling on top of Sabbie while one sprays him in the
face with a chemical agent as he is pinned beneath them and unable to move. Sabbie repeatedly states, "I can't breathe, I can't
breathe," as officers threaten him according to a recording from a
hand-held camera with audio. After being placed in a shower, where he appears
to momentarily collapse, Sabbie is thrown into his
cell. He is discovered dead the following day by officers who open the door
after Sabbie fails to respond to their commands to
pull up his pants. U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven denied a motion to
dismiss in a report and recommendations issued Nov. 6. The complaint, filed
on behalf of Sabbie's estate and individual family
members by Erik Heipt and Edwin Budge of Seattle
and Texarkana lawyers Matt Soyars and Bruce Flint,
names LaSalle Corrections, a private jail management company; Bowie County,
Texas; Texarkana, Ark.; and a number of individual LaSalle employees as
defendants. On Monday, Budge and Heipt filed a
motion asking the court to break the trial down into two phases. The first
phase of trial will deal with what happened in the jail and whether any of
the defendants should be found liable for Sabbie's
death and/or guilty of violating his civil rights. If a jury finds that one
or more of the defendants is liable, the jury would decide in the first phase
the amount of damages that should be awarded for Sabbie's
pre-death pain and suffering and whether, and in what amount, punitive
damages should be awarded. Should the jury find none of the defendants liable
for Sabbie's demise, the trial would end. But if
the jury determines there is liabilty, then a
second phase to determine the amount of damages each of the individual
defendants should receive will commence, under the plaintiffs' lawyers'
proposal. The motion argues that the two-phase trial is a good idea because
it would make the testimony of members of Sabbie's
family, including his children, unnecessary if no liability is found, shorten
the trial's length and avoid the possibility that prejudicial or emotional
testimony could taint the jury's findings concerning liability. "First,
bifurcation would be vastly more efficient because the many first-phase
witnesses have no information relevant to second-phase issues—and vice versa.
In other words, there is a distinct separation between the witnesses who
would be called in the first and second phases. The eight individual
plaintiffs (Mr. Sabbie's four minor children, his
widow, and his three siblings) as well as several dozen supporting damages
witnesses have no information concerning first-phase issues of liability,
cause of death, pre-death pain and suffering, or punitive damages," the
motion states. The defense is expected to present evidence at trial that might
cast Sabbie in a bad light and testimony from
members of Sabbie's family could lead a juror to
feel sympathy. The motion argues that "prejudicial" testimony would
be primarily presented in the second phase, eliminating the risk that it
could influence the jury's findings in the damages phase. The bifurcated
trial could also mean less time sitting around for witnesses. The case is
scheduled for jury selection and trial in April 2019 before U.S. District
Judge Robert Schroeder III in Texarkana's downtown federal building.
Texas, GEO (2), Central Texas Detention Facility
Oct 6, 2016 carbonated.tv
‘I Can't Breathe’: Father Of Four Begged For Help Before Dying In Jail
Michael Sabbie pleaded for water and told
prison guards he couldn't breathe as they wrestled, gassed and showered him
hours before his death. A video from a private prison on the
Texas-Arkansas-Louisiana border revealed the disturbing circumstances around
the death of a 35-year-old black inmate. The Texarkana man died last year in
July, but the Huffington Post released the footage online on Wednesday.
Michael Sabbie, father of four, was found dead in
his cell at the Bi-State Jail three days after the police arrested him on
misdemeanor and domestic assault charges. When he had appeared in the court
earlier, he said he was spitting blood and needed to go to a hospital. A
judge had set his bail at $2,500. The graphic video shows how the
correctional officers violently subdued him and ignored his pleas for medical
aid in the hours before his death. In fact, they flung him to the ground,
piled on top of him, pepper-sprayed him in the face and took no notice as Sabbie screamed, “I can’t breathe.” The surveillance
footage shows the victim leaning against a wall when guard at the jail, run
by a private company called LaSalle Corrections, threw him to the ground.
Five officers attacked Sabbie as he began begging
for help. A sixth joined the group and
pepper-sprayed Sabbie, accusing him of resisting
them. “Get your hands behind your back or you’ll get it again!” a guard
yelled as the others joined in and picked up Sabbie,
propping him against a wall outside a nurse’s office. “I can’t breathe, sir,”
the inmate responded. “Please, please. I got pneumonia.” He continued to beg
for water as a nurse examined him, claiming his symptoms were normal for
someone who had been hit with the stinging chemical. Meanwhile, Sabbie continued panting and saying “Please, please” as
the officers dragged him to a shower to wash him off and then threw him on
the ground in his cell, closing the door. The man died 14 hours later of
“natural” causes. “If you just looked at the cause of death, you would think
that Michael died of some sort of hypertensive heart condition, and that may
be true,” Erik J. Heipt, one of the attorneys representing
the Sabbie family, told the Huffington Post. “But
if we didn’t have a video, we’d never know that he had been begging for help
due to his shortness of breath and inability to breathe. We’d never know that
he said ‘I can’t breathe’ 19 times in the nine minutes that we hear in that
video.” Medical examiners linked Sabbie’s death to
“hypertensive arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.” However, his family
believes he died from a treatable and recognizable ailment known as pulmonary
edema – which means excess fluid in the lungs due to a heart condition. “We
often find that someone’s death is characterized as ‘natural causes’ ? maybe it was cancer, maybe it was heart disease,” said
David C. Fathi, the director of the ACLU’s National
Prison Project. “But if you look at the medical record, you often find
egregious neglect and denial of care. If someone dies of cancer that went
totally untreated, is that death from natural causes?” The authorities said Sabbie’s wife, Teresa, reported that her husband threatened
her during a fight over money shortly before his arrest. The man did not
plead guilty to the charges. His wife called his death “a tragedy that should
never have happened.” “I can’t put into words how devastated my children and
I are after the loss of Michael,” said the wife. “He was my backbone and best
friend. My children lost a wonderful father who wanted the best for his
family. A piece of our heart is gone, and I pray to God for justice.” Earlier
this year, the Department of Justice decided not to pursue charges against
any of the officers involved despite the inhumane treatment displayed in the
video.
Jul
25, 2015 ktbs.com
FBI to investigate Texarkana inmate's death
The
FBI will take over the investigation into the death of an inmate found dead
this week in his cell at the Bi-State Jail in Texarkana. Michael Sabbie, 35, was found unresponsive on Wednesday morning.
He was the only person in the cell, said Texarkana, Ark., police, who
initially arrested Sabbie and have been
investigating the case. The jail is operated by LaSalle Corrections
Corporation for local government. An autopsy was performed at the State Crime
Lab in Little Rock. Police did not provide specifics about why they asked the
FBI to take over the case. Police Chief Bob Harrison on Thursday asked the
FBI to take over the investigation. Sabbie had been
in jail on domestic assault charges.
Nov
19 2012 KTBS
New
Bowie County Jail Management is giving back the keys. bowie county officials
are now working on plans for future management of the bowie county
correctional center and the bi- state jail. k-t-b-s three's julie parr has more. Community
Education Centers notified the sheriff's department that they will not being
renewing their contract to run the two facilities. Their contract will expire
in 90 days. cec, formerly known as civigenics, has operated the bowie county correctional
center and bi-state jail since 2001. there are currently 136 employees in
both facilities. One thing I'm going to do is demand that anybody that comes
in and takes over our jail hires the employees that we have in place for as
much as possible if not 100 percent . sheriff james prince says he's also looking for the most cost effective way to run the two jails. he says they
could hire another private company or the sheriff's office could run the
facilities. another option could be to move bowie county inmates out of the
bi-state jail. We just have to determine how much we're spending in the
Bi-State versus what it would cost us to construct the things need to comply
with jail standards in the annex. In a prepared statement
.. the New Jersey company said they've enjoyed their working
relationship with Bowie County .. but did not say
why they've chosen not to renew their contract. Julie Parr, KTBS 3 News. both
facilities can hold up to 900 hundred inmates. they currently have about 400.
here's more about the company. both facilities can hold up to 900 hundred
inmates. they currently have about 400. here's more about the company.
community education centers operates halfway homes,
prisons and "re- entry centers" in 17 states. since this summer,
bowie county authorities have been investigating numerous complaints at the
bowie county correctional center .. including a
guard-assisted escape, a lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct
.. and a guard assault on a prisoner. sheriff officials say the
company's leaving will not effect
those investigations. the miller county sheriff's office will soon provide inmate
meals instd of using a food service company.
sheriff's officials say that recipe will save the county about 30-thousand
dollars a year. the miller county quorum court has already approved the plan.
the sheriff's office must meet state and federal guidelines that require a
daily diet of 18-hundred calories for inmates. the current contractor is
tiger correctional services in jonesboro, arkansas. two arkansas men are
arrested during a drug bust at an ashdown business.
October 3, 2009 Texarkana Gazette
A federal lawsuit filed by the family of a one-armed, toothless man who
managed to hang himself with a suicide suit while an inmate in the Bowie
County jail annex, has been settled. Because of a confidentiality agreement,
neither the plaintiff nor the defendants are talking about the terms of the
arrangement. The family of Robert Bruce Williams filed the suit in April
2007. Named as defendants are Bowie County, Sheriff James Prince, Civigenics Inc., which manages the jail, Correctional Medical
Services, which serves the medical needs of Bowie County inmates, and
several...
May 15, 2009 Texarkana Gazette
A former Bowie County jail guard was indicted last week by a grand jury.
Amber Hinds, 20, “turned around and went back to her car when she realized
her supervisor intended to search employees that day as they came to work,”
according to a probable cause affidavit. Officials with the jail, which is
run by Civigenics, contacted the Bowie County
Sheriff’s Office about Hinds’ conduct, the affidavit said.
May 14, 2008 Texarkana Gazette
A man who smuggled marijuana into the Bowie County Correctional Center
while working as a guard there pleaded guilty Monday and received a 10-year
term of probation. Marquise Dushun Hunt, 21, had
been working as a correctional officer for CiviGenics
for about two months when he was caught bringing three sandwich bags full of
marijuana into the jail. CiviGenics is a private
company that contracts with Bowie County to run the jail. A confidential
informant alerted jail officials to the marijuana in Hunt’s possession on
March 1, 2007. He was indicted by a grand jury Jan. 3.
March 1, 2007 KPXJ 21
He worked in the jail and now a Bowie County Correctional Center officer has
found himself behind bars. Bowie County sheriff's investigators say 20-year
old Marquise Hunt of Texarkana, Texas is charged with introducing a
prohibited substance into a correctional facility. Officers found three bags
of marijuana in Hunt's possession. For two months, Hunt worked for Civigenics, which operates the jail. His bond has been
set at $100,000.
January 24, 2007 Texarkana Gazette
A correctional officer at the Bowie County Correctional Center annex has been
arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle marijuana, tobacco and cigars into
the jail. Bowie County Sheriff’s Office investigators said James Porter, 18,
was booked on charges of bringing prohibited substances into a correctional
facility. Porter has also been fired. Porter’s supervisor saw him acting
nervously as he entered the jail Sunday afternoon, said Capt. Larry Parker.
The supervisor searched Porter and found the marijuana, tobacco and cigars
wrapped in three bundles. He was arrested on charges of bringing prohibited
substances into a jail and booked into the Bi-State Justice Building Jail on
a $40,000 bail. The charge is a third-degree felony. Parker said besides
drugs and weapons, it is illegal to take into a jail money, alcohol, cell
phones and tobacco. He said Porter had worked for Civigenics,
the company that operates the jail, for about four months
August 19, 2006 Texarkana Gazette
A professional tax preparer has been sentenced to three years
probation for her conviction of conspiracy to file false tax claims
against the U.S. government. Colleen D. Jordan, 44, of Texarkana, Texas, had
originally pleaded innocent to the charges in federal court in Texarkana,
Texas. She later changed her plea and was recently sentenced by U.S. District
Judge David Folsom. In addition to a three year sentence, Jordan must also
pay a $1,000 fine. Jordan was charged on Jan. 10 by a federal grand jury in
Tyler with one count of conspiracy to file false IRS claims, 12 counts of
filing false IRS claims, and 12 counts of possession of authentication
features with intent to defraud the United States. The other charges were
dropped after her sentencing. She had been employed by the Arkansas
Department of Correction since 1999 but was fired by ADC in 2003. Civigenics, a private contractor that now runs the jail,
hired her in December 2003.
January 23, 2006 Texarkana Gazette
A former Bi-State Justice Building jailer and a tax preparer have been
indicted on 25 federal counts that they used inmates’ Social Security numbers
to get more than $50,000 in tax refunds for themselves. Janice F. Koontz, 30,
of Texarkana, Ark., and Colleen D. Jordan, 44, of Texarkana, Texas, have both
pleaded not guilty to the charges in federal court in Texarkana, Texas. They
were each charged by a federal grand jury in Tyler on Jan. 10 with one count
of conspiracy to file false IRS claims, 12 counts of filing false IRS claims,
and 12 counts of possession of authentication features with intent to defraud
the United States. Jordan, according to the indictment, was a professional
tax preparer. Koontz was a jailer at the BJB jail and a security officer at
Smith-Keys Village Apartments. She was employed by the Arkansas Department of
Correction since 1999 but was fired by ADC in 2003. Civigenics,
a private contractor that now runs the jail, hired her in December 2003.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Bryant alleges that Koontz obtained names,
Social Security numbers and other means to identify inmates incarcerated in
the BJB. She worked for Smith-Keys from 2000 to 2002. Bryant alleges that
Koontz also gained access to the security office of the apartments and
obtained names and means of identifying the tenants without the knowledge of
the housing authority or the residents. Jordan allegedly worked with Koontz
to create W-2 forms using the names and Social Security numbers of the
inmates and residents. Forms were allegedly electronically filed with the IRS
in 2003 using information gathered since 2000. The women allegedly divided up
more than $50,000 in fraudulent tax refunds.
December 30, 2005 Baxter Bulletin
An inmate at the Bi-State Jail died early Wednesday after having a fight with
another inmate at the jail, authorities say. Texarkana Police Department
spokesman Chris Rankin said Damien Wheeler, 23, of Texarkana, Ark., was
involved in a fight with another inmate, Nathaniel Cleveland, 19, of
Texarkana, Texas, between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Rankin said police
don't know why the inmates were fighting. "The details are still pretty
sketchy as far as what was going on in the jail," Rankin said Thursday.
"All we know is they were involved in a fight, they were separated, and
at some point this guy went downhill extremely fast and died." Wheeler,
who was checked by a jail nurse after the fight, was found unresponsive
several hours later, Rankin said. Wheeler was taken to Wadley Regional
Medical Center at 5 a.m. Wednesday and was pronounced dead, he said.
June
23, 2005 Texarkana Gazette
Even though Bowie County recently made what appears to be a lucrative deal to
hold some 325 state inmates, the county will actually collect less than a
quarter of the income. Last week, the county's Commissioners Court
approved a contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, in which
the county agrees to lease 325 of its Correctional Center spaces to hold the
state inmates. The contract calls for the state to pay the county $39
per inmate, per day, which in a year's time would amount to about
$4,626,000. However, since the county no longer employs jailers, more
than 75 percent (roughly $3,479,000) of that income will have to go to Civigenics, a private security firm, which the county
hired in November 2001 to operate and maintain the jail annex near Union
Station in downtown Texarkana. Although the county would get the remaining 25
percent of the annual income, amounting to about $1,163,000, Bowie County
Auditor William Tye said much of that money will be
easily swallowed up by residual state inmate medical and meal expenses.
April 24, 2005 TylerPaper.com
Smith County inmates have been moved from the Bowie County Detention
Center to other facilities operated by the CiviGenics
firm, because the Bowie County facility failed its most recent inspection,
county officials announced. On Monday, Smith County commissioners are
scheduled to consider interlocal agreements with Falls and Limestone counties
to house male and female prisoners. "Those agreements are really just
routine in nature," County Judge Becky Dempsey said. "We had to
enter into an agreement with Bowie County when we began shipping our
prisoners there, even though the jail there is operated by the private company."
The changes will come at no charge to Smith County, she adds. "The terms
are exactly the same, according to information the sheriff gave us," she
said. "And Bowie County took care of the expenses involved in moving our
prisoners to the other counties."
March 21, 2005 Texarkana Gazette
A Bowie County Detention Center inmate from Grayson County, Texas, had about
five minutes of freedom Sunday morning before he was recaptured. Warden Larry
Johns said the inmate was being escorted by an officer in the sally port area
about 10 a.m. The garage type door was being opened to allow officers to
bring food into the detention center from the Bi-State Justice Center,
located about a block away in downtown Texarkana, Texas. Johns said the
inmate, who is serving time for public intoxication from Grayson County,
broke away from the officer and slid under the garage door. Two other
officers and the supervisor started chasing the inmate at 10:02 a.m. At 10:07
a.m. the inmate was recaptured. Johns declined to release the name of the
inmate since it was misdemeanor.
February 26, 2005 Texarkana Gazette
A former CiviGenics jailer has been arrested for
allegedly having sex with a female inmate inside an office at the Bi-State
jail, an official said. Steven Bradley Grisham, 35, of DeKalb, Texas, was
arrested Friday on charges of violating the civil rights of a person in
custody and sexual activity with a person in custody, said Bowie County
Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy James Manning.
October 15, 2004 Texarkana Gazette
Several employees have lost their jobs as Bi-State jail and Bowie County
Correctional Center strengthen security after the recent escape of a capital
murder suspect. CiviGenics Inc., a Massachussetts-based company, has operated both jails
since January. "We have made some leadership changes ... it's an
opportunity to fine-tune," said Jim Shaw, regional director for Civigenics Inc. The escape of Henry, 28, and two other
inmates has also prompted CiviGenics to evaluate
security and make some other changes. There have been two other escapes from
Bi-State jail since CiviGenics took over
operations.
October 14, 2004 KTBS
An internal investigation at the Bi-State Jail in Texarkana has led to both
physical changes in the jail facility and changes in the security system. The investigation was
prompted by last month's escape of three inmates. Officials with Civigenics, which operates the jail, won't comment
specifically on the physical changes for security reasons, but tell us they
did find vulnerabilities in the jail system and that their investigation
isn't over.
September 29, 2004 Texarkana Gazette
A capital murder suspect, who escaped Tuesday morning from the Bi-State
Justice Building jail with two other inmates, remained at large late Tuesday
despite an intense manhunt by local law enforcement. The search for Torrence Henry, 28, of Hope, Ark., was expected to
continue overnight. Henry escaped with two
other Bi-State inmates sometime before 4 a.m. Tuesday, said Bi-State Jail
Warden Bob Page. Henry is considered extremely dangerous. Medical
staff noticed one of the pod's inmates was missing about 4 a.m., Page said.
The staff then searched the pod's shower area and found that the escapees had
apparently torn a hole in the shower's plaster ceiling and escaped through
the ventilation system. They made their way to an electric control room and
eventually down the stairwell of one of the building's interior fire escapes.
On Tuesday afternoon, the mother of one of the suspects who was apprehended
spoke out about her frustration with the Bi-State jail. She said her son had
escaped before, and that apparently no changes have been made to improve
security. "I was very relieved he didn't get very far. Even though he
was wrong to do that (escape), I feel like they are giving him rope to hang
himself with by not keeping him in a secure environment," she said.
"I know he would be safer in jail than out running around."
September 28, 2004 Texarkana Gazette
Bowie County will have to absorb about $390,000 in Bi-State Justice Building
expenses but property taxes will not have to be increased as a result. The county is paying
the extra amount for having to extend its contract with Civigenics
Inc. Specifically, the county incurred the added expense when the Arkansas
Department of Correction decided at the end of last year to withdraw its
jailers from having to guard Bi-State inmates.
July 23, 2002
Sixteen jailers at Bowie County Correctional Center will be laid off this
week, according to Warden Robert Page. CiviGenics
Texas, Inc., sent letters to the affected officers last week. Their
positions will be eliminated as of Friday due to "a decline in the
inmate population," Page said. The 488-bed facility nudged between
the Bi-State Justice Center and the railroad yard in downtown Texarkana was
housing 245 inmates as of Monday afternoon, Page said. (The Texarkana
Gazette)
B.M. Moore
Correctional Center
Overton, Texas
MTC (Formerly run by CCA)
November 24, 2005 Disability
Compliance Bulletin
A corrections officer sued her former employer, Corrections Corp. of America,
claiming it failed to accommodate her disability after a work-related
vehicular accident. (Cole v. Corrections Corp. of America, No. 05-cv-00411
(E.D. Texas complaint filed 10/31/05).) The case was originally filed in the
District Court of Rusk County, Texas, where it was case number 2005-450. The
lawsuit, which alleges violations of Title I of the ADA and Texas state law,
seeks back pay, compensation for emotional pain, inconvenience and mental
anguish, court costs and attorney's fees. Cole, a corrections office at the B.M. Moore Correctional Center in Overton,
Texas, was injured in a vehicular accident during the scope of her
employment. The accident, which occurred in July 2004, left her with wrist,
back, hip and leg injuries. The complaint charges that over the next year,
Cole was repeatedly discriminated against on the basis of her disability, and
classified in a manner that would deprive her of opportunities for
advancement.
Bradshaw
State Jail
Henderson, Texas
Jun
26, 2020 news-journal.com
State
to idle Bradshaw State Jail in Henderson; more than 200 workers will be laid
off
The
company that runs Bradshaw State Jail in Henderson plans to lay off 229 employees
as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will idle the prison on Aug. 31
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Management & Training Corp. made the
announcement in a letter dated Monday to the Texas Workforce Commission to
comply with the U.S. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act. The TDCJ website
shows the facility has 266 employees. The letter, signed by Christina Pignateli, labor and employment counsel based at MTC
corporate headquarters in Centerville, Utah, cited an effort by the TDCJ to
change how it moves and brings in inmates to reduce exposure to the COVID-19
pandemic. "This has resulted in a nearly 25% decline in inmate
population," Pignatelli wrote. "MTC expects this decline in
population to continue. Moreover, due to COVID-19 the educational programming
has been limited." Pignatelli was unavailable for comment Thursday.
“Based on these multiple unforeseeable business circumstances, MTC was unable
to give full notice of the reduction in force to 23 employees,” she wrote.
“These employees will be permanently laid off effective July 3, 2020. The
remaining staff will be laid off effective August 31, 2020.” John Clary,
executive director of the Henderson Economic Development Corp., said he met
Thursday morning with MTC representatives to discuss the difference between
idling and shutting down the prison. "The main thing to know is the
state is idling the plant, which is very different from closing the
plant." Clary said. Clary said the prison population in Texas and
throughout the nation is declining. He said inmates at Bradshaw State Jail
serve short sentences for nonviolent crimes. MTC took over operations at
Bradshaw in September 2017 after CoreCivic lost its
bid for renewal.
Feb 16, 2018
setexasrecord.com
Visitor alleges Corecivic Inc.'s negligence
caused fall at Bradshaw State Jail
TYLER – A Long Branch woman alleges she fell in the visitor's restroom at
a jail facility because of water on the floor. Charmayne Jett filed a
complaint on Jan. 31 in the Tyler Division of the Eastern District of Texas
against Corecivic Inc., formerly known as
Corrections Corp. of America, alleging negligence. According to the
complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on May 13, 2016, she was injured while
at the defendant’s building located at the Bradshaw State Jail facility when
she slipped and fell in water that had accumulated on the visitor's restroom
floor. She alleges she suffered pain, mental anguish, impairment, medical
expenses and lost earning capacity because of the incident. The plaintiff
holds Corecivic Inc. responsible because the
defendant allegedly negligently allowed individuals traverse the property
with a known unreasonably dangerous condition and failed to take appropriate
precautions or warnings to prevent harm to such individuals. The plaintiff
requests a trial by jury and seeks damages within the jurisdictional limits
of the court, pre- and post-judgment interest, costs of court and such other
and further relief, both general and special. She is represented by Marc C.
Mayfield of Mayfield Law Office in Longview.
CCA (formerly run by Management and Training Corporation)
Jul
11, 2017 news-journal.com
MTC to take over Bradshaw State Jail after 13-year company loses bid
UPDATE: The private prison company that operates the East Texas Treatment
Facility in Henderson plans to hire a majority of the 192 employees at
another company that lost a bid to renew a contract for operating the
Bradshaw State Jail, also in Henderson. Issa Arnita, spokesman at the
corporate headquarters of Management & Training Corp. in Centerville,
Utah, said in a statement current employees of CoreCivic
“will not have the first right of refusal, however as I mentioned we plan to
rehire the majority of employees and will work to find a good fit for them.”
Arnita said MTC will hire approximately 240 employees after taking over the
Bradshaw State Jail Sept. 1 while explaining MTC will operate food services
at the jail. A subcontractor currently provides the service. MTC will take
over operations of the jail because the Texas Board of Criminal Justice
reported June 30 that it awarded a contract for two years, with renewal
options, to the company. CoreCivic, formerly known
as Corrections Corporation of America, held the contract since Jan. 16, 2004,
according to Jason Clark, public information director at the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice. Because CoreCivic lost its bid
for renewal, it sent a WARN letter dated July 3 notifying the Texas Workforce
Commission that it “must lay off its employees” at the Bradshaw Jail
beginning midnight Aug. 31. “There are 192 employees who will be affected by CoreCivic’s cession of operations at this facility,”
states the letter from Andrea Cooper, senior director for human resources
compliance at corporate headquarters in Nashville. “We have enclosed a list
of affected positions, to include job titles and totals for each job
classification. Please note there are no applicable bumping rights for the
employees.” Cooper and other CoreCivic officials
were unavailable for comment Monday. Cooper sent the letter to comply with
the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires
employers planning major layoffs to give two months of notice to the
workforce commission. Upon notice of any mass layoffs or plant closings in
Texas, workforce commission agencies, including Workforce Solutions East
Texas, can act quickly to provide Rapid Response Services and minimize the
effect to local economies by helping employees to transition to new
employment, according to commission spokeswoman Lisa Givens. Services include
crisis counseling, financial planning assistance, stress/change management,
résumé and application preparation, job search help, labor market and career
information, and interview preparation, she has said. Meanwhile, MTC will
expand its presence in Henderson by taking over the Bradshaw State Jail,
which Clark said houses about 225 inmates incarcerated by state offenses such
as drug and property crimes. MTC has 424 employees at the East Texas
Treatment Facility at 900 Industrial Drive in Henderson, according to a
company fact sheet. It has a capacity of 2,320 inmates who take a variety of
educational, vocational and substance abuse and life-skills courses that MTC
says are designed to prepare them to re-enter society.
June 16, 2009 Tyler Morning Telegraph
A prison guard at the Bradshaw State Jail has been arrested after it was
alleged she performed sexual acts on a male prisoner and gave him money. Rusk
County Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace Bob Richardson arraigned Hether Nicole Bargsley, 32,
last Friday on the charges of violations of civil rights of a person in
custody by sexual contact and prohibitive substance in a correctional
facility. According to court documents, Bargsley
allegedly performed a sexual act with a male Bradshaw State Jail inmate on
April 25 in a doorway to one of the prison's dormitories. As the
investigation continued, Bargsley told officials
she did in fact perform the sex act and added she also had given the inmate
$200 in currency at different times. The court documents state the offender
involved has corroborated Bargsley's story. The
violation of civil rights is a state jail felony and the prohibitive
substance charge is a third-degree felony. Richardson set the woman's bonds
at $7,500 and $10,000 respectively. Steve Owen, a spokesman for Corrections
Corporation of America, which runs the private facility, said Bargsley was hired as a guard on Sept. 22, 2008, and was
terminated June 11. Owen said he could not discuss the specifics of the case
citing an ongoing investigation.
January 23, 2008 Longview
News-Journal
An inmate at Bradshaw State Jail in Henderson was found dead in his cell
this past week, a Texas Department of Corrections spokesman said. Gregory
Cole, 30, was discovered hanging by a bed sheet from the light fixture in his
cell at about 11 a.m. Jan. 15, said Jason Clark. Jail personnel performed
emergency care on Cole, and he was taken to a hospital. He was pronounced
dead at 11:30 a.m. In June 2006, Cole was sentenced to 10 years in state jail
for possession and intent to deliver a controlled substance in McLennan
County, Clark said. The spokesman did not know where Cole lived. Clark said
investigators with the attorney general's office were notified of the death.
He said the attorney general's office always is notified when an inmate dies.
A call to the AG's office was not returned Tuesday.
November 25, 2003
Private prison-management corporations and their employees may be sued under §[1983 by a prisoner who has suffered a constitutional
injury. FACTS: Billy Rosborough is a prisoner in
the Bradshaw State Jail, a Texas prison owned and operated by defendant
Management and Training Corp., a private prison-management corporation.
Defendant Chris Shirley is a corrections officer employed by MTC at the jail.
Rosborough sued MTC and Shirley under 42 U.S.C.
§[1983 alleging that he was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment in
violation of the Eighth Amendment when Shirley maliciously slammed a door on Rosborough's fingers, severing two fingertips. Rosborough also alleges that Shirley displayed deliberate
indifference to Rosborough's resulting serious
medical condition. In addition, Rosborough alleges
that MTC is liable under 42 U.S.C. §[1983 for its
improper training and supervision of Shirley. Rosborough
supplemented his federal action with state-law negligence claims. The
district court sua sponte dismissed Rosborough's action on the ground that Shirley was an
employee of MTC rather than an employee of the State of Texas and, therefore,
was not acting under color of state law for purposes of suit under 42 U.S.C.
§[1983. The court dismissed the supplemental state-law claims but did not
address MTC's potential liability for failing to train Shirley. Rosborough appeals. HOLDING: Reversed and remanded.
"To state a claim under §[1983, a plaintiff must allege the violation of
a right secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and must
show that the alleged deprivation was committed by a person acting under
color of state law." West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42 [1988]. At issue here
is the "under color of state law" requirement. The district court
assumed that this requirement prevented a person in private employ from being
sued under §[1983. The Supreme Court, however, has
held that "[t]o act"under color' of law
does not require that the accused be an officer of the state." Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144 [1970].
Under the Supreme Court's "public function" test, a private entity
acts under color of state law "when that entity performs a function
which is traditionally the exclusive province of the state." Wong v.
Stripling, 881 F.2d 200 [5th Cir. 1989]. The Supreme Court has explained that
"when private individuals or groups are endowed by t
he State with powers or functions governmental in nature, they become agencies
or instrumentalities of the State and subject to its constitutional
limitations." Evans v. Newton, 382 U.S. 296 [1966]. Thus, the
Supreme Court has found private actors to be susceptible to suit under §[1983. Relevant to this case, the Supreme Court has
suggested -- though it has not actually held -- that state prisoners might
bring suit under §[1983 against privately-owned correctional facilities. In
Skelton v. Pri-Cor Inc., 963 F.2d 100 [6th Cir.
1991], the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, relying on these Supreme Court
precedents, held that a private company administering a state corrections
facility could be sued under §[1983. The Sixth Circuit found determinative
the fact that the corporation was "performing a public function
traditionally reserved to the state." The court reasoned that "the
power exercised by [the private prison-management company] is possessed by
virtue of state law and made possible only because the wrongdoer is clothed
with the authority of state law.'" Moreover it found that "'[t]here
is a sufficiently close nexus between the State and the challenged action of
[the corporation] so that the action of the latter may be fairly treated as
that of the State itself.' Thus, according to the Sixth Circuit, the private
corporation "acted under color of law for purposes of §[1983."
District courts within this circuit have similarly held that private
prison-management companies and their employees are subject to §[1983 liability because they are performing a government
function traditionally reserved to the state. The court agrees with the Sixth
Circuit and with those district courts that have found that private
prison-management corporations and their employees may be sued under §[1983
by a prisoner who has suffered a constitutional injury. Clearly, confinement
of wrongdoers -- though sometimes delegated to private entities -- is a
fundamentally governmental function. These corporations and their employees
are therefore subject to limitations imposed by the Eighth Amendment. The
court finds that the district court erred in dismissing Rosborough's
§[1983 claim. (Texas Lawyer)
Brazoria County Jail
Brazoria, Texas
Capitol Corrections Resources
November 30, 2005 The Facts
Brazoria County Pct. 2 Commissioner Jim Clawson announced Tuesday he won't
seek re-election next year, opting for retirement after four terms. Clawson
said he had few regrets about his tenure, but wishes he could have stopped
the county from entering a contract with a private prison company to house
out-of-state prisoners from Missouri. Clawson voted against the project at
every stage, predicting it would turn out badly for the county because there
was no guarantee it wouldn't end up with maximum security inmates, despite
assurances to the contrary, he said. That, in fact, is exactly what happened,
leading to the 1996 shakedown, which was caught on videotape. The county
ended up settling a lawsuit brought by inmates for $2.2 million. As Clawson
predicted, the jail never became the revenue-generating machine officials
hoped it would.
January 1, 2000
A record $2.2 million class-action lawsuit reached between inmates and
CCR. Suit stemmed from videos made of guards abusing inmates.
March 2, 1997
Video tape made of Missouri inmates being abused.
September 18, 1996
Video tape made of Missouri inmates being abused.
Bridgeport Correctional Center
Bridgeport, Texas
MTC (former run by GEO Group)
June 27, 2010 Wise County Messenger
A new management company will take over the Bridgeport Correctional
Center beginning Aug. 31. The 520-bed facility has been managed by GEO Group
Inc., since the center opened in August 1989. GEO was reawarded
a three-year contract from Sept. 1, 2005, and also had two, one-year renewals.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice conducted a competitive bid process,
and Management & Training Corp. won the seven-year bid. "There's a
technical review of the bid and a financial review of the bid," said
Jason Clark, public information officer for the TDCJ. Clark said that the
reviews are done separately by different committees. "They score those
reviews and compile the scores and a recommendation is made to the
TDCJ."
June
28, 2005 Wise County Messenger
The Office of the Inspector General will investigate the death of an inmate
who was housed at the Corrections Corporation of America in Bridgeport. Julia Martinez, 29, collapsed Wednesday
afternoon and was pronounced dead a short time later at Wise Regional Health
System. Warden Gwen Bowers said
Martinez reportedly collapsed in the facility’s outdoor exercise area.
Paramedics were called and transported Martinez to WRHS.
June 7, 2005 Wise County
Messenger
The Rev. Gil Pansza and an official with The
Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth met with officials of the Bridgeport
Correctional Center Wednesday to discuss Pansza’s
dismissal as a volunteer from the men’s division of the center, but Pansza said he remains barred from the facility. “They
didn’t invite me back,” said Pansza, pastor of St.
John’s Catholic Church in Bridgeport and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary in Decatur. Pansza and Ralph McCloud, division
director of the Social Justice Ministry of the diocese, said they met with
senior warden Priscella Miles, assistant warden
Bobby Thompson and chaplain Phillip Yoder at the center. Pansza
said Yoder told him a couple of weeks ago that his services were no longer
necessary at the center, which Pansza had been
visiting since February. Miles said in a previous story that Pansza was barred because of his demeanor and because the
prison feared a security issue could occur with Catholic prisoners. On
Wednesday, Pansza said the entire group met for
almost an hour, and then Miles and McCloud met privately for a half-hour.
“Warden Miles was interested in better understanding what our concerns were,
and I think she was pretty patient in listening to what I had to say,” Pansza said. “She gave an opportunity for the chaplain to
say what his views were and then to warden Thompson as to what his views
were. Her concern is that there’s an allegation of discrimination. I pointed
out that that allegation was not by the church. And she mentioned that the
allegation really came from the community. On prison officials’ concerns about
security issues, Pansza said Thompson mentioned
that he was concerned about “offender manipulation.” Pansza
said officials were concerned that he would tell the offenders that the
institution was not giving him access to prisoners, and that “the offenders
would be quite upset about that and maybe that would become a security
issue.” “I guess I can understand that,” Pansza
said. “That’s certainly not something I would want to do. But I can
understand his concern.” Yet Pansza said Thursday
that he’s confused about Thompson’s justification on the matter of security
concerns. On the day Thompson told Pansza that he
supported Yoder’s decision to bar Pansza from the
prison, the subject of security concerns was never broached, Pansza said. Pansza said he
thinks that issue emerged after the fact. Pansza
said one offender in segregation asked to see his priest but was denied
access. Pansza said Yoder told him that the warden
said the prison was ready to transfer him to another unit.
June 2, 2005 Wise County Messenger
A Wise County priest says he has been barred from performing church
services or visiting with offenders at the men’s division of the Bridgeport
Correctional Center. The Rev. Gil Pansza, pastor of
St. John’s Catholic Church in Bridgeport and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary in Decatur, said he doesn’t know why he has been prevented from
celebrating Mass or talking with prisoners. Priscella
Miles, senior warden at the prison, said Tuesday that Pansza
has been barred from the prison, but that she is open to talking with him.
She said she talked with him last week and hopes to hear from him again this
week. Pansza said problems emerged three weeks ago,
after he saw another church service advertised on flyers on two bulletin
boards at the facility. He asked Chaplain Phillip Yoder whether Catholic
Masses could be advertised on flyers on 12 bulletin boards at the prison. He
said he also asked whether Thursday Mass could be placed on the monthly
religious service calendar. The Mass was later advertised on a corrected
calendar, Pansza said. Pansza
said he and Yoder discussed church postings on bulletin boards. Yoder agreed
to allow the posting of the Catholic service flyers. About a week later,
before Pansza’s next Mass, Pansza
said he visited with Yoder, who was upset about their previous meeting and
said he thought Pansza had questioned his
integrity. After some discussion on the bulletin boards and prisoner
visitation – Pansza said he apologized to Yoder if
he offended him and that he was just trying to ensure Catholic Masses receive
the same treatment as others – Yoder told Pansza
that he was a guest in the facility and that he was under his supervision. Pansza said understood prison rules but told him that he
would not “tolerate disparate treatment” from Yoder’s office or anyone else,
meaning that he didn’t accept what he thought was Yoder’s office promoting
one church service over another. “I guess he didn’t like that,” Pansza said. Pansza said Yoder
then told him that his services were no longer necessary at the prison, Pansza said. Miles said The GEO Group Inc. – which
contracts with the state to manage the Bridgeport unit – and the Bridgeport
Correctional Center support all religions.
Bridgeport Pre-Parole and Transfer
Facility
Bridgeport, Texas
Corrections Corporation of America
June 28, 2005
The Office of the Inspector General will investigate the death of an inmate
who was housed at the Corrections Corporation of America in Bridgeport. Julia Martinez, 29, collapsed Wednesday
afternoon and was pronounced dead a short time later at Wise Regional Health
System. Warden Gwen Bowers said
Martinez reportedly collapsed in the facility’s outdoor exercise area.
Paramedics were called and transported Martinez to WRHS.
Brooks
County Detention Center
Falfurrias, Texas
GEO
Jan 6, 2018 krgv.com
Inmates at Brooks Co. Detention Center Request Heating System Repairs
NEAR FALFURRIAS – Conditions at a federal immigration facility in
Falfurrias are improving. The Brooks County Sheriff’s Office says heaters are
back up and running. Inmates at that facility say the air conditioner was on
and they had no heat during the recent cold snap. We reached out to U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to the sheriff's office to find out
what was happening. The facility is in Brooks County and is operated by the
GEO Group. It's a private sector facility that houses federal inmates from
ICE and the U.S. Marshal’s Office. Inmates we spoke with say they had to look
for ways to stay warm due to a lack of heaters. “People are walking around
with boxes on their heads, socks on their arms just trying to keep themselves
warm. We don't have no sweaters,” said an inmate. Brooks County Sheriff Benny
Martinez confirms the heaters were not working. He said contractors were
recently brought in to make repairs. Martinez says since then, the cells are
being maintained at 72 degrees Fahrenheit and above. Some inmates refused to
eat since walking to the cafeteria further exposes them to the elements. ICE
says they cannot substantiate the inmate claims of a hunger strike. They told
CHANNEL 5 NEWS they will now monitor the situation. We also reached out to
the GEO Group and the U.S. Marshal’s Office. The U.S. Marshal’s office sent
the following statement, which reads in part: "The U.S. Marshals Service
was made aware this [Thursday] morning that the heating unit at the Brooks
County Detention Center had malfunctioned Wednesday night, causing discomfort
to the inmates and staff at the facility. During the outage, inmates were
issued double blankets to keep them warm while the unit was being repaired.
The heating unit has been fixed. Some inmates had expressed grievances about
the temperatures by refusing to eat breakfast Wednesday morning. The facility
confirms all inmates are safe and eating their issued meals."
October 30, 2012 Caller Times
FALFURRIAS — A Corpus Christi jury
returned a verdict Wednesday siding with the widow of a man who died in
January 2009 at the Brooks County Detention Center in Falfurrias. The federal
jury decided unanimously to award $2.25 million to the widow of 42-year-old
Mario Garcia, who died of a seizure while on suicide watch at the center.
Garcia's family contends he was denied prescribed medications while at the
facility, which led to his death 12 days after being brought there. His
condition began to quickly deteriorate after being jailed, though he was
never sent to a physician or a hospital, according to the family's counsel.
Garcia left behind a wife and a 10-year-old son. Kathy Snapka,
lead counsel for the Garcia family, called the death preventable and said
facility staff disregarded his condition. Snapka
said the family hopes the verdict in Garcia v. Niderhauser
will send a message to other facilities that they will be held accountable
for neglect. "Monica Garcia's objective was to speak for Mario to ensure
that no other person is denied the right to receive medical attention," Snapka said. Attorneys for LCS Corrections, which owns
Brooks County Detention Center, were not immediately available for comment
Wednesday. Both sides await the ruling of U.S. District Judge Randy Crane,
who has as much as 30 days to make a judgment.
July 8, 2011 KZTV 10
On New Year's Eve 2008 Mario Garcia pled guilty to 2 charges of submitting
fraudulent bids to the government to win contracts at the Corpus Christi Army
Depot. U-S District Judge Janice Graham Jack ordered Garcia be taken into
custody until sentencing. Garcia was brought to the Brooks County Detention
Center and placed on suicide watch. He was there when he died January 12th,
2009. His family is suing the jail and some of it's officials. Kathy Snapka
represents Garcia's family. "It is our allegation that the prison
disregarded his very, very serious medical condition and that's why days
after he was sent to Brooks County he died," she said. Snapka says the case has flipped between district and
federal courts, but now a February trial date has been set in Mc Allen where
U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sits. "He's aware that the matter's been
on file for a significant length of time. And I think that he wants the case
moved along," Snapka told Action Ten News.
According to the lawsuit, Garcia had a known seizure disorder and was on
medication for it. And that he suffered from seizures and headaches while in
jail. It also says jail officials 'breached their duty of care to Garcia by
failing to care for his medical needs. The Brooks County Death Certificate
lists Garcia's cause of death as seizure disorder. The Nueces County medical
examiner's autopsy says the same thing. The defendants in the case are LCS
Correction Services, which owns the jail, former jail warden Miguel Niderhauser, and Dr. Michael Pendleton, former head of
the jail's medical staff. On Janaury 23rd 2009,
just days after Garcia's death, we reported that LCS President Dick Harbison
told us Niderhauser resigned and Pendleton's
contract was terminated. Attorneys for all defendants told us by phone today
that they couldn't comment on a pending case, but that their clients plan to
vigorously defend themselves.
July 23, 2009 Caller Times
The family of a man who died in a privately run prison in Brooks County
has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging he was denied medical
treatment. Mario Alberto Garcia, 42, was awaiting sentencing at LCS-Brooks
County on charges of bid-rigging at the Corpus Christi Army Depot when he was
found dead in January. Garcia suffered from a seizure disorder and was
prescribed medication to treat it. The lawsuit claims he was denied access to
medication, despite warnings from family members about his condition. An
autopsy by the Nueces County medical examiner found that Garcia died of the
seizure disorder. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. It names prison
owner LCS Correction Services, the prison’s former warden and former doctor
as defendants. The prison typically houses inmates facing immigration
charges. Representatives of the doctor and prison did not return calls for
comment. Garcia had pleaded guilty to submitting inflated bids for office
equipment. Along with those bids, he submitted lower bids from his own
company. In most situations, defendants facing white-collar crimes remain
free while awaiting sentencing. But a federal judge, concerned over Garcia’s
mental status, ordered him to the Brooks County facility on suicide watch.
Garcia could have been sentenced to as long as 10 years in prison, but was
likely to receive only a few months under federal sentencing guidelines.
January 14, 2009 Caller Times
An inmate awaiting sentencing on charges of rigging bids on federal contracts
was found dead Monday at the Brooks County Detention Center in Falfurrias,
and Texas Rangers are investigating how the death occurred. The circumstances
are unclear. The Nueces County Medical Examiner's Office performed an autopsy
Tuesday but has not released a cause of death. The inmate, Mario Alberto
Garcia, 42, had been placed on suicide watch at a court appearance. Garcia
pleaded guilty Dec. 31 to submitting fictitious, inflated bids to supply
office equipment at the Corpus Christi Army Depot. He submitted the fake bids
along with his company's lower bid to win contracts. Under normal
circumstances, a white-collar defendant like Garcia would remain free while
awaiting sentencing, but U.S. District Judge Janice Graham Jack ordered him
into custody over concerns that Garcia would take his life, said Garcia's
criminal defense attorney, Keith Gould. A physician at the facility removed
Garcia from suicide watch Jan. 8. He died Monday, said Al Lujan, deputy U.S.
marshal. As part of his agreement to plead guilty, a third count of lying to
U.S. Army investigators was dismissed. Prosecutors say Garcia also faxed
phony bids in July 2007. He was not prosecuted for those incidents. Juan
Reyna, an attorney representing Garcia's family, said Garcia had a medical
condition. Reyna, who declined to identify the condition, said Garcia's
family knew of it and warned jail officials about it. "The family had
some major concerns with respect to medical treatment Mr. Garcia was
receiving," Reyna said. "The family made it very clear regarding medical
treatment." Reyna said he has requested the facility preserve several
categories of records relating to Garcia. The private facility is run by LCS
Corrections Services of Lafayette, La., and is typically used to house
illegal immigrants. Gary Copes, general manager for LCS, said a Texas Ranger
visited the facility Wednesday as part of the investigation. Copes declined
further discussion.
September 15, 2004 Caller-Times
The manhunt for an escaped prisoner continued Tuesday as officers combed the
area surrounding the Brooks County Detention Center with dogs, on horseback
and by helicopter, Sheriff Balde Lozano said. On Monday, Elias
Ramirez Martinez, 20, of Veracruz, Mexico, escaped from the privately owned
holding center. Inmates were being moved from an eating area just before 7
p.m. when Martinez made his getaway, jumping a 10-foot electric fence, Lozano
said. It was the facility's first breakout since September 2002, when two
inmates escaped through the detention center's ceiling. Measures have been taken
since then to prevent similar escapes. Ceilings were enclosed with heavy mesh
and the electrical fence was installed, Lozano said. It was not known if the
fence was activated when Martinez jumped it.
September 29, 2002
Falfurrias residents reacted with fear and worry after learning that two
inmates escaped form the privately owned Brooks County Detention Center early
Saturday. The two men, Juan Guerra and Steven Torres, were being held
at the facility prior to their trials. Guerra, a Mexican national, had been
charged with murder and Torres was arrested for a parole violation- an
alleged robbery. The two men were missing during an inmate headcount at
7 a.m. after they had been present for a similar count at 3 a.m., said
Patrick LeBlanc, president of the Louisiana-based LCS Corrections Services
Inc., the company that oversees the operations of the detention
facility. "I don't think it was whim ,"
he said. "I think they studied and analyzed and searched for the
scene and unfortunately they found it." The two men kicked through
a security ceiling that was welded shut, LeBlanc said. Then, they
climbed into the ceiling and got into a mechanical chase that the facility's
pipes run through- similar to the escape in the movie "Shawshank Redemption,"
he said. The chase leads to a door locked form the outside that opens
on the detention center grounds, he said. There, the two men, wearing
detention-center issued orange uniforms with white T-shirts, scaled two
double fences, each topped with three lines of razor wire.
Investigators found a blood trail, LeBlanc said. As the search gout
under way, residents learned of the news by word of mouth. About half a
dozen people called KPSO-Radio 106.3 news director Steve Cantu to express
their concerns. "A lot of people are worried," he said.
"These are not some of the nicest people out there." LeBlanc
said the detention center does not have a procedure to alert area residents
of an escape, instead turning over the information to local law enforcement
to get the word out. (Caller-Times)
Burnet County Jail, Texas
Southwestern Correctional
Texas
prison boom going bust: by Mitch Mitchell, September 3, 2011, Star-Telegram.
Expose on troubles facing many communities that bought into the private
prison bonding scam.
March 13, 2012 Daily Tribune
The escape of a man from the Burnet County Jail has grown into a family
affair with the arrest of the inmate's brother on charges the sibling tried
to help the suspected jailbird fly the coop. The news March 13 followed an
earlier report from sheriff's deputies that the brothers' mother also was
arrested a few days ago in the case. Louis Arce IV, 29, of Burnet was charged
March 12 with hindering apprehension or prosecution of a known felon. He
remained in the jail pending the setting of a bond. Deputies arrested Arce's
59-year-old mother Francis Ybarra March 10 on the same charges. She posted a
$10,000 bond and was released from jail March 11. The accusations in both
cases stem from the escape of Johnny Angel Ybarra, 40, from the
public-private jail March 1. He was recaptured about three hours later.
According to an arrest affidavit by sheriff's Investigator Bo Boshears, Arce told Texas Rangers assisting with the case
he helped Ybarra after the escape by taking him from their mother's home on
Pierce Street to a relative's place at the nearby Green Acres Apartments.
Ybarra, who is serving a life sentence on three felony charges including burglary
of a habitation with intent to commit a sexual offense, disappeared from a
handicap cell sometime from 12:50 a.m.-3:30 a.m., deputies said. Jailers
discovered a hole had been knocked through a cinder block wall under a sink
in Ybarra's cell using the rail from a toilet. The convicted felon hung
towels over the sink to cover his escape route and even rolled up blankets
under his bed sheet to make it look like somebody was sleeping there. Ybarra
made his way to the roof, slipped through razor wire and dropped to the
ground, deputies said.
March 13, 2012 Daily Tribune
The mother of an accused jail escapee landed behind bars in the same
facility after deputies charged her with trying to get her son out of Texas.
Francis Ybarra, 59, is charged with hindering the apprehension or prosecution
of a known felon, Burnet County Sheriff W.T Smith said. She was released
March 11 from the Burnet County Jail after posting a $10,000 bond. The case
stems from the March 1 escape of Johnny Angel Ybarra, 40, from the public-private
jail after he received a life sentence on three felony charges including
burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a sexual offense. An arrest
affidavit by sheriff's Investigator Bo Boshears
stated after the son escaped from jail, the mother was trying to help him get
out of Burnet and to a relative's home in Colorado. But before the duo could
carry out the plan, officers captured the inmate at the Green Acres
Apartments. According to the investigators, sometime from 12:50 a.m.-3:30
a.m. March 1, Ybarra disappeared from his cell. A hole had been knocked into
a cinderblock wall under a sink using the railing from the toilet in the
handicap cell. The escape route was hidden by towels hanging to dry on the
sink. A rolled-up blanket under the sheets made it look like someone was in
the bed. Reaching the roof, the inmate slipped through razor wire and dropped
to the ground.
March 5, 2012 Daily Tribune
The Burnet County Jail has flunked a state inspection that found design flaws
in the wake of an escape March 1 by an inmate who chiseled a hole in the
wall. The state report says the private-public jail, which opened with 587
beds in April 2009 at a cost of $23 million, is "non-compliant"
with security standards. "It means something is wrong," County Judge
Donna Klaeger said March 5. The Burnet County
Sheriff's Office supervises the jail, which is operated by the private firm
LaSalle Southwest Corrections. Texas Commission on Jail Standards inspectors
recently found "deficiencies" in the network of concrete blocks and
reinforcement bars that support walls near cells for handicapped inmates,
Executive Director Adan Munoz said. It is in one of the handicapped cells
that Johnny Angel Ybarra, 40, removed a rail by a toilet and chiseled away at
cinder blocks under a sink until he created an escape route, investigators
said. He hid his handiwork by hanging towels to dry over the sink and
replacing the rail before guards noticed it was missing, they added.
"Those cells are unpopulated now," Klaeger
said. Hale Mills Construction built the jail at 900 County Lane three years
ago. County Commissioner Bill Neve said he plans to meet Hale Mills builders
March 6 at the jail, along with Sheriff W.T. Smith and LaSalle officials.
"We are going to talk about construction issues related to the
jail," Neve added. Also, the commissioners plan to hear a jail security
update during the meeting March 13, Klaeger said.
Neither Smith nor LaSalle officials could be reached for comment March 5.
October 20, 2009 KXAN
New razor wire that measures more than 4 feet tall and nearly 3 feet wide is
coiled around the metal roof and down the sides of the new Burnet County
Jail. The $90,000 security measure was recently added to the 7-month-old
facility to stop another inmate from sneaking out. Authorities are still
searching for a man who made his getaway during recreation time back in
August. On a surprise visit last Thursday, jail inspectors found concerns
inside after questioning two female inmates. One was pregnant and said she
was not given proper medication. Another mental health patient said she was
not given her medication either, so inspectors checked her medical chart.
"There were certain medications that needed to be prescribed for her
that had not been given to her, and that's obviously not in compliance with
jail standards," said Adan Munoz, executive director of the Texas
Commission on Jail Standards . "They get excellent care here," said
Tammy Manning, the Burnet County Jail medical supervisor. Manning was out of
town during the inspection but normally sees the inmate who she said had been
refusing to show up to appointments after they were scheduled. The situation
had not been documented on her medical chart that state inspectors reviewed.
"We do have room for improvement in our documentation," said
Manning. "And our actional plan we put into place Friday was to improve
our documentation so this will not happen again." One of the female
inmates also said they were not getting recreation time everyday.
"We went on to check the recreation log to see if their concerns were
valid," said Munoz. "We couldn't even find a recreation log."
Burnet County Jail Warden Bruce Armstrong admits there was a breakdown there,
too. "We run rec everyday," said
Armstrong. "And the officer calls in the count to the central control
officer whose suppose to be logging the count down
on how many offenders went to rec, and they were neglecting to document the
count." Armstrong said it has been taken care of, but the state said
there is one more requirement the county has yet to comply with. The state
does not have the jail's operational plan, which covers everything from what
to do in case of a fire to how to administer health care. "The fact that
it's been open since April and still not within our agency certainly gives us
great concern," said Munoz. The county told the state they were working
on it. Munoz sent written notification of the deficiencies to the county and
Southwest Corrections, the company who manages the jail. They have 30 days to
comply.
September 3, 2009 Burnet Bulletin
Only four months after opening its doors to the public with tours,
speeches and a ribbon cutting, the Burnet County Jail has been cited by the
Texas Commission on Jail Standards for a different kind of open house:
Improper supervision of inmates after a prisoner escaped Sunday night and
fled past nearby residential neighborhoods and to freedom. The controversial
privately run jail – a facility that many nearby residents unsuccessfully
fought during its development – now is officially deemed noncompliant with
Texas jail standards, confirmed Adan Munoz, a former sheriff who serves as
executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. An inspector
from the commission visited the jail and found inadequate its procedures for checking
prisoners, Munoz said. Meanwhile, the jailer responsible for supervising
prisoners into and out of a recreation yard has resigned, and two other
correctional officers at the jail face disciplinary action that could mean
suspension or termination as a result of the escape of Nuana
Antonio Fuentes-Sanchez, confirmed Billy McConnell, co-owner of the private
jail management firm. Fuentes-Sanchez, 23, a day laborer and native of El
Salvador, was arrested in connection with a violent robbery of a Burnet County
couple in April. Being noncompliant doesn't mean the jail is in danger of
being shut down. It means Southwestern Correctional LLC, the private company
hired by the county to manage the jail, has 30 days to report how it will
satisfactorily resolve the issues, Munoz said. Currently, 37 of the 247
county jails regulated by the TCJS are noncompliant with the standards, which
could be for a range of minor to major issues, such as inoperable toilet
facilities, malfunctioning intercom systems or inadequate staffing, Munoz
said. The Burnet County Jail’s issues fall under the heading of “supervision
of inmates,” a key section of the 600 standards regulated by the commission.
Munoz said “The best way to describe it is a lack of diligence, a lack of
professionalism,” Munoz said.
November 19, 2007
This Monday, concerned Burnet County residents will hold a public meeting
with Burnet County Commissioners to discuss their opposition to a proposed
500-bed private detention center. The meeting will take place Monday, November
19th, at Old Courthouse on the square in Burnet at 7:00pm. Burnet County
residents are concerned that the proposed jail will be operated by a
Louisiana-based for-profit private prison corporation, that out-of-county
prisoners will shipped to the prison, and that Burnet County has taken steps
to float revenue bonds to pay for the prison, which could endanger the
county's future bond rating, without a public vote. Private prison
corporations have a track record that include human rights abuses, lawsuits,
higher rates of violence, and financial mismanagement. Research shows that
prison construction has no positive economic impact on communities. Counties
that finance private prison construction have been held liable for abuses
that take place in the prisons.
Central Texas Detention Facility
San Antonio, Texas
GEO Group (formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections)
Jan 16, 2019 ksat.com
Bexar County to Federal Government: County jail doesn't have room for
federal detainees
SAN ANTONIO - Hundreds of detainees are housed at the Central Detention
Facility in downtown San Antonio. A sign in front may say GEO Group but
that's not who owns the building. The county does. GEO is a private company
that runs the jail in the 200 block of Laredo Street for the federal government.
The county says the arrangement doesn't make financial sense anymore.
"This was going to be problematic for Bexar County taxpayers,"
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said. It's why County Commissioners
passed a resolution Tuesday to start the process of ending that contract with
GEO. The county has been working to ensure that the University of Texas in
San Antonio has the room to expand in the downtown area. Another resolution
passed in October of 2018 shows just that. But the detention facility is in
the way. Sheriff Salazar said a deal was made several years ago, saying that
when this transition began, those federal detainees would be moved into the
county jail. That deal was made when the county jail had more room but now
Salazar said they are maxed out at an average of 4200 inmates. "In doing
the math and knowing 'OK, that was done when the jail population was down'
(but) here now that it is up, here what is it going to cost me now? I'm going
to lose bed space," Salazar said. Had the detainees been moved to the
county jail, Sheriff Salazar said some of the current county inmates would
have needed to be sent to other jails outside the county and the building
itself would have needed to be reconstructed. "It would've been about
$10 million for construction cost plus about $10 million a year to house out
those inmates elsewhere," Salazar said. The question now remains. Where
will the federal detainees be held? "I don't mind helping find the
solution, I can't be the solution though," Salazar said. The federal
government said it is working to find placement for the detainees. It is
still unclear when the contract between the county and GEO expires but the
county says it has time to figure it all out.
Sep
29, 2018 expressnews.com
Ex-jail employee gets 40 months for trying to smuggle drugs inside
A former employee of a San Antonio jail that houses federal pretrial
inmates has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for trying to smuggle drugs
to prisoners. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery handed
the sentence on Thursday to Ray Alexander Barr, 30, who worked in the kitchen
of the 600-bed Central Texas Detention Facility, which is run by
Florida-based The GEO Group. Barr pleaded guilty last year to attempting to
provide contraband to prisoners. He admitted that on Dec. 27, 2016, he agreed
to smuggle alcohol and crystal methampetamine into
the jail in exchange for money. FBI agents arrested Barr immediately after he
accepted payment but before he could smuggle in the contraband. “This was out
of character for Mr. Barr,” said his lawyer, Derek Hilley.
“After his arrest, Mr. Barr took the bull by the horns and pursued every
opportunity to better himself. He obtained a great job where he could provide
for his children and contribute to society. ... He looks forward to putting
this behind him.” The FBI and U.S. Marshals Service conducted a joint
investigation of Barr and other guards at the jail who also have since
pleaded guilty for similar contraband crimes. “The men and women in law
enforcement and detention are held to a higher standard in our judicial
system and our community,” said U.S. Marshal Susan Pamerleau.
The “sentence sends a strong message that this violation of trust will not be
tolerated.” Christopher Combs, special agent in charge of the FBI in San Antonio,
added: “The FBI is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to
ensure employees of correctional facilities who abuse their authority and
violate their positions of trust for their own personal benefit are held
accountable.”
Sep 20, 2018 ksat.com
Ex-GEO guard, boyfriend sentenced to federal prison in drug sting
SAN ANTONIO - A former guard of a private federal detention facility was
sentenced Wednesday to 57 months in federal prison for agreeing to provide
crystal methamphetamine to an inmate, federal officials said. Abigail Jolynn Abrego, 28, was also sentenced to supervised release for
three years after completing her prison term. Abrego's
55–year–old boyfriend, Leonard Belmares, was
sentenced to 46 months in federal prison followed by three years of
supervised release. The two pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of
attempting to provide contraband in prison. Federal officials said the pair
met with an undercover agent on November 2017 and agreed to smuggle
methamphetamine into the Central Texas Detention Facility, run by the private
prison company GEO, and give it to an inmate in exchange for $1,500. The
defendants also admitted to working together on at least three previous
occasions to smuggle drugs and/or contraband into the facility in exchange
for money, federal officials said. Abrego and Belmares were ordered by a federal judge to surrender on
or before Nov. 30 to begin serving their prison terms.
Sep 19, 2018 ksat.com
Guards illegally
used disability placards, plates to park in front of detention facility
SAN ANTONIO - An undercover
investigation by the KSAT 12 Defenders showed corrections officers at a
downtown detention facility used disability placards and disabled veteran
license plates belonging to other people to park as close to the building as
possible. The investigation also showed that while guards parked in spots
directly in front of the Central Texas Detention Facility, located in the 200
block of South Laredo Street, people on oxygen and people using canes and
other mobility devices were forced to park in lots farther west of downtown.
The facility, which holds inmates in federal custody and is run by a private
corrections company called the GEO Group, is located between Public Safety
Headquarters and the Bexar County Justice Center. "It's a severe lack of
consideration for fellow human beings," Melanie Cawthon, executive
director of disABILITYsa, said after reviewing the
footage. Cawthon said her nonprofit tries to educate, advance and engage
individuals with disabilities. "By parking in accessible parking, it
protects them from being hit by another vehicle, from having a heart attack
because they are not supposed to walk far or even just the exhaustion of
having a physical or mobility disability," said Cawthon, who added that
accessible parking is a safety issue, not a convenience issue. One GEO guard,
identified through public records as JoAnn Campa, was repeatedly seen parking
a Camaro with disabled veteran license plates in metered spots for up to 10
hours per day. The Camaro was left August 29 in a front-row metered spot as
Campa traveled off-site. She was later dropped off by a sport utility vehicle
registered to her husband, and the vehicle followed Campa as she left for the
day. Days later, during an unplanned interview, Campa admitted the plates
belong to her husband. "If we would just have common decency and common
courtesy," said Cawthon. State law allows vehicles with disabled
veterans plates to park in accessible spots for an unlimited period as long as the vehicle is driven by the veteran or the
veteran is being transported in it. The use of the plates extends to the
spouse of the veteran only after the veteran has passed away and as long as
the spouse remains unmarried. An Austin-based disability advocate said via
email that despite this law, Texas courts have traditionally extended the
parking privileges to family members. "There are laws in place, but they
are not enforced," said Cawthon. A second guard, identified through
public records as Mario Castillo and coincidentally also driving a late-model
Camaro, was captured on camera in August and September repeatedly using a
disability placard to park in front of the detention facility. On days when
no metered spots were available at the start of his afternoon shift, Castillo
was seen parking in the nearby Bexar County parking garage, then walking
without issues while carrying an equipment belt and backpack. Castillo, when
approached for an unplanned interview, admitted the placard belongs to his mother-in-law.
"On those days, I was assisting my mother-in-law," said Castillo,
who added that he dropped her off before driving to work. When asked if it
was fair that people with disabilities were forced to park farther away while
Castillo took a spot up front, he apologized. "Courtesy-wise, there's no
reason for him to take up an accessible parking spot," said Cawthon.
"Our community needs to work together and solve this issue for our
fellow citizens who have disabilities." "Our company believes that
parking laws and regulations should be observed and complied with. The
parking spaces in question are public and are not within our company's
control or monitoring," GEO Group Executive Vice President Pablo Paez said via email this month. Paez
declined a request for an on-camera interview and did not respond to a
follow-up email asking if Campa and Castillo would be disciplined. Center
City Development and Operations Department Director John Jacks, whose
department handles parking enforcement, released the following statement: Our
Parking Enforcement Officers do not have the authority to question whether or
not an individual is disabled. According to City ordinance, individuals who
have been issued a disabled permit, placard or plate by the state may park in
City-owned parking facilities or on-street parking meters without paying a
fee. A Bexar County information technology employee was also seen using a
disability placard to park in front of the detention facility. The employee
expressed remorse and said he improperly used the placard because of a lack
of parking downtown, according to a county spokeswoman. The employee is now
using a park and ride bus service to commute to work, the spokeswoman said.
Cawthon encouraged anyone wanting to raise awareness about accessibility
parking issues to download the Parking Mobility app. The app allows users to
report disabled parking abuse. Cawthon said while Bexar County remains in the
data-gathering stage, other communities like Hays County and Travis County
have gotten on board with the app and more than 50,000 citations have been
issued since the app was launched. Two bills that would have made it more
difficult for drivers to use specialty license plates and accessible parking
placards as illegal instruments failed to get passed during the last
legislative session.
Jun 27, 2018 kens5.com
Federal lawsuit alleges serious abuse at detention center
Disturbing allegations have been made in a federal lawsuit filed in San
Antonio. A medical student claims he has permanent injuries from what his
lawyer calls torturous treatment at the local GEO Group federal detention
center downtown. Sina Moghtader,
who came to this country from Iran when he was small, said of his treatment,
"It was a nightmarish event that I don't wish upon anyone." Moghtader said he was a medical school graduate on his
way to a surgical residency when a bad reaction to medication led to him
being jailed on charges of threatening federal employees. His attorneys said
he had an unexpected reaction when his doctors changed his prescribed
medication. Lead attorney Randall Kallinen said,
"The things that he suffered are akin to torture." Moghtader’s law team said he was denied bail and held for
one year at the local GEO Group detention facility on South Laredo Street. Kallinen said Moghtader’s
criminal defense attorney was able to prove that his behavior was due to
medication issues and he was cleared of all charges. "The judge found
him not guilty," he said. The lawsuit claims while he was at the GEO
facility, Moghtader was beaten by inmates, his nose
and teeth were broken and he has permanent hearing loss on his left side.
“They left this ear infection untreated to the point at which it started
bleeding," Remington Alessi, who also represents Moghtader,
said. "It got particularly bad and they didn't give him antibiotics to
treat it for a couple of months and at that point the infection had
progressed to the point that he permanently lost hearing.” "Furthermore,
they labeled Sina a terrorist, maybe because he is
of Iranian descent," Kallinen said. "So
he then was subjected to prisoners stealing his food, for example, and the
guards did nothing, because of Iranian background, so he lost 75 pounds while
in the prison." Kallinen said even though he
has practiced civil rights law for years, this case stands out. “This is one
of the most egregious cases I have ever seen," he said. "Guards,
doctors, everybody was treating Sina extremely
poorly and we say is that one of the reasons why is that he is of Iranian
descent." The federal suit also claims Moghtader
was denied medical treatment and medications. The lawsuit asks for damages
and changes in the way GEO Group does business. "I want this facility to
treat people right and not abuse their power,” Moghtader
said. The legal team expects to wait one to two years to see results, but
they said it will be time well invested for themselves and for everyone still
locked in this facility. “We want justice for Sina,
but also for anyone who has the unfortunate circumstance to find themselves
in a GEO run prison," Kallinen said. Moghtader said he credits his early challenges in Iran
with his ability to move forward with his life and medical career. “I was
born in a different country and I learned if I were to live, I needed to
fight back and stand up and keep on,” Moghtader
said. “I don't like people who are in power to abuse the people beneath them.
This is a big deal for me.” Nobody at the local GEO Group facility is
authorized to speak to the media. The Houston headquarters office was contacted
by telephone and email, but no response has been provided.
Jun
14, 2017 ksat.com
Former prison guard sentenced for inmate sex
SAN ANTONIO - A former prison guard was sentenced Tuesday for having sex
with an inmate at a private prison in downtown San Antonio. Barbara Jean
Goodwin, 35, was sentenced to five months imprisonment to be followed by five
months home confinement. She also was ordered to serve a two-year
supervised-release term and register as a sex offender, federal officials
said in a news release. Goodwin pleaded guilty in March to one count of
sexual abuse of a ward. Goodwin admitted that from February 2016 to August
2016, she engaged in sexual acts with a federal prisoner who at the time was
under her custodial, supervisory or disciplinary authority at the Central
Texas Detention Facility–G.E.O., officials said. She was ordered to surrender
in July to start her prison term.
Mar 15, 2017 sacurrent.com
Guard at San Antonio Detention Center Admits to Sexually Abusing Inmate
According to testimony from her victim and other detainees, Barbara Jean
Goodwin — a guard at the Central Texas Detention Facility — forcibly
performed oral sex on a male inmate over 30 times over a six-month period.
Only after reporting her abuse through a hotline set up under the federal
Prisoner Rape Elimination Act (and a separate rape crisis hotline), did the
feds get involved, according to documents obtained by the Express-News. While
the detention facility she worked at is a federal holding pen, both for
undocumented immigrants and federal prisoners, Goodwin was employed by a
private prison contractor called GEO Group. Goodwin is just one of dozens of
GEO staffers who've been accused of sexually abusing immigrant detainees and
prisoners in Texas. She remains free on bond until her June sentencing trial.
Jan 22, 2017 kvia.com
2 guards at private immigrant detention center indicted
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Two ex-guards at a
private immigrant detention center in San Antonio have been indicted - one
accused of having sex with a detainee and the other accused of providing
contraband drugs and alcohol to inmates. Both worked at the Central Texas
Detention Facility, which The GEO Group operates in San Antonio for U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The federal grand jury in San Antonio
indicted 35-year-old Barbara Jean Goodwin of San Antonio, accusing her of
having sex with a federal inmate between February and August 2016. If
convicted, she could get up to 15 years in prison. The grand jury also
accused 28-year-old Ray Alexander Barr of San Antonio of providing
methamphetamine and alcohol to inmates on Dec. 27. If convicted, he could get
up to 20 years in prison.
Apr
21, 2015 mysanantonio.com
SAN ANTONIO -- A stabbing between two inmates Monday afternoon at a private
prison facility in San Antonio has left one person with life-threatening
injuries, authorities said. A spokesman with the Bexar County Sheriff's
Office said Monday that one inmate stabbed another around 3:45 p.m. Monday at
the jail, located in the 200 block of S. Laredo St., and that the victim was
taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
No further information was immediately available. The Central Texas Detention
Facility is a private jail run by The Geo Group. According to its website,
the facility has a capacity for 688 people, and houses male and female U.S.
Marshal Service prisoners and U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement
detainees.
June 11,
2012 San Antonio Express-News
Relatives of an inmate who hanged himself at the privately run Central Texas
Detention Facility have sued Florida-based The GEO Group and its warden,
alleging the federal prisoner was able to kill himself because he was wrongly
taken off suicide watch in December 2011. The lawsuit claims warden James Coapland was negligent in watching over Darrell Clayton
Delany, 31, and that The GEO Group is liable for the acts of its employees.
The operators of the jail, located in downtown San Antonio, deny the
allegations of the suit, which seeks unspecified damages. Delany was sent to
the jail by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons because he had been unable to meet the
conditions required of him to serve his sentence on drug smuggling charges at
a halfway house, said a court affidavit from Brett Bement,
who preceded Coapland as warden at the jail. Bement's affidavit said that, on the morning of Dec. 29,
2011 — the day Delany was to be released from the lockup — he was found
hanging in his cell by bed linens and was later pronounced dead at a San
Antonio hospital. He had been on suicide watch before the incident but had
signed a “no-self-harm” agreement and was removed from suicide watch two days
before his suicide, Bement's affidavit said. The
affidavit, filed by lawyers for Coapland, tries to
deflect blame from Coapland, who was the jail's
assistant warden at the time. The affidavit said Coapland
did not have the authority to remove inmates from suicide watch, but does not
specify who authorized Delany's removal from suicide watch. Inmates have
frequently complained to federal judges about conditions at the lockup. And
the suit comes as police in Atascosa County arrested Jack Shane McNeal, a
former guard at that lockup, on Thursday on theft charges unrelated to the
Delany incident. McNeal was out on bond, facing federal charges that he
helped members of the Texas Mexican Mafia smuggle cell phones and heroin and
marijuana into the jail.
February
10, 2012 San Antonio Express-News
Two members of the Texas Mexican Mafia pleaded guilty Thursday to charges
that they got cellphones and drugs smuggled into a federal jail with help
from a guard. Paul “Polo” Hernandez and Jesse C. “Chuy”
Guerra also pleaded guilty to an extortion and drug-possession charge for
their roles in the gang's enforcement of a 10-percent “street tax” on other
drug dealers in San Antonio. Guerra's cousin Fernando “Klan” Delgado also
pleaded guilty Thursday to a heroin-possession charge. The three were among
12 snared in November 2010 by the San Antonio Police Department and the U.S.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Three of the 12 pleaded
guilty last year and were sentenced to prison. Hernandez's plea deal said he
made several phone calls while awaiting trial on drug-related charges at the
Central Texas Detention Facility, a federal jail in San Antonio run by
Florida-based The GEO Group. In the calls, Hernandez directed his wife to
find heroin and a gun he had hidden on his property that police missed when
they raided the couple's home, the plea deal said. Hernandez also asked his
wife to contact another Texas Mexican Mafia member to let him know that
Hernandez had identified three “snitches” who cooperated with police, the
plea deal said. One of the three was later found murdered, the deal said.
Hernandez and Guerra also admitted that they had four cell phones — three
were found on Guerra and one on Hernandez — and small amounts of marijuana
and heroin in the lockup, according to deputy U.S. Marshal Eric De Los Santos.
Three people were charged in the smuggling and await trial, including former
GEO employee Jack Shane McNeal, inmate Antonio Molina-Ortega and Marisol
Reyna Mermella, records show.
March
21, 2011 San Antonio Express-News
The parents of an inmate who died last year from a heroin overdose at a
privately run federal jail in downtown San Antonio have sued the operator,
alleging guards may have smuggled the drugs in and provided them to the
prisoner. The suit filed by Albert and Sandra Gomez, which was moved from
state court to federal court last week, states that their son, Albert Gomez
Jr., died May 19 from a heroin overdose while he was held at one of the more
secure parts of the Central Texas Detention Facility. The 685-bed facility is
owned by Bexar County, but has been managed for years by the Boca Raton,
Fla.-based GEO Group Inc., which has a contract with the county and the U.S.
Marshals Service to house federal pretrial inmates there. The suit names GEO
and a female guard, listed as “Jane Doe 1,” as defendants. The suit alleges
guards are improperly trained to handle people with drug addictions and can
freely participate in “black market sale of drugs to prisoners.” One of the
Gomez couple's lawyers, Matt Wymer, said he has
been informed that a criminal investigation has been launched, but the
Marshals Service declined comment because the matter is in litigation. The
GEO Group did not respond to a request for comment, but denied the
allegations in a court-filed response.
May 21,
2010 KENS 5
A federal inmate has died while in custody. Guards found the 25-year-old dead
in his cell early Wednesday morning. His family wants to know what went
wrong. Federal authorities arrested Albert Martin Gomez Jr. On January 20. He
was accused of making and passing fake $100 bills. He and a co-defendant were
charged in a counterfeit-money ring. Gomez was released, but was back at a
federal holding facility in March, awaiting sentencing. Around 6:30 a.m.
Wednesday guards found Gomez unresponsive. Sources say Gomez died from an
apparent drug overdose, but nobody is talking. Meanwhile, toxicology reports
are pending. Bexar County records show Gomez was also arrested in 2005 on an
assault charge. The autopsy was completed, but details aren't being released.
The central Texas detention facility where Gomez was being held is operated
by the GEO Group, Inc. A spokesperson had no comment on the death, only to
say it is under investigation.
November
23, 2007 American-Statesman
Sam Kambo can now hold his 4-year-old son, Seth,
something he couldn't do for a year while he was in a San Antonio prison
waiting for the legal system to sort out whether he should be deported. 'The
worst thing you can do to a useful person is to make him useless,' Kambo said On Thursday, the Austin resident celebrated
the first Thanksgiving since being released a month ago from a federal prison
in San Antonio. There he had waited for the legal system to sort out whether
he should be deported on government charges that he was involved in mass
murder in Sierra Leone, the West African country in which he grew up and
helped lead a bloodless coup in 1992 against the ruling party. After Kambo spent nearly a year awaiting his day in court —
while federal officials ignored two orders to release him on bail — an
immigration judge rejected the government's allegation that Kambo had participated in mass murder. The judge ordered
his release, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents did not comply
for five months, until another federal judge ordered him set free. Kambo's wife, Hanaan, cared for
their four children during that year, coordinated with the lawyer handling
her husband's case and survived on the charity of family and friends.
"We appreciate every day now. I appreciate every time I have a
day," Sam Kambo said Thursday, slicing a long
slender eggplant for a salad in the kitchen of his North Austin home. "I
really cherish this moment." Later, his brother, David, and mother,
Susan, stopped by, both of them having been granted status as legal residents
after they followed Sam to Austin. They did not talk about his fight with the
federal government. Six children played in a side room and occasionally ran
through the kitchen, where the adults moved about and chatted lightly,
spooning plates of food from the table in an informal pot luck style. The
first course was skewered beef cooked in peanut sauce and onions. Later came
a jambalaya-like dish of rice mixed with bits of beef, shrimp, carrots and
peas, accompanied by a salad, talapia fish and
sweet blue African potatoes. Hanaan Kambo did most of the cooking, but her husband rarely
left the kitchen. Sometimes, she says, when he is out of sight, she feels a
wave of anxiety come over her. "Maybe I'll be in the kitchen, and I just
have a moment, as if I'm reliving the time he was taken from us," she
said. Kambo was arrested in October 2006 at a
hearing that he thought would determine whether he became a permanent
resident of the United States. Instead, he was arrested and locked up in the
GEO Group private detention facility in San Antonio, where he shared a cell
the size of his kitchen with five other men and drank tap water from a basin
attached to the cell's group toilet.
September 2, 2005 San Antonio Express-News
Eight local residents, including two former jail guards, pleaded guilty
Thursday to participating in a bank-fraud conspiracy that netted between
$90,000 and $160,000. The scheme stretched from July 2003 to October 2004 and
involved opening 52 accounts at Bank of America branches and depositing
checks from a closed account or empty envelopes and quickly withdrawing cash
before bank officials caught on, court records noted. The case ensnared 12
defendants and is among the first brought to federal court by a U.S. Secret
Service-led task force formed in October 2004 to target identity-theft rings
and other organized financial crime rackets. Court documents allege Santos
Lopez III, 27, his girlfriend, Estella Ramirez, and Bruno Alejandro Jr., 40,
devised the scheme and managed the operation. Court records said the recruits
were given startup money by the organizers to open the accounts. The recruits
would then hand over personal identification numbers and ATM cards to Lopez
or Ramirez. Checks from a closed bank account would then be deposited through
automated tellers, and cash withdrawals would be made almost immediately,
according to the court documents. The court record showed recruits would be
given part of the proceeds, and Lopez and others spent much of the proceeds
on cocaine. Also pleading guilty Thursday were:
Alejandro Regino, Manuel Riojas, Jessica Guevara,
Belinda Contreras, Angelica Guerra and Lopez's ex-girlfriend, Sophia
Martinez, whom Lopez started a relationship with while she was a guard and he
was incarcerated in San Antonio. Officials said both Martinez and Guerra
worked at the jail, operated by the Florida-based GEO Group Inc., during the
conspiracy. Both were terminated.
February
16, 2005 Express-News
A former guard who admitted trying to smuggle methamphetamine into a private
downtown jail that holds federal inmates was sentenced Tuesday to 2 1/2 years
in prison. U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez allowed Lou Cindy Ford, 39,
to turn herself in to federal prison officials by June 3. Ford, who worked at
the old Central Texas Parole Violators Facility across the street from the
main police station, pleaded guilty last year to intending to distribute 50
grams to 500 grams of the drug. Ford 's plea agreement said she was
caught trying to deliver four ounces to an inmate in exchange for $800 during
an undercover sting July 27, 2003. Ford was arrested later that day after she
drove back to the jail, which is run by Florida-based GEO Group Inc.
February
2, 2005 KSAT
A 19-year-old guard at the GEO Central Texas Detention Facility in San
Antonio has been placed on unpaid leave following his arrest on drug and
alcohol charges. According to a San Antonio Police Department report, Manuel
Castillo was arrested early Tuesday after he allegedly smuggled drugs and
alcohol into the federal facility.
During Castillo's midnight break, he left in his vehicle and later
returned to the facility at 218 South Laredo carrying a clear bottle filled
with vodka, the report said. Police also found some cocaine concealed in a
sock and some tobacco tucked inside his belt line. Castillo, who was hired in
July 2004, is the fourth detention officer arrested for allegedly bringing
contraband into the facility in the past 2 ˝ years.
December
20, 2004 Express-News
Two San Antonio women have admitted they helped deliver a car and money for a
jailbreak attempt by several inmates, including alleged members of the Texas
Mexican Mafia. Estella
Soto, 27, and Paula Soto, 23, have struck plea deals in which they've agreed
to plead guilty to conspiracy in an escape attempt from a privately run jail
downtown. Inside the lockup, which is run by The Geo Group Inc. of Florida,
Soto was to escape through a window along with alleged Mexican Mafia general
Jimmy Zavala, 35, reputed Mexican Mafia member Gerardo Sanchez, 31, and David
A. Straughn, 31.
November
5, 2004 Express-News
A guard at a privately run jail that holds federal prisoners was released on
bond Thursday after pleading not guilty to planning to smuggle heroin into
the lockup. A
federal grand jury indicted Juan Roberto Ortiz, 40, on Wednesday. Ortiz had
worked at the jail since November 2003 and has been placed on unpaid leave,
said Pablo Paez, spokesman for Florida-based GEO
Group Inc., which runs the jail.
November
1, 2004 Express-News
A guard at a privately run jail for federal inmates made his first court
appearance today on charges that he tried to smuggle heroin and cocaine into
the lockup. During an initial hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge John Primomo ordered Juan Roberto Ortiz held pending a bail
hearing on Thursday. Before
his arrest this weekend, Ortiz, 40, had worked at the Central Texas Parole
Violators Facility since November 2003, according to Pablo Paez, spokesman for The Geo Group, the Florida-based
company that runs the jail. Ortiz's arrest was
the latest for guards who worked at the jail. In the past year, Jessica Lee
Pińa, 24, and David C. Higginbotham, 42, have gone to prison for trying to
smuggle drugs into the lockup. Lou Cindy Ford, 39, pleaded guilty in March to
intending to distribute 4 ounces of methamphetamine at the jail. She awaits
sentencing.
March 16, 2004
A former jail guard accused
of trying to smuggle methamphetamine into the Wackenhut detention facility
downtown has struck a plea deal. Lou Cindy Ford, 39, is scheduled to finalize
the agreement by pleading guilty today in federal court to intending to
distribute between 50 grams to 500 grams of meth. She faces five to 40 years
in prison. (San Antonio Express-News)
August
7, 2002
A jail guard who crashed a van carrying six prisoners into a downtown
lamppost earlier this week does not have a driver's license, state officials
said Tuesday. The van, operated by the private security firm Wackenhut
Corp., had just exited the feral courthouse parking lot shortly before 5 p.m.
Monday when the vehicle swerved toward the curb. Three inmates were
treated for "bruises and soreness" and sent back to their cells at
the privately operated Laredo Street lockup, said Al Pacheco, the Wackenhut
warden. Cited for driving without a license, the driver was likewise
treated and released at Christus Rosa Hospital. The wreck served as a
bloodless reminder of an earlier fiasco for the U.S. Marshals service, which
contracts with the Wackenhut and oversees federal prisoners awaiting trial in
the Western District of Texas. Two federal inmates died in April when a
prisoner transport operated by the private security firm CiviGenics
crashed en route from El Paso. Wackenhut's
Pacheco said he did not know how many times the driver, who started working
as a Wackenhut guard five months ago, had driven the daily transports to the
federal courthouse on East Durango Boulevard. (San Antonio
Express-News)
April 3, 2002
A jailer was arrested last week on charges that he accepted money and what he
believed to be heroin from an undercover agent, promising to take the illegal
drug inside the privately-owned federal correction facility where he
worked. David Higginbotham was arrested March 26 outside the Central
Texas Parole Violator Facility, a Wackenhut detention center located downtown.
(San Antonio Express-News)
Sept. 5, 1996
A week after a double murderer from Oklahoma escaped through a 6-inch window,
officials at Wackenhut Corrections Center say they are stepping up security
at the private jail. The escape of John Ray Davis, 21, prompted prison
management to decide to spend $20,000 on new doors and security locks and to
implement new procedures in the coming weeks, officials said. (Houston
Chronicle)
Children's Assessment
Center Foundation
Harris, Texas
January
16, 2002 Harris County Commissioners Court approved an agreement Tuesday
changing how the county and a nonprofit group run a renowned center for
sexually abused children. The new contract with the Children's Assessment
Center Foundation is the result of months of study, and officials said its
approval resolves problems that have dogged the program for the past year.
County Auditor Tommy Tompkins said last year the foundation owed the county
$1.5 million reimbursement for some expenses. Officials feared the center had
become distracted from that mission last year after Tompkins' discovery of
the $1.5 million debt and allegations that Ellen Cokinos,
the center's first director, was mismanaging the program. Cokinos
-- a county employee -- came under court scrutiny after employees, volunteers
and state and local officials accused her of falsifying reports on the number
of children served by the center, using employees for personal errands and
damaging relations between the CAC and partner agencies. Cokinos,
who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, resigned in May, saying her
departure was best for the program she helped build. The allegations led to
investigations by auditors and District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal. The
auditors helped tweak financial controls over the center, and prosecutors
said in November they found no indictable offenses. (Houston Chronicle)
Cleveland City
Council
Cleveland, Texas
Oct 24, 2015 yourhoustonnews.com
Cleveland City Council
rejects immigration detention center proposal
An immigration
detention facility proposed for the Cleveland area by Louisiana-based Emerald
Correctional Management LLC was rejected by Cleveland City Council Tuesday
night, Oct. 20. The vote was 2-2 with council members Otis Cohn and Carolyn
McWaters voting against it and Mike Penry and Delores Terry in favor of it.
Mayor Niki Coats cast a swing vote against the measure, which ultimately
decided its failure. The project has been met with some controversy, which
Coats addressed, saying there were as many speakers present for public
comments in this meeting as there were in the last meeting. More than 10
speakers showed up for public comments, all of them wishing to discuss the
project. The first speaker was Cleveland attorney Donny Haltom. “We don’t
want this place,” he said. “This is not the image we want.” Haltom further
commented that Emerald can move down the road away from Cleveland. “This is
going to be decided tonight,” he said. “Shut the door on them tonight and let
them know we don’t want [them].” Cleveland attorney Mollie Lambert followed
Haltom, speaking on the concerns from citizens of Tarkington. “This is our
city as much as it is to those who live in the city limits,” she said.
Lambert spoke on Emerald’s alleged track record, noting that currently the
company says it no longer needs financial backing from the city and believing
that it will eventually disappear. “I believe it’s going to either cost us
now or cost us later,” she said. Lambert concluded that the promise of 300 or
more jobs will not be fulfilled in her opinion and therefore will lead to 300
home foreclosures in the future should the city approve the project.
“Everybody knows that vampires don’t get to come into your house unless you
invite them,” she said. Lane Gulledge spoke after Lambert, speaking in part
on Emerald’s presence in the meeting as the company has already said they
have found financial backing from elsewhere, which Gulledge disagreed with
because he felt they wouldn’t be at the city council meeting if that were
true. “What’s at risk here? It’s our city,” he said. Other speakers followed,
including Sandra Burnett who feels the detention center has no place in
Cleveland and Jim Bloss who initially supported the
project but is now against it. However, Brad Browder, a member of the
Cleveland Economic Development Corporation, spoke in favor of the project.
“Jobs are in short supply in Cleveland,” he said. “This is a project that
could provide that.” Browder asked city council to consider the jobs when
they make their decision. Emerald’s General Council Hull Youngblood spoke
before the council, assuring them that they are not asking for any
participation on the city’s part. “Those issues are gone,” he said.
Youngblood explained that the detention center will have a 75 percent
occupancy guarantee with no families housed inside the building. He also told
city council that the project will be built even if that means it is not in
the Cleveland area. “We’d like to propose a facility here in Cleveland,” said
Youngblood. Emerald CEO Steve Afeman assured
Cleveland City Council of the benefits of a detention center and its
function.
“It comes with a
guarantee of 10 years of occupancy,” he said. “It is a humane processing
center.” Afeman noted that the detention center has
the potential to create 300 or more jobs and if it wasn’t built in Cleveland
then it will be built in another area such as Conroe or Houston. “We think
it’s a good project,” said Afeman. “We hope you
consider it.” Councilman Mike Penry, who has expressed his support for the
project in other recent meetings, reaffirmed his belief that the facility is
good for Cleveland. “I think that this facility would bring jobs to our
city,” said Penry. “Somebody’s going to get it. Why shouldn’t Cleveland?”
Penry admits the city needed a hospital, restaurants and recreation for
children living in the city, but feels that won’t happen until the median
income for the city rises. Penry believes the detention center will help in
that regard. Commotion broke out from those gathered at the meeting with
Coats quieting down the crowd. Coats then gave his opinion on the matter,
admitting that this particular industry is reportedly prone to failure.
Councilmen Otis Cohn and Carolyn McWaters expressed similar concerns. “I just
can’t find anything good about it,” said Coats. “It’s very hard to wrap your
arm around something that fails so often.”
Cleveland Pre-Release Center
Cleveland, Texas
CCA
Sept. 3, 1998
Corrections Corporation of America is pulling out of the pre-release prison
here, citing a disagreement with the local school board over money owed in
lieu of taxes. CCA served officials notice this week to the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice that it will no longer manage the Cleveland
Pre-Release Center in Liberty County after Dec. 31, said company spokesperson
Laurie Shanblum. "It is the result of a
difference of opinion between CCA and the Cleveland Independent School
District regarding the annual amount of money to be paid in lieu of taxes to
the school district." School board president Walter Stovall said
CCA's announcement took him by surprise. The board, he said, was merely
enforcing CCA's tax obligation and was willing to listen to abatement
proposals. "It's terrible," County Commissioner Melvin Hunt
said. "Almost everybody is unhappy. The county and city have
been giving tax abatements to CCA for a long time." The trouble
between CCA and the Cleveland school district started in 1995 - more than
five years after the facility now valued at $13.2 million, was built to house
520 state inmates within two years of release. That year the school
district sued the for-profit corporation in federal court for reducing their
$180,000 annual tax payment by $100,000 without permission. Last month,
the school district's lawsuit against CCA was settled out of court, with CCA
agreeing to pay its outstanding debt of $300,000 plus interest. Both
the city and county have given CCA more than a 50 percent tax abatement since
1995, authorities said. (Houston Chronicle)
Coastal Bend Detention Center
Robstown, Texas
Louisiana Correctional Services
Mar
6, 2014 kiiitv.com
An
inmate death at a private jail facility near Robstown is raising questions.
The inmate was a recent graduate of the Navy flight school at Naval Air
Station-Corpus Christi. The death has been ruled a suicide, but the
investigation is now being questioned by the agency that oversees the LCS
facility. That law enforcement agency is the Nueces County Sheriff's Office,
whose detectives were turned away at LCS by U.S. Marshals. They were told
Texas Rangers would be conducting the investigation, and that, says Sheriff
Jim Kaelin, is not proper protocol. "The
private prison LCS is under our charge, and we're responsible for the things
that go on out there," Kaelin said.
"Meaning that the U.S. Marshals service mandate that we make sure that
we comply with rules, regulations and law." It was Saturday when Sheriff
Kaelin says he got a call from the LCS warden that
an inmate had attempted suicide by hanging himself with a bed sheet, and that
the inmate was being transported to Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital. That
inmate has been identified as 26-year old Trevor Nash, a recent graduate of
the Navy's flight school at NAS-Corpus Christi. According to sources, Nash
was preparing to be transferred to helicopter training school when he was
arrested on charges of piracy. 3News contacted the U.S. Marshals out of
Houston in hopes of obtaining more information regarding the charges, and why
Texas Rangers and not the Nueces County Sheriff's Office are heading up the
investigation. We have yet to get a response. In the meantime, Sheriff Kaelin says he too is attempting to get some answers.
November 4, 2011 Record Star
Texas Commission on Jail Standards officials recently said the organization
is powerless to oversee any changes at the Coastal Bend Detention Center in
Robstown, after center officials decided to move out all of their county
prisoners. Adan Munoz Jr., Executive Director of the TCJS said he was notified
last week that LCS Corrections Services Inc., owners of the CBDC, asked for
the detention center to be pulled off the state's inspection rolls, as they
would no longer house county inmates.
July 12, 2011 Record Star
A Robstown detention center was recently found to be in non-compliance with
state guidelines following an inspection by the Texas Commission on Jail
Standards. Coastal Bend Detention Center, owned and operated by LCS
Corrections Services Inc., was visited May 20 by representatives with the
TCJS, during which an inspection was conducted. The results were posted on
the agency's Web site last month.
May 3, 2010 Caller-Times
State jail inspectors ruled that a Robstown private detention facility
doesn't meet state standards because it failed to report an inmate's death
and its warden and deputy warden lack jailers' licenses. The Coastal Bend
Detention Center was cited Monday for failing to report the death of a
prisoner, who died April 18, according to commission Director Adan Muńoz.
Michael Higgins, a former state trooper found guilty of stealing money from
Hispanic drivers, also died of an apparent heart attack April 29, while in
the facility. Officials with the prison were not immediately available for
comment. Discussions with the deputy warden and the chief of security of the
facility revealed that neither official knew of the requirement to notify the
state agency of the deaths in custody, Muńoz said. Jail commission Assistant
Director Shannon Herklotz told the men that their
lack of reporting was a non-compliance issue and would be handled accordingly
in a follow-up notice of non-compliance for failing to report the April 18
death. Herklotz determined that neither of the top
two prison managers had proper state licenses, a violation of state
standards. "Both the lack of the jailer licenses by the warden and
deputy warden, the lack of properly or entirely filling out the inmate
screening form, and failing to report the April 18, 2010, death in custody
within 24 hours as required will immediately result in a notice of
non-compliance with minimum jail standards for the Coastal Bend Detention
Center," Muńoz said. The facility is out of compliance for the second
time in a year.
February 1, 2010 Caller-Times
A private detention facility in Robstown has passed two surprise state
inspections since the accidental release of a convicted sex offender put its
compliance status at risk. The Coastal Bend Detention Center mistakenly
released Mario Estrada Martinez, 31, an undocumented immigrant from Matamoros,
Mexico, instead of Mario Estrada Antonio in November. Estrada Antonio was
supposed to be turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for
deportation. Estrada Martinez, who was being held for illegally re-entering
the U.S. and set for a hearing before U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack,
was deported instead. The accidental release wasn’t a violation of state
standards. But the Texas Commission on Jail Standards deemed the facility,
operated by Lafayette, La.-based LCS Corrections, at risk of falling out of
state compliance and promised a series of surprise inspections for 90 days,
said Adan Muńoz, the jail commission’s executive director. State inspector
George Johnson conducted the first surprise visit on the evening of Jan. 6,
according to documents obtained by the Caller-Times through a public
information request. The inspection did not reveal any non-compliance issues.
But Johnson noted that of 118 officers, 85 were working with temporary state
jailer licenses. All must complete training and pass a state-mandated jailer
certification course within their first year of employment.
December 29, 2009 WEAU
There will soon be a new jail boss in town and he comes with a couple
championship belts. Art Crews is the soon to be jail captain in Chippewa
County, formally known as the Blonde Bomber. As the Blonde Bomber, he took on
the likes of Ric Flair, Jesse “the Body” Ventura, Andre the Giant and, yes,
even Hulk Hogan back in the 1980's. Now, his biggest fear is Wisconsin’s cold
weather. "You're to be up here on Saturday?" Chippewa County
Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk asks his new jail captain on the phone. Kowalczyk is
looking forward to welcoming Crews up from Texas; he’s a man who comes with a
couple championship belts. "When I was in wrestling, I was in corrections
and I didn't know it,” Crews tells us with a laugh over the phone. “In other
words, you're dealing with people every single day and wrestling has a lot of
crowd psychology." Crews was in wrestling for a decade all through the
80’s. He's been working at jails and prisons ever since. Most recently as
warden at Coastal Bend Detention Center, a private prison in Texas. Crews
said he resigned in August. Two weeks later local newspaper reports show the
prison failed an inspection. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards told the
Corpus Christi Caller Times it "borders really close to complete
incompetence." Crews said he knew it was bad when he left. He says
that's why he left. "I voiced my concerns to the company that there were
going to be issues not meeting standards and compliances. They did not comply
and I had no choice but to resign." "He indicated they were
undermanned, understaffed; he didn't have the budget he needed that he
thought he could run the facility to the best of his ability."
December 18, 2009 Caller-Times
A private detention facility in Robstown faces frequent, unannounced
state inspections for 90 days after its inadvertent release of a convicted
sex offender. The Coastal Bend Detention Center did not violate state
standards when Mario Estrada Martinez, 31, an undocumented immigrant from
Matamoros, Mexico, mistakenly was released, but it is at risk of falling out
of state compliance after corrections officers did not follow release
procedures, according to a letter from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards
obtained by the Caller-Times through an open records request. In November,
federal authorities asked the prison run by Lafayette, La.-based LCS
Corrections to release Mario Estrada Antonio to U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement for deportation. Instead Estrada Martinez, who was awaiting
sentencing for illegal re-entry to the U.S., was released and deported. He
was gone for three weeks before LCS corrections staff figured out they
released the wrong prisoner. In Mexico, where both prisoners are from, the
middle name serves as last name, and the last name is the person’s maternal
surname. “Certainly an improperly released inmate is a liability to all
parties involved,” Adan Muńoz, the jail commission’s executive director,
wrote in the letter. Prison Warden Elberto “Bert”
Bravo said an investigation is ongoing and focused on four employees. “We are
trying to narrow it down to where it happened,” Bravo said. “It was human
error. The procedures we had in place, they failed to follow the procedures.”
No other county jail or private correctional facility holding county or
out-of-state inmates is at risk, commission officials said. Being at risk
means any member of the jail commission staff may make frequent, unannounced
visits to the facility during the next 90 days. If no violations or
noncompliance issues are noted, the facility will be removed from the at-risk
list. “No one from point A to point Z ever verified his identity during
several stages of release. By more than one detention officer, all the way to
ICE, his identity was never confirmed,” Muńoz said Friday. Estrada Martinez
had a prior conviction for a sexual offense, according to U.S. marshals. He
was convicted in Iowa for sexual abuse and sentenced to 10 years in December
1999, according to court filings. He was paroled in 2002. U.S. District Judge
Janis Graham Jack issued a warrant for Estrada Martinez’s arrest when the
mishap was made public. He has not been rearrested.
December 11, 2009 Corpus Christi Caller-Times
A convicted sex offender has been missing from a Robstown lockup since
Nov. 19, unknown to the prison’s officials until Thursday. Officials at the
Coastal Bend Detention Center discovered that they inadvertently released
Mario Estrada Martinez, 31, an undocumented immigrant from Matamoros, Mexico,
who most recently was arrested for illegal re-entry. He was being held at the
Robstown facility, owned by Lafayette, La.-based LCS Corrections, awaiting
sentencing after pleading guilty to illegal re-entry to the U.S., a felony,
U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack said Friday afternoon. Federal
authorities asked the prison in November to release Estrada Martinez to U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. Coastal Bend Detention
Center handed over Estrada Martinez. Federal authorities actually were
looking to deport Mario Estrada Antonio, according to the Texas Commission on
Jail Standards. In Mexico, where both men are from, the middle name serves as
last name, and the last name is the person’s maternal surname. “We really
want to leave the whole mix-up, specifically how it happened, to Coastal
Bend,” U.S. Marshals spokesman Carlos Alvarado said. “(I am talking about
this) just so the community knows there is not a sex offender running our
streets. He was deported and sent back. ICE deported him.” Estrada Martinez
had a prior conviction for a sexual offense, Alvarado said. He was convicted
in Iowa for sexual abuse and sentenced to 10 years in December 1999,
according to court filings. He was paroled in 2002. LCS Warden Elberto “Bert” Bravo did not return calls. LCS Vice
President of Operations Dick Harbison would not comment and referred comment
back to U.S. Marshals. The Houston-based Immigration and Customs
Enforcement-Detention and Removal division deported Estrada Martinez early
this week, said Fred Schroeder, assistant special agent in charge for the
local Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. ICE spokesman Greg Palmer
said late Friday he would research what happened with Estrada Martinez and
comment next week. It doesn’t appear that Estrada Martinez escaped on
purpose, said Adan Muńoz, the jail commission’s executive director, after
reviewing LCS’s preliminary escape report. He was released. “What transpired
between the wrongly released inmate and the releasing officer is something
that LCS will have to investigate,” Muńoz said. “There is no overt action
shown by the mistakenly released inmate to indicate he made any statements to
the releasing officer that he was attempting to disguise who he was while
being released. “And why the receiving transport service did not verify the
inmate’s identity is also something that needs to be ascertained and
investigated,” Muńoz said. LCS contacted the jail commission within 24 hours
of the discovery, which is required by law. The company must submit a written
report detailing why and how the escape happened, Muńoz said. The release
counts as an escape and could pose problems for the prison, Muńoz said. In
mid-September, Coastal Bend Detention Center was cited by the jail standards
commission for 17 compliance issues, including failure to classify inmates or
to check for contraband, improper staff training, jailers without proper
state licensing and no tuberculosis screening plan.
September 21, 2009 Corpus Christi
Caller-Times
State jail inspectors have warned the owner of a private Robstown facility to
rectify 17 compliance issues immediately or face possible closure. The
Coastal Bend Detention Center was cited Monday for failing to classify inmates,
check for contraband, improper staff training, jailers without proper state
licensing and no tuberculosis screening plan, among other issues. If the
facility, owned by Lafayette, La.-based LCS Corrections, cannot correct its
problems, especially the jailers’ licensing, then the Texas Commission on
Jail Standards could temporarily close it, commission Director Adan Muńoz
said. “I have to bring any remedial order before the (jail) commission, but
this borders really close to complete incompetence,” he said. The jail opened
in September 2008. Its first inmates arrived in March. Jail warden Art Crews
was replaced in August by Elberto “Bert” Bravo, who
also is warden at LCS’ detention facility in Hidalgo County, said Dick
Harbison, LCS vice president of operations. The management shake-up should
help fix the jail’s problems, he said. “My people know exactly what needs to
be done,” Bravo said. “I know the report looks bad. They say it is the worst
they have ever seen. But honestly, we are going to be OK. It’s just going to
take me a little bit of time to do it.” The jail will be in compliance by
late October, he said. Within the past two weeks, Bravo hired two deputy
wardens with more than 60 years of combined experience. He also laid off 26
jailers until they can get the correct state licensing. He fired another 10
for not doing what they were told, he said. The detention facility was
overstaffed and reassigned some of its 175 staff members to cover jailer
positions, Bravo said. The facility has a capacity for 1,056 inmates. When it
was inspected last week it held 475, according to state inspectors. Most are
undocumented immigrants housed in Robstown through a contract with federal
agencies. Another 41 are inmates from Duval, Jim Wells and Kleberg counties, where
jails are overcrowded, according to the jail standards commission. Compliance
Issues-- The Coastal Bend Detention Center in Robstown had 17 compliance
issues after state inspectors reviewed the facility last week. -- Inmate
toilet and shower areas have insufficient privacy shields -- Jailers are not
being trained properly for fire drills -- Jailers are not being trained
properly in the use of air packs -- No documentation outlining generator
testing or the transfer of the facility’s electric load at least once a month
-- Inmates were not classified correctly -- Classification reviews were not
conducted within 90 days of initial inmate custody assessments --
Classification workers didn’t receive the required four hours of training --
Internal classification audit logs were not kept -- No tuberculosis screening
plan had been approved by the health department -- Twenty-four officers did
not have a required jailer’s license or temporary jailer’s license -- Hourly
face-to-face prisoner checks were not performed -- The facility did not meet
the state mandated 1-to-48 jailer-to-inmate ratio -- Personnel did not
conduct required contraband searches -- Disciplinary hearings for minor
inmate infractions were conducted by a single person rather than a
disciplinary board -- Jail did not respond to inmates with grievances within
15 days or resolve issues within 60 days as required -- Inmates did not
receive one hour of supervised physical education three days per week as
required -- A fire panel doesn’t show an inspection tag
March 7, 2009 Caller-Times
As federal prisoners began arriving at the privately owned LCS detention
facility in Robstown on Friday, a company official said employees who were
laid off in January have been rehired. In response to the influx of prisoners
into the 1,100-bed facility, which has sat empty since it opened in
September, the prison has called back some 40 employees who were laid off in
January, bringing the current number of employees up to 75, said Dick
Harbison, LCS vice president of operations. “It’s full steam ahead right
now,” he said. And beginning Monday, the company plans to hire another 80
employees with starting pay at $11 an hour. The news comes a week after
Nueces County Judge Loyd Neal and the U.S. Marshals
agreed on a temporary price tag for prisoner housing. LCS will get roughly
$44 per prisoner per day under the terms of an addendum to the contract
already in place for housing prisoners in Hidalgo County.
February 5, 2009 Record Star
With necessary paperwork stalled in Washington D.C., the Coastal Bend
Detention Center has yet to receive its first inmate, and recently laid off
or reassigned over half of its staff. The detention center, a private
facility owned by LCS Corrections Services, Inc. and located just south of
Robstown, held a grand opening ceremony in November and was expected to
receive its first inmates in early December. Arthur Crews Sr., the warden of
the Coastal Bend facility, said a final contract that requires the signature
of administrative personnel in the Washington D.C. branch of the U.S. Marshal
service has not been signed, delaying the facility's opening. While that
paperwork was filed months ago, Crews said the change in administration in
Washington D.C. has been largely to blame for the hold up. "That's mainly
due to the situation of the timing that's going on, with the Democratic Party
going in, the Republican Party coming out, department heads not really
knowing who's going to have what job and who's going to be replaced,"
Crews said. The facility initially hired 72 people in November, but that
number fell to 60 by early January, as individuals found work elsewhere or
relocated. Without any inmates, the facility is not bringing in revenue,
which led the company to make significant staffing changes two weeks ago.
During that process, six staff members were transferred to another LCS
facility in the area, 12 were hired by the Nueces County Sheriff's Department
and 16 were laid off. Those who were laid off primarily worked in the food
service or customer service departments, Crews said. Of the 26 staff members
still on the payroll at the Coastal Bend facility, most have seen their
weekly hours reduced as a cost-saving measure, Crews indicated. Nueces County
Sheriff Jim Kaelin said last week the detention
center's loss was the county's gain, as the 12 individuals hired by the
county are already certified through the state as corrections officers and
will fill a significant staffing need. "It just so happens that we had
reached the point that we had vacancies where we could hire all they wanted
to send our way," Kaelin said. "It's
going to be a win-win for us and a win-win for LCS because it helps them
reduce their payroll." Although Crews could offer no timeline for when
the final paperwork might be completed, he said he has little doubt the
facility will be fully operational in the near future. "We don't know
how long this contract's going to take. It could be two weeks, it could be
two months or more. We just don't know," Crews said. "My speculation,
with 22 years in the correction business, is that with us having 1,100 beds,
it's not going to sit here empty." And Crews said all the employees laid
off or reassigned have guaranteed jobs once the facility does start housing
prisoners. "I let them leave here, the ones we laid off, and keep their
ID badge and keep their uniforms," Crews said. "That's the bond
that I have with the employees, and they are going to come back."
January 24, 2009 Caller-Times
LCS Corrections Services laid off half of its Robstown detention center
employees Friday because federal authorities have yet to transfer in
prisoners, but the company plans to offer jobs to some elsewhere. LCS, a
private Lafayette, La.-based prison company, expected to have a full house at
its 1,100-bed facility shortly after the prison opened in mid-November, but
the center remains empty after a contract with the federal government
stalled, said Dick Harbison, LCS vice president of operations. Of the 35
correctional officers laid off, six will be offered positions at the LCS
detention facility in Brooks County, Harbison said. Short on correctional
officers, Nueces County Jail will offer jobs to 14 others, county officials
said. Fifteen temporarily will be left without jobs, Harbison said. To start
the intake of federal prisoners from agencies such as the U.S. Marshals
Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol, LCS
needs Nueces County to sign an agreement with marshals that will outline how
much the federal government will pay for housing their prisoners. Congress
also must pass a 2009 budget, which should occur when a continuing resolution
allowing the federal government to operate under its 2008 budget expires in
early March. The prison company intends to rehire the laid-off employees and hire
additional staff once prisoners start arriving, Harbison said. Nueces County
spent millions to clean up its jail's substandard conditions that led to the
June 2006 removal of federal prisoners. The federal inmates haven't returned.
County officials have been negotiating since January 2008 for a higher fee to
house them at the jail. The contract also will include fees for housing
federal prisoners at two LCS facilities. Because the federal government
doesn't deal with private detention contractors, LCS is dependent on a
"pass through" contract, where the county gets a share of fees
charged per prisoner for passing through overflow federal prisoners to the
company's private facilities in Hidalgo County and Robstown. Nueces County
Judge Loyd Neal said Friday that the county, the
U.S. Marshals Service and LCS are in agreement on new rates for the jail and
the LCS facilities. He wouldn't disclose the negotiated rates. The proposed
fees are awaiting review and approval from the Office of the Federal
Detention Trustee, which oversees federal detention programs. The county,
which received a $45.15 daily rate per prisoner prior to their removal from
the county jail, was seeking a raise to $61.49. County officials previously
have said that negotiations were stuck at about $53 a day per prisoner.
"The marshals and I have agreed on that rate. We have worked with LCS,
and they agree it is very favorable," Neal said. "We did this
several months ago, and we have been unable to get any kind of funding out of
the federal government. Until the new Congress and President (Barack) Obama
reach an agreement (on a budget) there is no money available for a new
arrangement for federal prisoners." The county receives $2 a day for
each prisoner sent to LCS' Hidalgo County facility, and LCS earns roughly
$43. A similar pass through deal is in the works for the Robstown facility
once the county and the federal government sign off on new rates. "The
minute we hear anything at all we will be contacting everybody to come back
to work," Harbison said.
January 23, 2009 KIII TV
A new private prison near Robstown hasn't even opened up yet, but already
some staff members have been laid off. The transition of power in Washington
is said to be the main reason for the holdup. The Coastal Bend Detention
Center is ready to go, but with no prisoners and no revenue, company
officials were forced to do this for the time being. The new private prison
in Robstown is ready for business. More than 1100 beds are made and waiting
for federal prisoners, but the transition of power in the presidency has
caused problems for the U.S. Marshal's Office to sign the contract and bring
prisoners to the facility. "So we don't have inmates at this time,"
said Art Crews, Prison Warden for the LCS Coastal Bend Detention Center.
"That's our revenue. Until we do, we can't hire the people back."
So the prison officials called a meeting for its employees. They announced
about 12 are being laid off, while another 48 are seeing their hours reduced.
"First time in my 22 years in the correction field in a warden position
having to tell them that and that hurts," Crews said. The private prison
did find jobs for about 15 guards at the Nueces and Kleberg County jail.
Coke County Juvenile Justice Center
Bronte, Texas
GEO Group (formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections)
October 12, 2007 KRIS TV
The delayed discovery of squalid conditions at a privately run Texas Youth
Commission jail was "a human failure" and stronger oversight is
needed to prevent similar incidents, a key state senator said Friday.
"It was very simple that the monitors were not doing their job and there
was a human failure," said Sen. John Whitmire, head of the Senate
Criminal Justice Committee. "Who's monitoring the monitors?"
Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, called a committee hearing about a week after a
Coke County juvenile lockup in Bronte operated by The GEO Group, Inc., was
closed because of filthy conditions. A Texas Youth Commission ombudsman
discovered the conditions, even though the facility had passed previous inspections
by TYC monitors. The TYC system was rocked earlier this year by allegations
of rampant sexual and other physical abuse against juvenile inmates in the
system. The star witness at Friday's hearing on adult and juvenile prison
monitoring was Shirley Noble, who told how her son, 43-year-old Idaho inmate
Scot Noble Payne, endured months of horrific conditions then slit his own
throat at a private Texas prison run by GEO Group. "It seemed there was
no end to the degradation he and other prisoners were to endure with
substandard facilities," Noble said. Her son died March 4 in a private
prison in Spur. Noble questioned why Idaho sent its inmates to Texas and why
the Florida-based GEO Group was allowed to keep prisoners in what she
described as "degrading and subhuman conditions." "Please,
please hold them accountable for all the injuries and misery they have
caused," Noble said. A spokesman for GEO Group did not immediately
return a telephone call from The Associated Press to respond to comments made
at the hearing. TYC Acting Executive Director Dimitria
Pope, who took over the youth agency earlier this year, testified that she's
putting more monitoring safeguards in place. That includes sending executive
staff members out to view the lockups, something she said hadn't been done
regularly in the past. "Because of my concerns of what I saw in Coke
County, I have implemented a blitz of every facility, either the ones that we
operate, that contract, district offices, anything that has TYC affiliated
with it," she said, adding that each site will be visited by the end of
October. Adan Munoz Jr., executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail
Standards, said he has four inspectors do annual inspections of the 267
facilities under his oversight. He defended his agency's practice of giving
two- to three-week notices about inspection visits but said recently there
have been more surprise inspections. Sen. Juan "Chuy"
Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said privatizing prisons is an "easy way out."
He said he worries about the state continuing to contract with companies that
have a history of abuse. "It's a myth that the private sector does a
better job than government" in running prisons, Hinojosa said.
"They're there to make a profit and they'll cut corners, and they'll cut
back on services and they'll many times look the other way when abuse is
taking place." Because of Texas' size and high rate of locking up
convicts, the state is in the national spotlight for its dealings with
private prison firms, said Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston. "It puts a
special burden on us," he said. "If it needs to be improved,
improve it, because everybody looks to us." Noble was the panel's final
witness. The room hushed as she told the senators her family's emotional
tale. Her son, a convicted sex offender, was kept in solitary confinement for
months with a wet floor, bloodstained sheets and smelly towels. She said he
wrote long, detailed letters to family members in which he said the only way
to escape the prison's harsh conditions was to join his late grandfather in
the spirit world. Noble said she begged for psychological help for her son.
She said he wasn't supposed to have been given a razor, and she still wonders
how he got the one he used to end his life. "After he tried to
unsuccessfully slash his wrists and ankles, he knelt in the shower and cut
his own throat," she said. "Surely only a person in utter
disillusionment and horrifying conditions would bring themselves to this
end."
October 12, 2007 Dallas Morning News
Three monitors fired by the Texas Youth Commission last week for failing
to report filthy and dangerous conditions at a privately run juvenile prison
in West Texas had previously worked for the company they oversaw. Two of the
quality assurance monitors were hired directly from caseworker positions with
The GEO Group Inc. at the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, according to
their job applications. The monitoring unit's supervisor also briefly worked
for GEO at the youth prison near Bronte four years before being hired by TYC,
records show. A clerk who was fired had previous GEO employment as well. TYC
spokesman Jim Hurley said agency executives were unaware of the terminated
workers' ties to GEO before The Dallas Morning News filed an open-records
request this week. Officials said last week that they were concerned about
entanglements between TYC employees and the company they monitored. TYC's
inspector general has launched a criminal investigation of operations at the
Coke County prison, including the possibility of financial transactions
between GEO and TYC employees. GEO's relationship with the fired TYC monitors
is a likely topic at a hearing today of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee
in Austin. It is intended to examine GEO's operation of youth and adult
prisons in Texas. State Sen. John Whitmire, the panel's chairman, was angered
to learn from a reporter Thursday that TYC monitors had previously been
employed by GEO. "I think it's outrageous," the Houston Democrat
said. "It just confirms what many of us suspected – that there was too
close a relationship between the TYC employees and GEO employees." He
said the committee also would seek answers from the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice and county jail and juvenile probation officials about their
own monitoring of private corrections companies. "Anyone that confines
individuals in the state of Texas needs to make certain they know who their
monitors are – and that they go behind their monitors and literally monitor
their monitors," Mr. Whitmire said. Mr. Hurley said the prior employment
with GEO raised questions about whether the monitors had been objective in
their evaluations of the facility. "How do you monitor the
monitors?" he said. "We need a very good answer to that." For
years, quality assurance reports on the Coke County prison had been
overwhelmingly positive. Twice, TYC named it contract facility of the year.
"You have to worry about conflicts of interest," Mr. Hurley said
Thursday. "I'm not saying there is a conflict of interest. But there is
a perception." TYC Executive Director Dimitria
Pope fired four monitors at the Coke County prison and a clerk last week
after she and others toured the facility. It was in such deplorable
condition, Ms. Pope said, that she ordered the removal of all 197 inmates.
She also fired another employee at the Coke County facility who had not
worked for GEO, and two contract care supervisors at TYC's district office in
Fort Worth. The head of contract care at TYC's headquarters in Austin
resigned. Ms. Pope canceled TYC's $8 million contract with Florida-based GEO,
which had operated the Coke County facility since it opened in 1994. GEO
initially tried to reinstate the contract but, after criticism, said it
accepted the decision. The Coke County facility was the state's largest
private youth prison. It was the only Texas juvenile facility operated by
GEO, one of the nation's biggest private prison contractors. As a result of
the problems discovered at Coke County, Ms. Pope ordered a wholesale review
of the agency's contract care system. "Who the monitors are and where
they come from will be one of the issues that we're going to look at,"
Mr. Hurley said. TYC employs more than 40 quality assurance specialists and
supervisors, according to personnel records provided to The News. Some are stationed
at the facilities they monitor, several of which are in remote rural areas.
Mr. Hurley shied away from discussing what actions the agency might undertake
if it learns that other monitors had previous employment with contractors
they inspect. "What we need to do is make sure that first of all, every
one of these contracts is being monitored and that it's being monitored
correctly," he said. "If the remoteness is a problem, I think that
monitoring these contracts accurately will show us that," he said.
"We need to have a sort of evidence-based determination." The Coke
County prison is in a one-stoplight town about 30 miles north of San Angelo.
It was the town's second-largest employer after the school district.
One-third of the school district's $6 million budget is tied to programs at
the prison. Two of the fired TYC employees lived in Bronte. Valerie Jones,
former supervisor of the monitoring unit, has two children in the Bronte
schools. Patti Frazee, her clerk, is married to a member of the Bronte school
board. Ms. Jones, who worked for GEO as a chemical-dependency counselor from
October 1995 to July 1996, declined to comment Thursday. She was hired by TYC
as a quality assurance monitor in spring 2000, records show. Ms. Frazee,
reached at her home, said officials of the youth agency never raised any
questions about her previous employment with GEO. "There were not very
many jobs out here," she said. "Any time you could take a state
job, it was a better job for everybody because it paid more money. That's the
only reason. It was like a step up from GEO. That's the way everybody viewed
it." Ms. Frazee was paid $17,950 per year working as bookkeeper for GEO.
As a clerk for TYC, she earned $25,035. The two monitors hired directly from
GEO, Brian Lutz and David Roberson, earned $26,800 and $24,500 per year,
respectively. With TYC, Mr. Lutz was paid $33,945,while
Mr. Roberson received $37,393, agency records show. Several attempts to
locate Mr. Lutz for comment were unsuccessful. Mr. Roberson, reached at his
home in San Angelo, declined to be interviewed. Lisa Williamson worked as a
TYC quality assurance monitor at the Coke County facility from 1998 until
2004. She said she knew Mr. Roberson and Ms. Jones well. She described them
as honest, hard-working people devoted to their jobs. "There is not
anybody there who I wouldn't trust with my own children," said Ms.
Williamson, who now works as a juvenile probation officer in Young County.
Ms. Williamson said she had not worked for GEO. But she said she never saw
any of her colleagues who had worked for the company ignore any problems.
While she and the GEO warden, Brett Bement,
frequently tried to tell each other how to do their jobs, Ms. Williamson
said, she didn't feel pressured and didn't obey him. "He knew I wasn't a
pushover, and he couldn't get by with it. He couldn't have done that with any
of us," she said. GEO Group gave money to several state officials'
campaigns -- State Rep. Jerry Madden held his annual "How Sweet It
Is" dessert party in Plano on Thursday night to raise money for a future
campaign. One of the sponsors at the $2,500 "cherries jubilee"
level was to be The GEO Group Inc., a Florida-based corrections company.
Until last week, GEO operated the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center near
Bronte under contract with the Texas Youth Commission. In recent years, the
company has donated to the campaigns of some legislators who oversee the
youth agency. Two of them, Mr. Madden and Sen. John Whitmire, are co-chairmen
of the special legislative committee established this year to oversee reforms
of TYC in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal at the West Texas State School
in Pyote. Mr. Madden, R-Plano, received a total of
$2,500 from GEO's political action committee in 2005 and 2006, according to
campaign finance records. Mr. Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, received $2,000
from the political action committee of Wackenhut Corrections Corp., as GEO
was previously known, in 2003 and 2004. Other recipients of GEO or Wackenhut
contributions are Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who received $2,500 in 2006, and
House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, who received $1,000 in 2005, state
records show. In addition to Mr. Madden, the chairman of the House
Corrections Committee, two other panel members received donations from GEO or
Wackenhut. Rep. Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock, received
$250 in 2006. And Pat Haggerty, R-El Paso, received $500 from the Wackenhut
Corrections PAC in 2004. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, chairman of the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and another member of the
Joint Committee on the Operation and Management of the Texas Youth
Commission, received $250 in 2006. Mr. Madden's predecessor as head of the
corrections committee, Ray Allen, received $3,500 in 2003 and 2004 from
Wackenhut. He since has left public office and is a lobbyist for GEO. Mr.
Madden acknowledged that lobbyists for GEO might attend his fundraiser at the
Southfork Hotel on Thursday night. But he said he had told the lobbyists that
he did not want a check. "Just right now, I think it would be a bad idea
to specifically look for contributions from GEO," he said.
October 11, 2007 The Olympian
The mother of an Idaho inmate who killed himself in a Texas prison this
year has become a corrections activist. Shirley Noble travels to Austin, Texas
Friday to urge lawmakers there to stop accepting out-of-state prisoners at
their for-profit lockups. Texas is holding hearings over The GEO Group, a
Florida-based private prison company that lost its contract to oversee a
juvenile prison because of dirty bed sheets, feces-smeared cells and insects
in the food. GEO also ran the prison where Shirley Noble's son, Scot Noble
Payne, slashed his throat March 4. The convicted sex offender had been
shipped to Texas with a group of 450 Idaho inmates because of overcrowding at
prisons at home. Shirley Noble contends sending prisoners out-of-state leaves
them without family contact - and caused Idaho prison officials to neglect
them.
October 6, 2007 Dallas Morning News
The Texas Youth Commission is investigating whether its employees had
improper ties to GEO Group Inc., the company that ran a West Texas juvenile
prison where inmates lived in dangerous and squalid conditions. Acting TYC
Executive Director Dimitria Pope said Friday that
agency investigators will be checking into the backgrounds of employees to
"see if they are connected to GEO in any way." Among the areas of
inquiry, she said, is whether anyone in TYC was working as a consultant for
GEO. Investigators also will look for any other financial arrangements between
TYC workers and GEO, which operated the now-closed Coke County Juvenile
Justice Center in Bronte. Any TYC employee found to have ties to GEO will be
fired, Ms. Pope said. "I'm saying let's go back to the time this
facility just opened. Let's see if there are any interesting financial
transactions," she said. "I think if you go back and look, there
will be some interesting things to look at." On Friday afternoon, Ms.
Pope toured the TYC prison in Mart, which took in the 197 inmates removed
from the GEO facility on Tuesday. TYC canceled its $8 million contract with
the company on Monday, citing "deplorable conditions." Ms. Pope,
who visited the Coke County prison late last month after a surprise agency
inspection, said she saw indications that the relationship between TYC's
on-site monitors and GEO was not as separate as it should have been. For
example, she said, GEO workers had keys to TYC's office in Bronte. When she
entered the office, she said, no agency employee was there, but confidential
inmate records remained in plain sight. "Kids' files were laying out on
the table," she said. "There was stuff on the fax machine."
Ms. Pope said she does not know if any TYC monitors formerly worked for GEO,
but she is concerned about that as well. 'A disgrace' -- TYC has already
fired seven employees whose jobs were to monitor the Coke County unit and
GEO's contract compliance. TYC's on-site inspectors routinely filed glowing
reports on the prison. "They were there," she said of the
inspectors. "They [their reports] say absolutely nothing." At a
news conference in Austin earlier in the day, Ms. Pope blasted GEO, with whom
Texas has done business since 1994. She said it operated a fire trap and that
inmates' medical needs were ignored, schooling was "almost nonexistent"
and a pattern of "physical and psychological harm" was routinely
tolerated. "GEO should be ashamed," she said. "The Coke County
Juvenile Justice Center is a disgrace." A TYC audit of the facility
described a breakdown on many levels, including safety, hygiene, medical
treatment, education and maintenance. Asked if TYC auditors found anyone at
the Coke unit who had been doing the job properly, Ms. Pope responded:
"I'm saying, 'Hell, no, they weren't.' " "The kids had a
stench because they weren't allowed to bathe," she said. "And their
teeth? Horrible." During her visit to TYC's prison in Mart, near Waco,
Ms. Pope spoke with about 25 inmates from the GEO-run unit. "I notice
you have toothpaste in there," she said to one, as the inmates stood at
parade rest outside their cells. "I got you here so you can be treated
like a human being," Ms. Pope told one 15-year-old inmate. A TYC audit
of the GEO facility, released Friday, said inmates did not have access to
toothpaste or toothbrushes for days at a time. Filth and disrepair were
common throughout the prison, the report said. Only one washer and one dryer
were available to serve nearly 200 youth. TYC auditors who visited the prison
got so much fecal matter on their shoes they had to wipe their feet on the grass
outside, Ms. Pope said. Many pieces of fire safety equipment were either
inoperable or missing, the report said. Some emergency exits were closed with
locks and chains. "I personally was locked in one of the dorms because
the doors didn't work properly," Ms. Pope said. The prison's warden said
he was aware of many of the problems pointed out by auditors. "He
indicated that corporate did not respond to many of his purchasing needs
...," the audit report said. Dispatching audit teams -- TYC paid GEO
$632,000 a month to operate the prison, the report said. Last year, TYC spent
nearly $17 million of its $249 million budget on private contractors,
according to a Dallas Morning News investigation in July, which revealed
problems with the agency's contract facilities. The agency said it was
sending audit teams, composed of former members of the state's jail standards
commission, to visit every TYC prison and halfway house. "No stone is
going to go unturned," Ms. Pope said. "I don't want any more
surprises." State Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal
Justice Committee, said Friday that he would hold legislative hearings on
GEO's contracts to run other correctional facilities throughout Texas.
"We're preparing ourselves for a thorough review of GEO, and it could
easily take us into other private contractors," he said. "But GEO
is our focus now as a result of Coke County and their response." He
criticized not only the conditions that GEO allowed to exist but also the
company's response to the problem. "They tried to cover it. They tried
to spin it. They had their lobbyists try to pressure legislators not to
listen to TYC," Sen. Whitmire said. "So if that's their attitude,
then I question their ability to carry out their contractual requirements in
other state facilities." Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, chairman of the
House Corrections Committee, said he had no information to suggest financial
corruption in the GEO contract but added, "I think that we should let
the [inspector general's] investigation go forward and see what they
find." Criminal inquiry -- TYC Inspector General Bruce Toney said
Wednesday that he had begun a criminal investigation of the GEO-run youth
prison. He requested assistance from the state auditor's office and also
advised the Texas Rangers and Texas attorney general's office of his
investigation. TYC is "an agency that has had deep internal problems,
and they just don't go away overnight," Mr. Madden said. "There
should have been a lot of people who had the responsibility of finding out
that those things had happened." Ms. Pope expressed anger at critics of
TYC's cancellation of the GEO contract. "I will no longer sit here and
take the unfair jabs of individuals who are attempting to advance their
personal agenda over the welfare of youth," she said. She would not
specify about whom she was talking. "I think it speaks for itself,"
she said. Some local officials in Coke County have said the prison does not
deserve to be closed and have said TYC's actions will have a devastating
economic impact on Bronte. "Anyone who's rallying behind GEO," Ms.
Pope said, "should ... hold their heads in shame."
October 5, 2007 San Antonio
Express-News
The Texas Youth Commission's chief blasted critics Friday who questioned her
handling of problems at a juvenile center shuttered this week, but also
admitted a "significant breakdown" in her own agency's oversight.
"I will no longer sit back and take the unfair jabs from individuals who
are attempting to advance their own particular agenda over the welfare of the
youth," said Dimitria Pope, TYC's acting
executive director. "Neither money nor power can come over my No. 1
priority, which is our youth." Pope, who made the comments at a news
conference she called at TYC's Austin headquarters, refused to name the individual
critics she called unfair or inaccurate. Her comments appeared directed,
however, at two sources of criticism. One is the elected leadership of the
small town of Bronte in West Texas, angered by the loss of 100 jobs when TYC
shuttered the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center this week and transferred
about 195 young inmates elsewhere. The other is state Rep. Jerry Madden,
R-Richardson, chairman of the House Corrections Committee, who said he
wonders why TYC only now is learning about alleged squalor and unfit
conditions at the youth lockup run by Geo Group Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla.
Citing those conditions, Pope fired seven agency "quality
assurance" staffers and canceled the agency's $8 million contract with
Geo, which specializes in private prisons. The action threw TYC in the
spotlight again after a sex abuse scandal at the agency led to investigations
and intense legislative scrutiny last spring. "I am very concerned as to
how did this condition arise, how long did it take and why are we just now finding
out about it?" Madden said Friday, applauding a criminal investigation
under way by TYC's inspector general. "We asked the question at our last
hearing, were the kids safer? The answer we got was yes. It appears to me
some of them were not," Madden added. Pope complained during her news
conference that she was "damned if I did and damned if I didn't"
and asserted that the agency should get the respect it needs as it attempts
to carry out the mission of keeping confined youths safe. "There was a
significant breakdown. That will be totally restructured," she said of
the lack of checks and balances for the agency's oversight team. TYC's acting
director of quality assurance, Elizabeth Lee, resigned this week but the
agency's spokesman Jim Hurley said he didn't know if it was connected to the
problems at the Geo-run youth facility. "Geo should be ashamed and
anyone who's rallying behind Geo should also hold their head in shame,"
Pope said. Geo officials, who had said they provided quality services, said
Friday they'd make no further comments. Coke County Judge Roy Blair said that
he'd been to the Geo-run youth facility several times, and the Commissioners
Court had inspected it every quarter. "I have never noted any, what I
would call severe, problems as far as mistreatment or health issues or any
significant problems," he said. "The thing has always been
relatively clean." Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John
Whitmire, D-Houston, opened an investigation of adult private prison contracts
with Geo.
October 5, 2007 Houston Chronicle
A Houston lawmaker is launching a broad investigation into a private prison
contractor after the state closed one of its youth facilities this week,
citing filth, poor safety and health violations. Democratic Sen. John Whitmire,
chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, cited the "terrible
job" Geo Group Inc. did running the West Texas youth lockup and said
Thursday he plans to review adult corrections contracts the state has with
the company. Boca Raton, Fla.-based Geo Group, which runs eight adult lockups
in Texas, was sued by the Texas Civil Rights Project in 2006 in connection
with an alleged rape and suicide of a woman at the Val Verde County Jail. The
suit alleged jail guards working for the company have allowed male and female
inmates to have sex with each other. The suit was settled earlier this year
with a nondisclosure agreement. Geo spokesman Pablo Paez
did not return phone calls seeking comment, but earlier stated the company
had provided quality services at the TYC facility. On Monday the Texas Youth
Commission shuttered the doors of its Coke County Juvenile Justice Center,
run by Geo, and moved nearly 200 young offenders to other TYC facilities.
"When we saw what a terrible job they were doing at Coke County, TYC had
the ability to shut it down and move their youth," Whitmire said. As for
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, he wondered, "When we find a
failure to properly run a facility, what do they do?" Geo operates four
prisons, two shorter term lockups and a halfway house for the adult prison
system. Prison spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said the agency hasn't had any
"significant ongoing operational issues." Whitmire said he found
evidence that a 90-day lockup in Houston run by Geo was out of compliance in
139 of 395 areas in a recent inspection. Lyons said Whitmire is referring to
a 2006 audit, and all problems cited have now been cleared up. Geo also
supervises state prisoners in leased space in the Jefferson and Newton county
jails. TYC spokesman Jim Hurley said the agency's inspector general has
opened a criminal investigation into the conditions at the Coke County
juvenile facility. Seven TYC employees have been fired, including several who
were responsible for on-site monitoring of the Coke facility. This was the
only contract Geo had with the Youth Commission. But the agency has contracts
with several other providers for various programs throughout the state,
including foster homes and a program to teach parenting skills to delinquents
who are pregnant.
October 3, 2007 Dallas Morning News
Seven Texas Youth Commission employees were fired Wednesday as a state
investigation widened at a privately run West Texas juvenile prison where
inmates were found living in filth. TYC Inspector General Bruce Toney said
Wednesday he has begun a criminal investigation of operations at the Coke
County Juvenile Justice Center near Bronte. Mr. Toney said his inquiry could
focus on TYC employees and those of GEO Group Inc., which operates the
prison. "We are going to follow all leads wherever they take us and as
high as they may go both in TYC and the operation of that facility," Mr.
Toney said. Citing "deplorable conditions," TYC this week canceled
its contract with GEO to operate the state's largest private juvenile prison.
All 197 male inmates were removed on Tuesday. Mr. Toney said he has requested
assistance from the state auditor's office and met with the head of the
Travis County district attorney's public integrity unit on Wednesday. He said
he also advised the Texas Rangers and Texas attorney general's office of his
investigation. He sent one of his investigators to the Coke County facility
last week. "Our initial response was to go out there and basically take
a preliminary look and see what we had out there. We will just look at
everything and see what transpires," Mr. Toney said. State Sen. John
Whitmire, D-Houston, threatened to hold a public hearing on GEO's operation
of the TYC prison. "Certainly that's an option if this goes any
further," said Mr. Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice
Committee. "If GEO thinks they've been treated unfairly, let's have a
public hearing and look at all the photographs and videos [of the Coke County
prison] and let the public decide." Mr. Whitmire said he was upset at
efforts this week by GEO lobbyists to convince legislators that TYC had
treated the company too harshly. "Now enters GEO with their paid
lobbyists attempting to put a good face on this," Mr. Whitmire said.
"I'm saying the corporation should back off. They've run a very poor
facility that probably violates the youths' civil rights. ... Kids were
stepping in their own feces. The sheets were such that a cat or dog wouldn't
sleep on them." GEO spokesman Pablo Paez said
he would not comment on any attempts by the company's lobbyists to sway
legislators. Mr. Paez said his company was
disappointed in TYC's decision to cancel the contract. "We believe we
have provided quality services for the Texas Youth Commission for many
years," he said. TYC officials have been unable to explain how the
agency's own quality assurance monitors, stationed just outside the prison,
not only failed to report substandard conditions but praised the operation.
In the monitors' most recent review, in February, the prison was awarded an
overall compliance score of 97.7 percent. In that review, monitors also
thanked GEO staff for their positive work with TYC youth. "Those who
were supposed to be our quality-assurance people out at Bronte will no longer
be working for the Texas Youth Commission," agency spokesman Jim Hurley
said. He cited an "abysmal failure on their part to not report the
deterioration of that facility." Four of the TYC employees who were
fired on Wednesday worked as quality assurance monitors at the Coke County
facility. A fifth, who worked in TYC's district office in Fort Worth, was an
author of the February report. The two other employees also were in contract
care management, but Mr. Hurley said he would not disclose their specific job
titles or where they worked. TYC identified none of the employees by name.
Late last month, several TYC officials – including acting executive director Dimitria Pope – visited the prison and found poor
conditions. A report by TYC ombudsman Will Harrell detailed numerous
deficiencies. He found inmates who had been placed in solitary confinement
for five weeks. They were allowed to leave their cells once a day, in
shackles, to take a shower. Mr. Harrell also noted that some bedsheets were
dirty and that inmates "complain regularly of discovering insects' in
their food. "Children seemed almost desperate to lodge their
complaints," Mr. Harrell wrote in his report. Many of his findings were
confirmed in a report by Susan Moynahan, the TYC
liaison for the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department. Among her
discoveries at the Coke unit: Inmates in one dorm did not have a restroom, so
they were forced to defecate in plastic bags. Mr. Paez,
the GEO spokesman, said he has read the ombudsman's findings. "I have
seen the report," he said. "I really can't comment on it."
State Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, said he will meet today with GEO
representatives to discuss the Coke County prison. "I want to hear their
side of it." TYC paid GEO $8 million a year to run the Coke County
prison. GEO said it had pre-tax earnings of about $800,000 a year on the
contract. Last year, TYC spent nearly $17 million of its $249 million budget
doing business with private contractors, including GEO. TYC is putting
together a plan to review each contract care program, Mr. Hurley said.
"We are working right now on plans to have a physical presence at every
contract care program that we are operating to review what is going on and to
ensure the monitoring reports that we get are accurate," he said. In
July, The Dallas Morning News found numerous problems with TYC's
contractor-run facilities. The stories revealed that private contractors
housing juvenile inmates in Texas repeatedly have lost contracts or closed
operations in other states after investigators uncovered mismanagement, neglect
and abuse. Two states closed GEO-operated units because of abuse allegations
and inadequate care of inmates. TYC was placed in a state conservatorship
this year after a sex abuse scandal and subsequent cover-up were exposed by
The News and the Web site of The Texas Observer. Mr. Madden of Plano was one
of the authors of legislation this year intended to reform TYC. He noted
Wednesday that he had asked TYC officials at a hearing last month if inmates
are safer now than they were before the reforms. Officials assured him they
are. Now, Mr. Madden said, problems such as those in Coke County have caused
him to question TYC's response. "I'm not sure the answer, 'They are
safer,' is actually true," he said.
October 3, 2007 Dallas Morning News
The Texas Youth Commission is investigating why juvenile inmates endured
squalor and deprivation at a privately run West Texas prison that was
repeatedly praised by TYC's own quality-assurance monitors. The agency began
busing the 197 male inmates from the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center
before dawn Tuesday. Officials also canceled an $8-million annual contract
with operators of the state's largest private juvenile prison, citing
"deplorable conditions." The problems found at the prison in
Bronte, operated by the GEO Group Inc. of Florida, were described in a report
by TYC Ombudsman Will Harrell. "There is a greater sense of fear and
intimidation in this facility than perhaps any other I have been to,"
Mr. Harrell wrote. He also noted that: •Some young inmates were kept in
"malodorous and dark" security cells for five weeks. They were
allowed to leave, in shackles, only once a day for a shower. •There was an
"over-reliance" on the use of pepper spray. •Inmates "complain
regularly of discovering insects in their food." TYC announced Tuesday
that its inspector general's office, as well as Department of Public Safety
troopers, were investigating. TYC spokesman Jim Hurley said other agencies,
including the state auditor's office and the attorney general's office, could
join the investigation. Asked if TYC suspected financial wrongdoing, Mr.
Hurley would say only, "We're concerned about every aspect of the way
this facility was run and the contract was administered." The agency
"cannot tolerate this kind of situation," he added. "Not only
do there need to be financial sanctions, but there need to be other actions
taken against people who operate this way." This is only the latest
problem to beset TYC, which was placed in state conservatorship this year
after a sex abuse scandal and subsequent cover-up were exposed by The Dallas
Morning News and the Web site of The Texas Observer. In July, an
investigation by The News detailed numerous problems with TYC's contract-run
facilities, including GEO's Coke County prison. The investigation revealed
that at least two other states had closed GEO-run facilities because of
inadequate care of inmates and abuse allegations. GEO spokesman Pablo Paez said the company was disappointed by TYC's decision,
which he said was unexpected. "We had not received any notices or any
indication of any significant deficiencies at the facility prior to agency's
decision to discontinue the contract," Mr. Paez
said. Contractor of the year -- Among other matters at the Bronte facility
near San Angelo, state investigators will explore whether inmates were
prevented from filing grievances with TYC. "I don't think the phones
worked all the time if they wanted to complain," Mr. Hurley said, and
"kids weren't let out of their cells" to file complaints. TYC
employs four full-time quality-assurance monitors at the Coke County prison.
They work in a portable building just outside the facility's secure
perimeter. Their jobs were to ensure that GEO was meeting the terms of its
contract, the first priority being inmates' health and safety, Mr. Hurley
said. "What were they doing? That's what we're asking," Mr. Hurley
said of the monitors. "I do imagine that we will be seeing personnel
actions taken as a result of this." According to TYC records, the agency's
quality-assurance monitors awarded the Coke County facility mostly high
scores on planned and unplanned inspections there over the last seven years.
In 1999 and again in 2005, TYC named Coke County its "contract facility
of the year." Mr. Hurley said monitors conducted their most recent
comprehensive review of the facility in late February 2007. Records show few
problems were recorded. Coke "achieved an overall compliance score of
97.7 percent with twenty-eight of twenty-nine critical measures passed,"
the report stated. "Thank you to the Coke County staff and
administration for the positive work they do with TYC youth." Monitors
did note that one dorm "had an offensive odor" due to a sewer
backup. "A number of youth complained that their clothing was not
getting clean and that it was returned to them still damp," the report
stated. In addition, TYC monitors wrote that the schedule for inmates'
showers had been interrupted because of emergencies requiring guards to
maintain safety in the dorms. "Administrative staff was made aware of
the issue and the need to correct," according to the report. The
comprehensive review occurred five months after 19-year-old Robert Schulze,
an inmate who had complained that he felt unsafe, hanged himself in his
solitary cell. A TYC investigation found a number of missteps that
contributed to the young man's suicide, and TYC put the facility on a
corrective action plan as a result. 'Prevalence of fear' -- Mr. Harrell, the
new TYC ombudsman, said he visited the Coke County facility on Sept. 21 as part
of his tour of the agency's West Texas facilities. He found dirty mattresses
lying on cell floors and a large infestation of spiders, beetles and crickets
crawling around the facility, he said. Inmates told him their sheets and
clothes had not been laundered in weeks or months. "Most of what I had
seen had to be pre-existing for months if not years," he said in an
interview. There was also a "real prevalence of fear" among the
inmates, he said. "If I was to be placed in a TYC facility that would be
my last pick for sure," he added. Of the schooling available to inmates
in security cells, Mr. Harrell wrote in a report on his visit: "
'Education' consists of someone dropping a single sheet of paper through the
door slot each day which usually contains a cross work [sic] puzzle, a word
game or math problems." Three days after Mr. Harrell's visit, acting TYC
Executive Director Dimitria Pope dispatched her new
director of juvenile corrections to the Coke County facility. Billy Humphrey,
a former adult prison warden, told his boss that the facility was
"filthy" and that TYC needed to "take a much deeper look"
because he had a "very uncomfortable feeling," Mr. Hurley said. On
Sept. 26, a team of TYC officials made an unannounced visit to Coke. Ms. Pope
arrived at the facility last weekend and returned on Monday to Austin, where
she met with Alfonso Royal, the governor's liaison to TYC, and Brian Newby,
the governor's chief of staff. She then ordered the GEO contract canceled and
the youths moved to another TYC prison in Mart, near Waco. "She told us
that this needs to happen," said Robert Black, the governor's spokesman.
"And we told her if this needed to happen, she needed to do it."
Inmates were moved to TYC's McLennan County facility on buses escorted by DPS
troopers. TYC made room for the Coke County youth by moving dozens of Mart
inmates to other agency facilities, said Scott Medlock, an attorney for the
Texas Civil Rights Project. At least two TYC inmates he represents in legal
action against the agency were transferred to the Crockett State School in
East Texas, he said. TYC transferred the youth without notifying parents, he
said. "I've had panicked parents calling me all day, saying, 'I can't
find my kid,' " said Mr. Medlock. Problems persist -- State Sen. Juan
Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said Tuesday he has been concerned about GEO's
performance for years, a point he raised at a legislative hearing in August.
"I'm not surprised at what they [TYC officials] found," said Sen.
Hinojosa, an author of the 2007 law aimed at reforming TYC. "There are
still a lot of problems at TYC that we're trying to clean up." A GEO
news release issued Tuesday noted that its TYC contract generated quarterly
revenue of about $2 million and pre-tax quarterly earnings of about $200,000.
Now, the company plans to market the facility to state and federal detention
agencies around the country. In the meantime, it expects to lay off most of
the 140 employees. City and school district officials in Bronte said Tuesday
they had no advance notice of TYC's decision to close the Coke County
facility. The mayor and school superintendent blamed the decision on
politics. "It is straight from Gov. Perry's office. He wants this
facility closed," Mayor Gerald Sandusky said. "He's looking for public
image." "This facility does an outstanding job," Mr. Sandusky
added. "It couldn't be better."
October 2, 2007 Dallas Morning News
Texas Youth Commission officials will pull the 197 TYC inmates out of a
West Texas juvenile justice center today and cancel their contract with the
company that runs it, citing deplorable conditions at the state's largest
privately operated juvenile prison. "The decisive action ... is a clear
indication of the positive changes under way at the Texas Youth
Commission," Gov. Rick Perry said Monday. "I am deeply disappointed
that conditions at the facility have deteriorated to this point, but am
confident that today's actions will remedy the situation." The Coke
County Juvenile Justice Center in Bronte, operated by the Florida-based GEO
Group Inc. since 2003, has a history of abuse and neglect, including a 2006
suicide, allegations of sexual assault that were settled out of court, and
the 2004 death of a youth whose medical conditions were ignored. As recently
as this spring, the prison realized it had hired a registered sex offender as
a guard. An investigation by The Dallas Morning News in July detailed
problems at the facility. The coverage also documented problems at GEO
facilities in other states. A representative from GEO could not be reached
for comment on Monday. In the July article, spokesman Pablo Paez told The News that the company strives to provide
high-quality service and always reviews serious incidents to determine
"what corrective actions, if any, can be taken." After reports last
month of unsanitary conditions at Coke County, acting TYC Executive Director Dimitria Pope visited the facility last weekend for a
surprise audit. On Monday, she ordered that all youth be transferred to other
TYC units immediately. "TYC's No. 1 priority is the safety and well being of those youths under our care," Ms. Pope
said in a statement. "The unsafe conditions I witnessed at Coke County
this weekend are unacceptable. We have zero tolerance for any form of abuse
within the system, and those responsible parties will be held
accountable." Despite the high-profile cases reported at the Coke County
facility – and the fact that at least two other states have closed their GEO
facilities over reports of abuse and neglect – GEO and the company's previous
owner were allowed to renew their contract in Texas at least seven times. GEO
has the highest rate of alleged abuse among all TYC contractors. This is
hardly the first time GEO has run into trouble in state juvenile justice
systems. The U.S. Justice Department sued the company in 2000, when it was
known by a different name, alleging that youth inmates in a Louisiana
facility suffered abuse and neglect. All youth were removed from the facility
under a settlement. Five years later, Michigan closed its state prison run by
GEO after budget problems and a lawsuit over poor inmate care. Until
recently, TYC has continued to give GEO high marks, awarding the Coke County
outpost its "contract facility of the year" award in 1999 and again
in 2005. This despite a history of abuse and neglect at the facility,
including: • A 1999 lawsuit filed by former female inmates alleging sexual
abuse at the hands of Coke employees. The lawsuits, which involved girls
being forced into performing sexual act and dancing naked, were settled out
of court. • The death in 2004 of John Rodriguez, whose rashes, open sores and
spiking fever were overlooked for months by medical staff. • The hiring – and
eventual termination – of a registered sex offender to work as a prison
guard. The TYC acknowledged the GEO facility does its own hiring, and wasn't
held to the same standards as other non- contract prisons. • The 2006 suicide
of Robert Shulze, a 19-year-old inmate who
repeatedly threatened to harm himself and lost 23 pounds in two months.
Nurses never put Mr. Shulze on suicide watch, and
he hanged himself in his cell. Scott Browne, a Beaumont attorney representing
Mr. Schulze's family, commended the TYC on Monday for its action. "I
would hope that changes like this by TYC would help ensure that no one else
would suffer the way Robert Schulze did," Mr. Brown said. "...
Hopefully a move like this by TYC will get the attention of anyone who wants
to be in the private corrections business."
July 29, 2007 The Dallas Morning
News
Robert Schulze was scared. He threatened to harm himself unless he was moved
to another youth prison location. He lost 23 pounds in two months. Ten days
later, he hanged himself from the top bunk of his solitary cell. Texas Youth
Commission investigators presented a grim report on the prison's failings to
Gov. Rick Perry and other state officials in February. They could have
discovered even more disturbing details had they looked beyond Texas'
borders. A three-month Dallas Morning News investigation found that private
contractors housing juvenile inmates in Texas repeatedly have lost contracts
or shuttered operations in other states after investigators uncovered
mismanagement, neglect and physical and sexual abuse. In Colorado, a suicide
finally prompted state officials to close a private youth prison that
investigators said was plagued by violence and sexual abuse. In Arkansas,
former employees of a private juvenile facility said inmates were shackled
and left naked on the ground in sleeping bags. And in Michigan, a private
contractor was sued for allegedly allowing mentally ill inmates to languish
in solitary confinement. Last year, TYC spent nearly $17 million of its $249
million budget to do business with these and other private contractors. The
agency houses about 450 young inmates with 13 private operators. Legislative
reforms passed in the wake of the TYC sex abuse scandal largely overlooked
private contractors and focused instead on agency-run prisons. "They are
a much under-examined problem in the TYC system," said Scott Medlock, a
prisoners' rights attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project, which has
filed a class-action lawsuit against TYC alleging widespread inmate abuse.
The News focused its investigation on three private contractors with the
largest number of TYC inmates and high numbers of complaints – GEO Group,
Cornerstone Programs Corp. and Associated Marine Institutes. Those
contractors have been dogged by problems in Texas strikingly similar to what
led officials in other states to take action. Such problems include difficulties
in attracting qualified employees, high turnover rates and inadequate care
for inmates – sometimes with tragic consequences. States that hire
contractors with poor performance records "obviously have a very low
regard for our children," said Isabelle Zehnder, director of the
Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse, a child advocacy
organization in Washington state. "They're letting money or
circumstances stand above children." But Michele Deitch, an expert on
prison privatization at the University of Texas at Austin, said research
showed that privatization did not save money and that "private
facilities tend to have many more problems in performance, such as higher
levels of assaults, escapes, idleness." TYC officials said they were
reviewing the agency's policies on contractors but could not comment about
changes under consideration. However, just days after detailed questioning by
The News, TYC canceled bid requests for new contract facilities. Bidders
included contractors currently operating facilities in Texas that had a
history of problems in other states. The vetting process -- TYC first turned
to contractors in 1974 to relieve overcrowding. Contract care facilities vary
from group homes to large prisons, and over the years contractors have come
to provide specialized services not available at TYC prisons, such as care
for pregnant inmates. TYC's executive director makes the final decision to
hire a private contractor after a five-phase review process that includes
checks on the contractor's ability to provide adequate medical care and
educational and behavioral treatment. Companies with contracts terminated in
the last year "for deficiencies in performance" anywhere in the
country are ineligible to bid. And, under a new policy enacted in March as
the TYC sex abuse scandal unfolded, the agency reserved the right to declare
ineligible bidders with canceled contracts in the last three years. "We
ask for contracts [canceled] within 36 months, because this provides us with
additional information that might be important – [such as] funding, or lack
of funding," said Mark Higdon, TYC's business manager for contract
programs. "It might not be performance. It might be something else, and
we can look at that also." While a contract cancellation would clearly
be a red flag for TYC, there are many loopholes through which worrisome
contractors can pass. Arkansas officials, for example, let an agreement with
Associated Marine Institutes expire after an audit found the contractor had
mismanaged its billing and failed to provide proper services to young
inmates. Elsewhere, companies have negotiated deals allowing them to withdraw
from their contracts, or simply shut down after states have removed youth
from their facilities. Neither of these would constitute a terminated
contract as defined by Texas. Critics say that TYC requires private
contractors to provide less background information when bidding than it
should. For example, TYC does not request major incident reports or
disclosure of lawsuits against contractors, nor does it do any independent
research. In Florida, by contrast, companies must list and explain any
"correctional facility disturbances" – major incidents, such as
escapes or deaths – in any of the company's prisons. Such disturbances may be
the result of inadequate staffing, poor training or other factors and raise
warnings about a company's practices. TYC should require contractors to
provide all incident reports, said Ms. Deitch, a lawyer with 20 years'
experience in criminal justice policy issues. "It is absolutely
important that the contracting agency has this kind of background info,"
she said. "If problems occur, there can be liability concerns for the
state agency, and the costs of dealing with the problems can far exceed any
savings from going with a low-cost contractor." Elizabeth Lee, the new
acting coordinator for TYC contract care, acknowledged the agency has no
"established process for collecting information" on how its
contractors performed in other states. The important thing to consider, she
said, is what they're doing in Texas "and what we're doing to monitor
the care of our kids." Correcting contractors -- TYC regularly reviews
contract facilities. It checks program areas, such as staffing and security,
at least once a year. It also uses statistical information, such as rates of
confirmed mistreatment and the number of escapes, to evaluate operators. TYC
quality assurance monitors also make at least two unannounced visits per
year. If a facility has significant problems, it is put on a corrective
action plan, which outlines improvements and deadlines for them. The Coke
County youth prison, for example, was placed on a corrective action plan in
February after Robert Schulze's suicide. The plan required Coke to improve
staffing and procedures in solitary confinement. Records show that Coke was
also placed on a corrective action plan in July 2006 for deficiencies in case
management, which includes inmate monitoring and record keeping. Earlier this
month, TYC monitors visited WINGS for Life in Marion, just outside San
Antonio, which houses female inmates and their babies, to follow up on a
corrective action plan necessitated by deficiencies in staff training and
documentation. "If a facility fails any critical measure, we have to come
back and check it," said Jim Humphrey, the TYC quality assurance
supervisor for WINGS. TYC has the authority to fine contractors for problems,
but it has never done so in 33 years of outsourcing, officials said. "If
it comes to that, we would just stop the contract," said Paula Morelock, who recently retired after 17 years as TYC's
contract care coordinator. But it rarely does that. The News could find only
a few instances of TYC not renewing contracts because of poor performance.
TYC is required to retain contractor records for only a few years, so a full
review of the program was not possible. In 2001, TYC terminated its contract
with FIRST Program of Texas in Longview after repeated problems. One young
woman said that when she was at FIRST, it had chronic staff shortages.
"A lot of stuff took place that shouldn't have," said Michelle, a
22-year-old who asked that only her first name be used. "There were lots
of problems ... like staff having sex with the youth there and improper
restraints and lack of supervision." In 2004, TYC removed its youth from
the Hemphill County Juvenile Facility, then run by Correctional Services
Corp., a former state contractor, because of "grave concerns for the
safety of youth." The move followed a December 2003 complaint signed by
about 30 inmates. Still, an agency review conducted shortly after the letter
was sent gave the facility "above average" scores on all
performance measures. The facility was later placed on a corrective action
plan. A February 2004 update from TYC staff to Ms. Morelock
said: "Although they have not completed all items, the team does believe
that youth are safe and that the program is stable." But staffing
shortages followed, and in June 2004, TYC removed its youth from the
facility. "We feel like we do a lot of good monitoring and do our very
best to ensure that the youth receive quality services," Ms. Morelock said. When contracts expire, TYC determines
whether the facility met the terms of its agreement. The contractor completes
a renewal packet, and then youth commission officials visit the facility to
determine whether to extend the contract for another two years. More often
than not, Ms. Morelock said, contracts are renewed.
Critics say that TYC needs to change its policy and open the process to outside
bidders each time a contract comes up for renewal. A question of oversight --
TYC already has come under fire for lax employment guidelines that allowed
contractors to hire convicted felons or even sex offenders. A Texas state
auditor report in March urged TYC to ban contractors from hiring employees
with convictions and to require background checks of applicants. Even with
background checks, some workers with criminal records have slipped through. A
registered sex offender employed by the GEO-run Coke County Juvenile Justice
Center was fired in March. Ms. Morelock said the
facility told TYC that it ran a background check on the worker, but his
criminal records did not turn up. GEO said the correctional officer's prior
record was not uncovered because juvenile records in Texas are sealed. [See
dallasnews.com for further GEO comment.] The Texas Juvenile Probation
Commission, which licenses county facilities, found the Garza County Regional
Juvenile Center in Post out of compliance last year because it failed to do
criminal background checks on employees before they were hired. In a unique
arrangement, TYC contracts with the county, which in turn hired a private
operator, Colorado-based Cornerstone Programs, to run the Garza facility. TYC
relied on the county to vet the contractor's background, Ms. Morelock said. A Garza County official said he did not
know what, if any, backgrounding of Cornerstone had been done. It's
impossible to know whether other employees of private contract facilities
have criminal records because, unlike workers at state-run facilities, their
names are not public information. "The fact that [these] facilities are
private simply adds one more layer of opaqueness to the process," said
Ms. Deitch, the UT adjunct professor. A few of the TYC legislative reforms
will carry over to private operators. Their guards' training hours must match
that of TYC employees, their younger inmates must be separated from older
ones, and contractors must now conduct fingerprint background checks on all
employees and volunteers in contact with youth. "Some of the contractors
were already doing that [fingerprinting], but just as a safeguard we're
putting it in the contract that they all have to do it now," said the
TYC's Ms. Lee. TYC officials say the most valuable part of the agency's
monitoring is staff visits to facilities. "They're looking at
grievances, they're talking to kids, they're talking to staff and they're
reviewing incident reports," Ms. Lee said. In general, though, TYC
relies heavily on its contractors to police themselves. Contractors are
required to forward inmate abuse allegations, although agency monitors have
raised concerns that not all make it to TYC. Contractors also must report
serious incidents to local law enforcement, but TYC reviews found facilities
that failed to do so. Critics of privatized juvenile care think more state
oversight is necessary. "Child welfare and juvenile justice systems have
both a legal and moral obligation to protect kids from harm, which means they
have a responsibility to exercise due diligence when it comes to placing
youths in certain types of facilities," said Dr. Ronald Davidson, a
university psychologist frequently hired by the Illinois Department of
Children and Family Services to review juvenile care. "Whether we look
at this situation in terms of public policy or simple morality, the question
we have to ask is whether our society ought to be in the business of funding
gulags for children."
July 29, 2007 The Dallas Morning
News
The Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, run by the GEO Group Inc., is Texas'
largest private juvenile prison and has had the highest rate of alleged abuse
among TYC's contractors over the last seven years. The Florida-based GEO has
renewed, extended or renegotiated its contract with the Texas Youth
Commission at least seven times since it first won the contract to run the
Coke facility in June 1994. During that time, at least two other states have
closed their GEO-run juvenile facilities because of inadequate care of
inmates and abuse allegations. The U.S. Justice Department sued the company
in 2000, when it was known as Wackenhut Corrections Corp., alleging that
juveniles at the company's Louisiana facility were subjected to excessive
abuse and neglect. Wackenhut agreed to a settlement that provided for
sweeping changes to Louisiana's juvenile justice system and required the
company to move all juveniles from its facility. The former security chief
pleaded guilty in 2001 to beating a 17-year-old handcuffed inmate with a mop
handle. In October 2005, Michigan closed the state's private youth prison run
by GEO after an advocacy group sued the prison over inadequate inmate care.
Budget shortfalls also played into the prison's closure. Tom Masseau, director of government and media relations for
Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service Inc., said his watchdog group found
juvenile inmates who needed special education but were not receiving it and
inmates who were not receiving appropriate mental health care. The prison
also managed problem juveniles by putting them in solitary confinement, he
said. Mr. Masseau said his group tried to work with
GEO and the state before filing a lawsuit, but the problems remained unsolved
and inmates faced reprisals. "The youth would report back that they were
retaliated against for meeting with us," Mr. Masseau
said. "We said enough is enough." The group's lawsuit against the
state is pending, but GEO was dropped as a defendant because it closed the
facility and left the state. GEO sued the state for alleged wrongful
termination of the lease agreement, which is also pending. TYC accolades --
In 1999, TYC named GEO's Coke County operation its "contract facility of
the year." The same year, former female inmates filed several federal
civil rights lawsuits alleging they were sexually abused by Coke employees.
(TYC had moved all girls from the facility a year earlier.) The lawsuits –
which eventually resulted in confidential settlements – were filed four years
after TYC confirmed allegations that some staff members coerced girls into
performing sexual acts or dancing naked, according to a court document and a
report by Michele Deitch, a prison privatization expert at the University of
Texas, and others. "Given GEO's track record generally and the general
record of these for-profit private prison companies, I have serious concerns
about them running any correctional institutions ... especially when such
egregious wrongdoing was going on," Scott Medlock, an attorney at the
Texas Civil Rights Project, said. The Coke County facility routinely hired
unqualified workers, said Isela Gutierrez, juvenile justice initiative
director at the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. Former Coke County guard
John Christman, who now lives in New York, said he
witnessed that problem firsthand. He worked there for nearly a year and said
he initially loved it. But he eventually grew frustrated with the company's
poor hiring standards and staff shortages. The company met its
guard-to-inmate ratios by making employees work extra shifts, he said. "I
was working five, six days a week, 12-hour days, overtime," Mr. Christman said. "It's hard to get people to go into
that line of work." He quit his post but returned about 18 months later,
in 2001, after he heard that working conditions had improved. Unfortunately,
he said, not much had changed and he left shortly thereafter. TYC again named
Coke County contract facility of the year in 2005. And, during the past seven
years, TYC quality-assurance monitors have awarded it mostly good scores on
planned and unplanned inspections there. But some recent problems were
reported: During an unscheduled visit in April, a TYC monitor discovered that
a staff member had falsified an accusation against an inmate. The young man
was put in solitary confinement on April 16. Two days later – on the morning
of the unannounced visit – his paperwork already noted that he'd committed an
infraction that would extend his stay in solitary confinement. "This was
alarming because it was only 9:30 a.m. and the incident had not occurred yet,"
the monitor reported. The TYC monitor notified the warden, who released the
inmate from solitary and told the security director "that writing
incident reports prior to the incident was not allowed," the report
said. Suicide inquiry -- TYC's investigation into Robert Schulze's suicide
offers a bleak picture of the facility. "Robert's cries for help – to be
assigned to a dorm where he felt safe or to be transferred to Gainesville
State School – were never adequately addressed," a February 2007 report
noted. A guard promptly turned in Robert's note in which he threatened to
harm himself unless his dorm assignment was changed. Robert then asked to go
to solitary confinement because he felt unsafe, but he was not put on suicide
watch. He stayed in solitary confinement for nine days, refusing to return to
his dorm because of safety concerns. His case manager made only one
documented visit with him during that period. He was not given prescribed
medication during his time at Coke and lost 23 pounds in two months. No one
checked his food intake. None of that was brought to the doctor's attention,
and a medical review was never conducted, the TYC investigation revealed. The
nursing staff also "failed to discover three original prescriptions for
antidepressants and a mood stabilizer that had been prescribed by a
consulting psychiatrist ... on July 28," TYC later reported. Eight days
before Robert hanged himself on Sept. 28, 2006, "he filed a TYC
complaint form stating that he makes self-referrals to ... [solitary confinement]
to get away from harm and people who threaten him," TYC said in its
report. It's not clear anyone saw the complaint before his death. "The
form got lost in a stack of mail on the TYC staff member's desk," the
investigative report said. TYC's investigation found that Coke County's
solitary cell unit had only one staffer on the floor – in violation of the
required two guards – at the time of the hanging. The one guard on duty
failed to make contact with each inmate every 10 minutes, as required. For
more than an hour, no one checked on the despondent inmate. After Robert's
dinner tray arrived, it sat for 28 minutes before the guard took it to his
cell and discovered him unresponsive. The guard was disciplined with training
and five days of unpaid suspension. TYC put the facility on a corrective
action plan, which required it to improve the deficiencies that contributed
to Robert's death. GEO spokesman Pablo Paez said
the company strives to provide high-quality service and conducts thorough
reviews after any serious incident to determine "what corrective
actions, if any, can be taken." An attorney for the family of the
19-year-old said they had no comment.
March 13, 2007 KTRK
Two inmates discovered missing from a West Texas youth prison overnight
were captured Monday in Eagle Pass after a woman saw them in a convenience
store and thought they looked suspicious, authorities said. Coke County
Sheriff Rick Styles said the woman thought the two were illegal immigrants
and called the Maverick County Sheriff's Office, which arrested them. Styles
said he expected the two to be returned to Bronte in a few days. He said the
two allegedly stole a pickup in Bronte and left it in Eagle Pass. Two other
inmates at the Texas Youth Commission's Coke County Juvenile Justice Center
were found hiding in the attic after staff were told that a vent had fallen
out of the ceiling, said TYC spokesman Jim Hurley. Another inmate said
insulation had fallen on his face. Investigators searched both inside and
outside the facility. No breach had been found in the perimeter fence, he
said. The 17- and-18-year-old missing inmates, both Hispanic males, were not
imprisoned for violent crimes, Hurley said. The facility in Bronte drew
attention last week after a convicted sex offender was fired from his post as
a correctional officer. David Andrew Lewis, 23, said he told his employer of
his background when he applied for the job. He was hired in August 2006 by a
private contractor. State officials have said the case demonstrated that
private prison operators don't always check employees' juvenile records.
March 12, 2007 The Monitor
Two detainees of a Texas Youth Commission contract prison in West Texas
are missing. The boys, ages 17 and 18, were both non-violent offenders. One
is serving time in the high-security facility for burglary of a vehicle; the
other for violating conditions of parole, said Jim Hurley, TYC spokesman.
They are missing from the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center in Bronte,
which is run by GEO Inc. At about 3 a.m. Monday a vent fell from a ceiling
dorm, prompting guards to conduct a bed count, Hurley said. They discovered
four youth were missing, but two were later found, he said. Hurley said TYC
would not release the names or description of the missing youth because they
were not considered to be a danger to the public. It is possible the youth
are still inside the facility because there is so far no indication the
razor-wire fence that surrounds the Coke County center was breached, Hurley
said. Monday’s discovery at the 200-bed facility is another in a long line of
problems at the TYC. The agency that runs the Evins
Regional Juvenile Center in Edinburg was placed governor-appointed management
in February among a sex scandal and wide reports of youth abuse.
March 10, 2007 KRIS TV
A convicted sex offender who was fired this week from his job at a West
Texas youth prison said he told his employer of his background when he
applied for the job. David Andrew Lewis, 23, was fired from the Texas Youth
Commission's Coke County Juvenile Justice Center when state investigators
discovered he was a convicted sex offender. State leaders dispatched law
enforcement officials to all 22 commission facilities and its headquarters
this week to investigate claims of sexual abuse of inmates by employees.
Lewis was fired by the GEO Group, a Florida-based private company that runs
the all-male facility in Bronte, about 30 miles northeast of San Angelo.
Lewis said Thursday that he showed a sex offender registration card to his
prospective employers when he was being interviewed for a job as a
correctional officer in August 2006. "They said to wait for the
background check to go through," Lewis said, adding that he also
presented other paperwork related to his offense. Lewis was 15 when he was
convicted in 1999 of indecency by exposure with a 5-year-old girl, according
to a Texas Department of Public Safety Web site listing sex offenders. He is
required to register annually as a sex offender. Pablo Paez,
director of corporate relations for the GEO Group, said the company conducts
background checks on new hires and re-runs the checks annually. The Texas
Department of Public Safety checks off on the company's employees, he said.
"In this particular case, we conducted a background check through DPS and
received clearance from DPS," Paez said. The
Texas Department of Public Safety, which does not make public the records of
juvenile offenders, referred a call for comment to Gov. Rick Perry's office.
Perry spokesman Ted Royer said the case highlights why the special master and
new executive director "are going to completely rewrite the
playbook" for how the agency operates. "Having sex offenders guard
prisoners is totally unacceptable, and if an agency contract prohibits the
hiring of registered sex offenders then that needs to be enforced,"
Royer told The Associated Press on Friday. "There needs to be a clear
delineation of consequences if a contractor goes against those rules."
State officials have said Lewis' case demonstrated that private prison
operators don't always check their employees' juvenile records. Texas Youth
Commission spokesman Tim Savoy said the agency's contracts with the private
operators prohibit hiring registered sex offenders, but the agency doesn't
"have any control over who they hire."
March 7, 2007 San Antonio
Express-News
Law enforcement officers who earlier this week moved into the Texas Youth
Commission facilities to protect inmates from sex predators on Wednesday
discovered a registered sex offender working as a correctional officer in a
halfway house for juveniles. The sex offender had been allowed to stay on the
job despite an alert that had been sent months ago to TYC administrators in
Austin. David Andrew Lewis, 23, was discovered by investigators sent to TYC's
22 facilities after reports of sex abuse stunned lawmakers. Lewis was
employed at the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, a juvenile halfway house
30 miles from San Angelo run by the Geo Group, a private prison company.
TYC's acting executive director, Ed Owens, said a facility staff member had
months ago warned agency officials in Austin of Lewis' sex offender status,
but was rebuffed. The tipster “was told he was a company employee and that
the company needed to deal with their employee,” Owens said, adding that the
incident was yet another illustration of the systemic failures plaguing TYC.
Owens said once he learned of Lewis' background Wednesday, he called the Geo
Group and they suspended him. It was not clear if the Geo Group had learned
months earlier of Lewis' sex offender status. No one in its Florida
headquarters could immediately be reached for comment Wednesday evening.
Owens said that there was no evidence Lewis acted inappropriately with any
juveniles. Lewis was 15 when he was forced to register for 13 sexual indecency
acts against a 5-year-old girl. His case is posted on the Texas Department of
Public Safety web site of registered sex offenders. With that history, it
remained a mystery how Lewis could have been hired to work with juveniles in
the first place. Criminal background checks are required for all TYC
employees and those hired by private contractors to work with TYC juveniles.
July 27, 2001
Inmate awards were upheld by an appeals court in a case where young inmates
said they were sexually abused by Wackenhut Corrections Corporation
employees. But the inmates' attorney was sanctioned for disclosing the
terms of the confidential agreement. Background: Several girls said
they were sexually and mentally abused by Wackenhut employees at the Coke County
Juvenile Justice Center in Bronte, Texas. Wackenhut owns and operates
the facility. The claims were settled in mediation for 1.5 million.
Wackenhut was to prepare the settlement papers by Oct. 8, 1999, and wire
transfer the settlement funds to the inmates' attorney by Oct. 15, 1999.
However, Wackenhut failed to do so. The attorney filed a motion to
enforce the settlement agreement, but failed to do so under seal, which
exposed the terms of the settlement agreement and resulted in a newspaper
article about the deal. Wackenhut then moved to set aside the
settlement and sought sanctions against the inmates' counsel. The court
referred the matter to a magistrate judge who found the inmates' counsel had
acted in bad faith. However, he recommended upholding the settlement.
(Corrections Professional)
May 17, 2001
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a district court's decision
to levy a $15,000 fine and imposed a number of sanctions on attorneys
representing nine girls held at the juvenile detention facility in this West
Texas city. During mediation in 1999, the former detainees' attorneys
reached a $1.5 million settlement agreement with Wackenhut Corrections
Corp. The girls had alleged they were sexually, physically, and
mentally abused by employees. In an agreement reached in October 1999,
Wackenhut did not admit liability and said the payment was for "alleged
personal injuries only." Details were confidential and remained
under seal until the detainees' attorneys disclosed the terms when they filed
a motion to enforce the settlement without sealing it, Wackenhut
claimed. Confidentiality was at the heart of the settlement
agreement. "The unsealed motion exposed the terms of the
settlement agreement and resulted in a newspaper article regarding the agreement,"
Judge Carl E. Stewart wrote. (AP)
Cold Springs Correctional Facility (Mansfield Boot Camp)
Fort Worth, Texas
Correctional Services Corporation
October 22, 2005 Sarasota Herald
Tribune
Correctional Services Corp. has settled a $38.3 million judgment that held
the company responsible for the death of an 18-year-old inmate at a Texas
boot camp. Terms of the agreement are confidential, but the Sarasota-based
prison manager said Friday it will pay $2.7 million toward the settlement.
The rest will be covered by CSC's liability insurers, which initially balked
at paying the award. The agreement is contingent on the closing of CSC's
previously announced sale to The GEO Group Inc. for $62 million. CSC
shareholders will vote on the sale Nov. 4. If that deal falls through, so
does the settlement. A Texas jury in August 2003 found CSC and a nurse at the
now-closed Mansfield boot camp responsible for the death of Bryan D.
Alexander. Alexander, serving a six-month sentence for a misdemeanor driving
conviction, died in 2001 of a rare penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia.
Trial testimony showed he was treated for a cold and flu even though he had
coughed up blood for five days before his death. His parents sued CSC and
nurse Knyvett Reyes for their loss and anguish.
Reyes was convicted of negligent homicide and was sentenced to four years of
community supervision. She also surrendered her registered nurse's license.
The judgment against CSC and Reyes included $35 million in actual damages,
$750,000 in punitive damages and more than $2.4 million in interest. The
settlement will resolve all claims and lawsuits against CSC and Reyes. It
also will end a dispute between CSC and its liability insurers over who should
pay. Boca Raton-based GEO is paying $62 million in cash, or $6 a share, and
assuming $124 million in liabilities to acquire CSC. It will then sell the
Youth Services International subsidiary to CSC president James Slattery for
$3.75 million. That unit manages programs at 17 centers with 1,300 beds. GEO
will acquire the adult division that owns or operates 15 facilities with
7,500 beds. GEO manages 41 prisons and jails with 36,000 beds in the United
States, Australia, South Africa and Canada. Shares of CSC were selling for
$5.91 on the Nasdaq at the close of trading Friday, up 1 cent.
October 22, 2005 NEWS8 Austin
The corporate parent of a now-defunct Mansfield detention facility has
reached an out-of-court settlement with the family of a teenager who died
while serving time at its boot camp. Correctional Services Corp. announced
the settlement yesterday with the family of Bryan Alexander. The 18-year-old
died in 2001 while serving a six-month sentence for a drunken-driving arrest.
Alexander's family was awarded nearly $40 million in damages by a Tarrant
County jury in 2003. But the details of Friday's settlement have not been
released. Under the agreement, the boy's family will not file any new suits
or pursue appeals against Tarrant County or its criminal-court judges. The
boy's parents sued the company and camp nurse after he died from
penicillin-resistant pneumonia. Although the teen complained of weakness and
was coughing up blood, the camp had waited several days before taking him to
a hospital. The suit claimed the camp and nurse failed to provide the teen
with adequate and timely medical care.
September 30, 2005 Star-Telegram
U.S. District Court Judge Terry Means on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit
against Tarrant County and its criminal court judges over the death of a
teen-ager who was serving a sentence at the former Mansfield boot camp four
years ago. Means left the door open for attorneys representing the family of
Bryan Alexander to sue the judges in state court. A lawsuit against the
county has been thrown out of state court. Alexander, 18, died in January
2001 while serving a six-month sentence for drunken driving. While at the
camp, he complained of feeling weak and coughing up blood. Days later, he was
taken to John Peter Smith Hospital, where he was immediately put into
intensive care. He died two days later. Tests indicated that he had a rare,
penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia. In the federal lawsuit, Alexander's
family said the county, and the judges individually, should be held liable
because they didn't properly monitor Correctional Services Corp., the company
contracted to run the camp. A year ago, Means denied the judges judicial
immunity, saying they were acting not as judges but as managers of the
facility. But in his ruling Wednesday, Means said public officials do enjoy
immunity from lawsuits for damages providing that their conduct does not
clearly violate an individual's rights.
February 10, 2005 Star Telegram
Several Tarrant County judges sued over a death at the defunct boot camp are
being accused of unethical behavior for considering cases involving the
attorneys who are suing them. Defense attorneys Charlie Smith and Bill Lane
say that state district judges Sharen Wilson and George Gallagher have
decided that they will not automatically transfer those cases to other
courts. Since January 2003, the judges have routinely transferred cases
handled by Smith and Lane to other courts after the attorneys filed a federal
civil rights lawsuit against them and the county. In the federal lawsuit, the
attorneys say that sloppy oversight by the judges allowed an array of
problems to continue at the former Mansfield boot camp, where 18-year-old
inmate Bryan Alexander died. Lane and Smith are among several attorneys
representing the Alexander family. U.S. District Judge Terry Means ruled in
August that the judges can be held liable individually, along with the
county, because they were acting as managers of the facility operated by
Correctional Services Corp. Smith filed a motion to remove Wilson from
hearing a felony theft case on Tuesday. In the filing, he described the
judge's decision to deny a transfer as "clear evidence" of
hostility toward him. Denying Smith's motion "creates a reasonable doubt
as to Judge Sharen Wilson's capacity to act impartially as a judge in
connection with this case," court documents state.
August 27, 2004
Tarrant County's criminal court judges are not protected by judicial immunity
in a civil rights lawsuit stemming from the death of a teen-ager at the
former Mansfield boot camp, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Court
Judge Terry Means said the judges can be held liable individually, along with
the county, because they were acting not as judges, but as managers of the
facility operated by Correctional Services Corp. The judges helped
establish the budgets and approved the selection of the private prison
operator "in spite of a significant history of operational
deficiencies," attorneys for the teen-ager's family have argued.
"The court concludes that the defendant judges are not entitled to
judicial immunity," Means wrote this week. "It's huge,"
Mark Haney, the family's attorney, said of Means' ruling. "The judges
can be held personally accountable for establishing policies and procedures
... that routinely denied access to medical care to the
detainees." In July, Means denied a claim by Northland Insurance
Co., CSC's insurance carrier, stating that its policies do not cover the
judgment against them. (Star-Telegram)
February 25, 2004
Mid-States Services - the Hurst company in line to take over Tarrant County's
jail food contract if the current company fails to do a better job -- has its
own food-quality problems, a former Mid-States manager told commissioners
Tuesday. Emilio Gonzalez, who until January was director of operations
for Mid-States, said the former jail contractor often took outdated food from
its commissary operations and served it to inmates after removing packaging
that listed the freshness dates. "Vendors need to make a profit,
but it doesn't need to be at the county's expense," Gonzalez told county
commissioners Tuesday during their meeting. Mid-States Chief Executive
John Sammons said the allegations are untrue and blamed them on a competitor
that he declined to name. Sammons said some boxes of outdated food were
found in Mid-States' stocks when the company provided food service to the
jail, but he said those boxes had already been designated for disposal when
jailers told the company to remove them. "This is another desperate
attempt by those who would like to cause Mid- States problems, at a time when
the commissioners are looking at us as a back-up supplier," he
said. Last week, commissioners put current contractor Aramark
Correctional Services on 30 days' notice to improve the quality of food and
service or be removed from the contract. Mid-States, which held the
jail food contract until December, was designated as a backup supplier if
Aramark failed to meet the terms. Sheriff Dee Anderson said Tuesday
that in the week since the commissioners issued the ultimatum, Aramark has
made improvements and inmate complaints are declining. Checks of the
food service have found improved food temperatures and larger portions, he
said. But the company still has a long way to go to be acceptable, he
said. "If I had to make a recommendation today, I'd cancel the
contract," Anderson said. As to Gonzalez's allegations about
Mid-States, Anderson said he would discuss them with commissioners.
"If any of it is true, it's disturbing," he said. Gonzalez
apologized to commissioners for not coming forward sooner, and said that
during contract deliberations last fall he was still employed by Mid-States
and feared retaliation. He said he resigned because of concerns about
Mid-States' operations. Sammons said that Gonzalez left Mid-States on good
terms to take another job and that he was disappointed by the comments.
An Aramark spokeswoman did not return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday
but has said Aramark officials believe they are meeting contractual
obligations. Commissioners did not discuss Gonzalez's comments at the
Tuesday meeting because the issue was not posted as an item for
consideration. After the meeting, however, commissioners questioned the
timing of the comments. "I'm always grateful for people to come
forward, but it's odd that he would come forward at this time," Precinct
1 Commissioner Dionne Bagsby said. Precinct 3
Commissioner Glen Whitley said he gave no credence to Gonzalez's comments and
would vote to bring in Mid-States if Aramark did not improve its
service. "It just amazes me that this guy shows up to speak
against Mid-States a week after we put Aramark on 30-days' notice," he
said. Mid-States was the food service operator that served meals to
inmates in the Tarrant County Jail until Aramark won a $3.3 million contract
over Mid-States, Mid-America and Canteen Correctional Services.
Mid-America -- run by former Mid-States executive Jack Madera -- operates the
jail commissary, which sells toiletries and snack items to jail inmates.
Madera has been indicted along with two other men on charges that they used a
forged document to win a jail food-service contract in Kaufman County.
The indictments stem from an investigation into whether Madera influenced
Dallas County Sheriff Jim Bowles with thousands of dollars in favors before
Bowles picked Madera's company for a $20 million jail commissary
contract. The scope has widened to include Madera's dealings with other
counties, including Tarrant and Denton. (Lawyer Texas Parole)
February
19, 2004
It would be easy to dismiss inmates' complaints about jail food simply as
whining -- not worthy of serious attention because incarceration is not meant
to be a pleasant experience. But in the case of the Tarrant County Jail
and the meals being served by its newly contracted food service provider,
Aramark Correctional Services, the food being distributed to prisoners not
only does not meet the taste test -- it may actually pose health risks.
Inmates have been complaining about the quality of the food since Aramark
began serving the county's four jail sites in December under a $3.3 million
annual contract. In response to the complaints and boycott of the meals
by some prisoners, county purchasing director Jack Beacham and other county
officials went to inspect the food service operation. Beacham said they
saw 17 pans of soured pinto beans, discovered foods that were being kept at
improper temperatures, and witnessed one employee drop tortillas on the floor
and then place them back on the service line. (Lawyer Texas Parole)
December 3, 2003
Visiting State District Judge Roger Towery has
ruled that Sarasota, Fla.-based Correctional Services Corp. must pay a $38 million
judgment that was awarded earlier this summer to the parents of a young man
who died at a Mansfield, Tex., boot camp in 2001. In August, a jury in
Fort Worth's 236th District Court awarded the family of Bryan Alexander $35
million in actual damages and $5.1 million in punitive damages following an
eight-week trial. Alexander died from a penicillin-resistant form of
pneumonia he contracted while participating in a six-month boot camp program
as a condition of his misdemeanor probation. Evidence in the case showed that
Alexander, who was 18 years old, died after CSC employees ignored his pleas
for medical attention for days. In September, Judge Towery
set the actual damages at $37.4 million, including interest, and reduced the
punitive damages to $750,000. CSC responded by asking the court to reduce or
set aside the entire judgment, arguing that there was "no legally or
factually sufficient evidence to support the jury's findings." CSC
President James Slattery told CSC investors during a recent conference call
that the company expected the court to reduce the $38 million judgment. In
his ruling issued yesterday, the judge denied all of CSC's motions.
"We are pleased that once again the jury's verdict in this case has been
upheld," says attorney Jeff Kobs, a partner in
Fort Worth's Kobs & Haney, who represented the
Alexander family along with Fort Worth attorney Bill Lane. "We are
confident that the Courts will continue to deny CSC's repeated attacks on the
jury's decision." As a result of this ruling, CSC has until Dec.
16, 2003, to file its notice of appeal, and the company must also post a $25
million bond by Dec. 28, 2003, in order to prevent the Alexander family from
attempting to collect the judgment amount. Interest has been accruing at a
rate of $5,250 per day since the original judgment was entered in
September. In a related federal court action, CSC's insurance carrier,
Northland Insurance Co., is seeking a declaration that its policies do not
cover the $38 million judgment. CSC is arguing that the Northland policies
should cover the judgment amount, and that Northland acted improperly in
failing to settle the claims prior to the jury's verdict. For more
information on the court's ruling, please contact attorney Jeff Kobs at 817.332.5956, attorney Bill Lane at 817.625.5570,
or Bruce Vincent at 214.559.4630 or pager 888.361.8452. (yahoo.com)
October 10, 2003
Day in and day out, workers sling hash to feed the
3,500 Tarrant County Jail inmates three hot meals a day. But as companies line up this month to bid for a
multimillion-dollar food-services contract, the focus has shifted from
slinging hash to slinging mud. Two of
the companies expected to bid on the contract are run by former business
partners turned bitter rivals. Sealed
bids are due to the Tarrant County purchasing department by Oct. 27. The
contract, now held by Hurst-based Mid-States Services, is worth about $4.1
million a year. Among the companies
expected to bid is Dallas-based Mid-America Services, run by Jack Madera. He
has a long history of winning lucrative contracts and maintaining friendships
with elected officials who have a say in whether the company gets public
business. Mid-America will compete for
the contract against Mid-States, which Madera started in 1970 and sold in
February 1999. John Sammons, chief
executive of Mid-States and one of the investors who bought the company from
Madera, said there is more to the bid than just a second helping of cafeteria
business. "Our group is committed
to running this company with integrity," Sammons said. "There is a
clear-cut delineation between the Mid-States of the past and the Mid-States
of today. "The kind of customer
base we want is the kind who embraces integrity in government."
Business and pleasure Many in Texas law enforcement
consider Madera a friend, including Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson,
whose office oversees jail operations including the kitchen. "The relationship began when I was elected,"
Anderson said. "Jack was, at that point, a consultant for Mid-States.
"Both he and John [Sammons] became friends of
mine and supporters." Sammons says
Madera's ties to law-enforcement officials prompted him to keep Madera on
board as a consultant after Madera sold Mid-States in 1999. Madera and Sammons parted ways in March 2002, when Madera
started Mid-America after a three-year non-competition agreement expired with
Mid-States. Madera looked to his old
friends to help his new business and promptly won contracts in Dallas and
Denton counties. There are two types of
contracts: food-services contracts, under which the county pays companies to
provide meals to inmates, and commissary contracts, under which companies
sell snacks and other items to inmates and return a portion of the proceeds
to the county. Sheriffs control jail
commissaries, including selection of the companies that handle the services.
Bids are required, and county proceeds must be used to benefit inmates.
A provision applying only to Tarrant County requires
commissioners court approval of commissary contracts. Some of Madera's contracts have raised eyebrows. In
Dallas, Madera's relationship with Sheriff Jim Bowles has been criticized
since Bowles awarded the commissary contract to Mid-America in June 2002.
One Dallas County official labeled the contract a
"bad business decision," and questions have been raised about
whether Madera exerted undue influence through his friendships. But no
specific allegations of wrongdoing have been voiced publicly. Madera's bid in Dallas County gave the sheriff's department
about $600,000 a year, less than what was offered by two other competitors,
including Mid-States. In Tarrant
County, Anderson awarded Madera's Mid-America the contract for commissary
services in April. The company sells aspirin, snacks, soap and other items
from carts, dubbed "banana wagons," that workers wheel through the
jail. Under the commissary contract,
Madera will pay the sheriff's office at least $750,000 a year. As was the
case in Denton and Dallas counties, Madera won the Tarrant County business by
beating out Mid-States, which held the existing contracts. 'No hidden agenda' Anderson says he is
confident that the bidding will be above board, as he says it was when he
awarded Mid-America the commissary contract. Tarrant County commissioners are expected to vote on the
food-services contract by Dec. 31. Six companies are expected to submit bids,
which will be analyzed by an evaluation committee. Anderson said the current commissary contract shows that
local officials are committed to hammering out the best deal possible.
"I believe we have the most lucrative contract
for any county in the state," Anderson said. "It is second to
none." Anderson said he has
lunched regularly and dined occasionally with Madera and has dined with
Sammons, played golf at his country club and seen a Dallas Stars game from a
luxury box, all at Sammons' expense. "I
don't do anything in secret," Anderson said. "There is no hidden
agenda. "Because we are clients,
we have a relationship with those people," he said. "Certainly,
nothing improper has taken place." Sammons also said there is nothing improper about his
relationship with Anderson. "Building
relationships is part of doing business in the public and the private
sector," Sammons said. "It is hard to develop trust."
Madera would not comment to the Star-Telegram
except to say he intends to bid on the jail food-services contract and that
he denies any inappropriate relationships with Tarrant County officials.
"There is nothing inappropriate going on in
Dallas, either," Madera said. Commissioner
J.D. Johnson, who represents Precinct 4, in the northwest part of the county,
said his 15- to 20-year friendship with Madera has not influenced county
business. "I've always tried to
vote for what I thought was the best deal, and it's what I'll do this
time," Johnson said. Sammons,
however, said he'll watch the bidding closely to ensure that he's treated fairly.
He won't be alone. Patrick Turner, regional sales director for Aramark Corp.,
which also expects to bid on the contract, said: "On a level playing
field, we have always been able to compete. But that's always been the
question, whether it has always been a level playing field."
(Star-Telegram)
September
18, 2003
Visiting State District Judge Roger Towery has
signed a $38.3 million judgment against Sarasota, Fla.-based Correctional
Services Corp. in a lawsuit over the death of an 18-year-old man who died at
a Mansfield boot camp in 2001. The judgment, entered yesterday in
Tarrant County's 236th District Court, includes $37.4 million in actual
damages plus interest and $750,000 in punitive damages. In August, a Fort
Worth jury awarded $35 million in actual damages and $5.1 million in punitive
damages to the family of Bryan Alexander. The punitive damages were reduced
in the judgment under Texas punitive damage caps. According to the
lawsuit, Alexander died on Jan. 9, 2001, from a penicillin-resistant form of
pneumonia while participating in a six-month boot camp program as a condition
of his misdemeanor probation. Alexander chose the boot camp over jail time.
He died after his pleas for medical attention were ignored for days.
"This judgment sends a clear signal that the original verdict in this
case was sound," says Jeff Kobs, a partner in
Fort Worth's Kobs & Haney, who represented the
Alexander family along with Fort Worth attorney Bill Lane. During
trial, Kobs and Lane argued that Alexander's medical
condition should have triggered a response from the boot camp nurse or other
employees of CSC. Evidence in the case showed that Alexander experienced
difficulty breathing and began coughing up blood at least five days before
his death. CSC eventually transferred Alexander to a local hospital, but he
died less than 36 hours after being admitted. "Bryan's was a
senseless death that should never have happened," Lane says. "The
Alexander family hopes this judgment will send a clear message to CSC and other
for-profit correctional companies, and that no other families are forced to
suffer a similar ordeal." Under Texas law, CSC has 30 days to
appeal the judgment, ask for a new trial, or pay the $38.3 million judgment.
If CSC appeals the judgment, state law would delay the payment of the
judgment if CSC posts a $25 million bond. For more information on the
judgment in this case, please contact attorney Jeff Kobs
at 817.332.5956, attorney Bill Lane at 817.625.5570, or Bruce Vincent at
214.559.4630 or pager 888.361.8452. (Yahoo Finance)
September 6, 2003
A state judge in Montague County is set to hear arguments today to finalize
$40.1 million in damages that a jury awarded last month to the parents of an
Arlington man who died while at the former Mansfield boot camp. Correctional
Services Corp. and its nurse Knyvett Reyes were
found responsible for the Jan. 9, 2001, death of Bryan Alexander. The
18-year-old probationer died of a rare lung infection after his complaints of
feeling weak and coughing up blood went ignored for days. A Tarrant County
jury decided that the Florida-based company, which contracted to run the
camp, and its nurse should pay $35 million for Alexander's death, his
suffering and his parents' loss. The jury then added $5.1 million in punitive
damages, with CSC to pay most of the judgment. Attorneys for CSC and Reyes
are expected to appeal the verdict. CSC Chief Executive James Slattery said
his attorneys intend to "request that the court set aside the jury's
verdict." "Mr. Alexander died from an extremely rare form of
antibiotic-resistant pneumonia, which is not normally contracted outside of a
hospital setting," he said in a statement last week. "Even the
plaintiffs' experts testified that this condition would have been extremely
difficult to diagnose." Plaintiffs' attorneys say CSC's position shows
an "ongoing unwillingness to take responsibility" for Alexander's
death. "The defendants said they plan to fight us tooth and nail,"
said Mark Haney, one of seven attorneys representing Alexander's parents,
Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert. "They
want to try and disregard the verdict that addressed their bad
behavior," he said. "It is a slap in the face to the Alexander
family and the jury's verdict." CSC's Fort Worth attorney, Vic Anderson,
declined to comment on the case. Reyes' attorney, Michael Wallach, could not
be reached to comment. CSC has $35 million in insurance to cover the jury
award in Alexander's death. But the company's insurer has sued, saying it is
not obligated to pay because Reyes was convicted last year of negligent
homicide. That conviction is being appealed. Under Texas law, punitive
damages in the Alexander case are limited to $750,000 for CSC and $100,000
for Reyes. The jury had set punitive damages at $5 million to be paid by CSC
and $100,000 from Reyes. (Star-Telegram)
September 2, 2003
Jail operator Correctional Services Corp. on Friday said a Texas jury awarded
plaintiffs $5.1 million in punitive damages in a wrongful death suit against
the company and a former employee, but recovery is limited to $850,000 under
Texas law. The company said its primary liability insurance carrier has
recently taken the not uncommon step of disclaiming coverage, but it believes
the carrier has no legitimate basis for the decision and has retained counsel
to enforce its rights under the policies. (Yahoo Finance)
August 29, 2003
With no prior criminal record, the 18-year-old Arlington man hoped that the
former Mansfield boot camp would set him straight after a drunken-driving
arrest. He chose the regimented, low-security corrections facility over
jail time. But a rare, penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia killed
Bryan Alexander on Jan. 9, 2001, while he served his six-month sentence. His
pleas for medical attention had been ignored for days. "He wanted
to get some discipline at the camp and a chance to get his GED. It turned out
to be a death sentence for a DWI," said Charlie Smith, who represented
the teen-ager in the criminal matter and his family in a civil lawsuit.
On Thursday, a Tarrant County jury added $5.1 million in punitive damages to
its award Wednesday of $35 million in actual damages for Alexander's death,
his suffering and his parents' mental anguish and loss of their son.
Jurors blamed the camp's nurse, Knyvett Reyes, and
Florida-based Correctional Services Corp., which contracted to run the
370-bed facility. CSC must pay $26 million of the judgment, Reyes $14.1
million. Reyes' attorney, Michael Wallach, and CSC's attorney, Vic Anderson,
declined to comment. The lawsuit brought by Alexander's parents, Rickey
Alexander and Judy Schumpert, said Reyes and CSC
failed to provide Alexander with adequate and timely medical care. He
had complained of feeling weak and coughing up blood days before he was taken
to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Alexander was immediately placed
in intensive care but died two days later. The boot camp and
residential drug-treatment programs at the Mansfield facility were closed six
months after Alexander's death. CSC had been paid $2.9 million a year by the
state to run the facility. On Thursday, attorneys for the Alexander
family asked the jury of five women and seven men to further punish CSC and
Reyes to send a message to other correction facilities and nurses.
"You did listen to Bryan's pleas for help. Unfortunately for Bryan, you
are 2 1/2 years too late," Bill Lane, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys,
told the jury in closing arguments Thursday in the punitive-damage stage of
the trial. "But you are not too late to send a message to this private
corporation that we will not accept the lowest bidder or that the bottom line
is worth more than a human life." Attorneys for the defendants
argued that their clients were unaware of the seriousness of Alexander's
illness. Reyes testified that she treated Alexander for a cold, flu and strep
throat based on her evaluation of his symptoms. Fort Worth accountant
L. Andrew McCartney said CSC is worth more than $50.8 million, based on
recent financial reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CSC has about $25 million in insurance coverage that could be used to cover
the judgment, said Anderson, CSC's attorney. "If the company is
closed down, there are going to be a lot of people out of jobs," he
said. Reyes' attorney, Wallach, said: "I think we all know Knyvett Reyes is not a corporation. I would ask that you
punish her no further." (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
August 28, 2003
A former nurse and a Florida-based private
corrections company that operated the defunct Mansfield boot camp were
responsible for the death of an 18-year-old inmate, a Tarrant County jury
decided Wednesday. The jury of five
women and seven men ordered the nurse and company to pay $35 million for the
death of Bryan Alexander, his suffering, and his parents' mental anguish and
loss of companionship. Alexander died
of a rare penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia at John Peter Smith Hospital
in Fort Worth, two days after being transported from the camp for
probationers. Arlington lawyer Charlie
Smith, who represented Alexander in his criminal matter and the Alexander
family in the wrongful-death lawsuit, said he was not surprised by the jury's
verdict. "This case was more like
a homicide case than a wrongful-death lawsuit because of the way this young
man died," said Smith, one of seven attorneys representing the Alexander
family. "Bryan's family was hopeful that this jury would speak loud
about the conduct of these defendants so it will not happen to another child
in the same circumstances as Bryan Alexander." The lawsuit asserted that Correctional Services Corp., and
its nurse at the camp, Knyvett Reyes of Arlington,
did not provide Alexander with adequate and timely medical care. Alexander
had complained of feeling weak and was coughing up blood days before he was
taken to JPS Hospital. But Reyes
testified during the seven-week trial that, based on her evaluation of his
symptoms, she treated Alexander for a cold, flu and strep throat. Witnesses
testified that Reyes thought the inmate was faking his illness. Reyes' attorney, Michael Wallach, declined to comment
after the jury's verdict. Correctional Services Corp.'s attorney, Vic
Anderson, also declined to comment. Attorneys
for Alexander's parents, Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert,
said Reyes' skepticism cost Alexander his life. He was serving a sentence at
the facility for a drunken-driving conviction and had no prior criminal
record, according to testimony. Correctional
Services Corp., which was paid about $2.9 million a year to run the camp,
must pay 60 percent of the $35 million judgment, while Reyes was ordered to
pay 40 percent. The jury also decided
that Reyes and Correctional Services Corp. acted with malice in ignoring
Alexander's pleas for help, which means the defendants must pay punitive
damages. Closing arguments are scheduled for today to determine punitive
damages. Fort Worth accountant L.
Andrew McCartney said Correctional Services Corp. is worth more than $50.8
million, based on recent financial reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. "They are
currently making a profit," he testified. Reyes' financial condition was not brought up.
Plaintiffs' attorneys are seeking $40 million in
punitive damages for the Alexander family. Correctional Services Corp. has about $25 million in
insurance coverage that could be used to cover the lawsuit judgment, said
Anderson, the company's attorney. "In
this case, the plaintiffs are asking the jury to punish the company. If the
jury punishes the company, they are probably going to be punishing the
stockholders of this company," Anderson said. (Fort Worth
Star-Telegram)
August
28, 2003
A former nurse and a Florida-based private corrections company that operated
a defunct Mansfield boot camp were responsible for the death of an 18-year-old
inmate, a Tarrant County jury decided Wednesday. The jury of five women
and seven men ordered the nurse and company to pay $35 million for the death
of Bryan Alexander, his suffering, and his parents' mental anguish and future
loss of companionship. Alexander died of a rare penicillin-resistant
form of pneumonia at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, two days after
being transported from the camp for probationers. Arlington lawyer
Charlie Smith, who represented Alexander in his criminal case and the
Alexander family in the wrongful-death lawsuit, said he was not surprised by
the jury's verdict. "This case was more like a homicide case than
a wrongful-death lawsuit because of the way this young man died," said
Smith, one of seven attorneys representing the Alexander family.
"Bryan's family was hopeful that this jury would speak loud about the
conduct of these defendants so it will not happen to another child in the
same circumstances as Bryan Alexander." The lawsuit asserted that
Correctional Services Corp. and its nurse at the camp, Knyvett
Reyes, failed to provide Alexander with adequate and timely medical care.
Alexander had complained of weakness and was coughing up blood days before he
was taken to JPS Hospital. But Reyes testified during the seven-week
trial that, based on her evaluation of his symptoms, she treated Alexander
for a cold, flu and strep throat. Witnesses testified that Reyes thought the
inmate was faking his illness. Attorneys for Alexander's parents,
Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert, said Reyes'
skepticism cost Alexander his life. He was serving a sentence at the facility
for a drunken-driving conviction and had no prior criminal record, according
to testimony. Correctional Services Corp., which was paid about $2.9
million a year to run the camp, must pay 60 percent of the $35 million
judgment; Reyes was ordered to pay 40 percent. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
August 27, 2003
Correctional Services Corporation today announced that a Tarrant County,
Texas jury has returned a $35 million verdict against the Company and its
former employee in the wrongful death suit by the parents and estate of Bryan
Alexander. Mr. Alexander died of a rare penicillin-resistant form of
pneumonia while incarcerated at the Tarrant County Community Correctional
Facility, which was operated by the Company at the time. The jury will now be
asked to consider whether punitive damages should also be awarded against the
Company and/or its former employee. (Yahoo Finance)
August 27, 2003
A Tarrant County jury is expected to continue deliberations today in the
wrongful-death lawsuit in the case of an Arlington teen-ager who died while
serving a sentence at the former Mansfield boot camp. Bryan Alexander,
18, died of pneumonia at John Peter Smith Hospital on Jan. 9, 2001 -- days
after he complained of feeling weak and coughing up blood. He had a rare
penicillin-resistant infection, hospital tests later revealed.
Attorneys for his parents, Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert,
said Florida-based Correctional Services Corp., the private company that
operated the boot camp, and its nurse, Knyvett
Reyes, ignored Bryan Alexander's pleas for medical attention and could have
saved his life. The attorneys are asking for at least $75 million for
Alexander's death, his suffering and his parents' mental anguish. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
August 26, 2003
A Tarrant County jury began deliberations Monday in
the wrongful-death lawsuit in the case of an Arlington man who died while
serving a drunken-driving sentence at the former Mansfield boot camp.
Bryan Alexander, 18, died of pneumonia at John Peter
Smith Hospital on Jan. 9, 2001 -- days after he complained of feeling weak
and coughing up blood. He had a rare penicillin-resistant infection, hospital
tests later revealed. Attorneys for his
parents -- Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert --
said the Florida-based private company that operated the boot camp and its
nurse, Knyvett Reyes, ignored his pleas for medical
attention and could have saved his life. "They don't believe they did anything wrong,"
said Jeff Kobs, one of seven attorneys representing
the Alexander family. "No one has come to this courtroom to say they
were sorry or regret what they did. I want you to tell these people they are
responsible and what happened was wrong." Alexander's parents are suing Reyes and Correctional
Services Corp., which contracted to run the 370-bed facility for probationers
and drug treatment. Plaintiffs' attorneys suggested an award of $75 million
for Alexander's death, his suffering and his parents' mental anguish.
A jury of five women and seven men listened to
nearly eight hours of closing arguments Monday in the trial that began July
7. They are expected to resume deliberations this morning. The defendants' attorneys argued that Alexander was
provided with adequate medical care and that he was the only one to blame for
his death because he failed to provide the camp's nurse with enough
information about his illness. "It
wasn't going to make any difference on the ultimate outcome if he had been
seen by a doctor on Jan. 5," Reyes' attorney, Michael Wallach, said.
"Alexander never proved he was coughing up blood until Jan. 7. He had
every opportunity to bring nurse Reyes the proof." Attorney Vic Anderson, who represents CSC, said the
plaintiffs' witnesses were not credible because they were mostly former
inmates at the boot camp, and he frequently called them
"criminals." Anderson also said
that Alexander showed signs of having a cold or the flu but that he was not
seriously ill until he was transported to JPS. "We believe nurse Reyes did not think there was an
extreme risk involved with Alexander," Anderson said. "She was
treating him for strep throat." Reyes
was convicted of negligent homicide last year in Alexander's death and
sentenced to four years' probation. But attorneys for the Alexander family
could not present her conviction to jurors because the case is under appeal.
The county's 19 criminal court judges closed the
boot camp in July 2001 amid an array of problems at the facility. Attorneys
for the Alexander family are also suing the judges who oversaw the facility
in 2000 and 2001 and the probation department. Reyes surrendered her nursing license in 2001 during a
state nursing board investigation. CSC
still has two contracts with Texas. The publicly traded company is paid about
$7 million to run a halfway house in Fort Worth and an intermediate-sanction
facility in Houston, state prison spokesman Larry Todd said. Alexander's attorneys said a judgment in the lawsuit is
important to prevent similar incidents at other facilities operated by CSC.
"We're talking about a for-profit corrections
company that houses our youths. They do it for the money. And it's the bottom
line they are concerned about, not about responsibility," said Bill
Lane, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys. "It is wrong what happened to
Bryan Alexander, and they should pay for what happened."
(Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
July
21, 2003
A Texas Rangers' investigation into the death of an inmate at the former
Mansfield boot camp determined that the 18-year-old probationer had to take
cold and flu pills for days before he was allowed to visit a nurse. Attorneys
blamed a nurse's skepticism and poor staffing by a Florida-based private
company that ran a Mansfield boot camp for the death of an inmate who had
been serving a drunken-driving sentence at the facility. The attorneys,
who represent the parents of Bryan Alexander, made the accusations Thursday
during opening statements of a wrongful death trial. Alexander, 18, of
Arlington died Jan. 9, 2001, two days after being transferred to a Fort Worth
hospital. He had a form of pneumonia that was resistant to penicillin.
Plaintiffs' attorneys contend the camp's nurse and Correctional Services
Corp., which contracted to run the camp for the county's judges and probation
department, failed to provide Alexander with timely and adequate medical
care. "They watched him die," Charlie Smith said in opening
statements. He is one of seven attorneys representing Alexander's parents,
Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert. Visiting
State District Judge Roger Towery is presiding over
the trial, and a five-woman, seven-man jury will decide the case. The
plaintiffs' attorneys contend Bryan Alexander tried to get medical attention
as early as Dec. 31 but was not seen until Jan. 5. Alexander had been given
over-the-counter medication to treat a cold or flu. Alexander's parents
are suing CSC and the camp's former nurse, Knyvett
Reyes, who was hired by the company. Reyes was convicted of negligent
homicide last year in Alexander's death. Attorneys on both sides are awaiting
clarification from the 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth on whether that
conviction is final or under appeal. Vic Anderson, an attorney for CSC,
said Reyes acted appropriately in treating what she believed was the flu or
strep throat and could not have known the severity of Alexander's
illness. "We do not deny the fact that Mr. Alexander was ill and
began feeling bad sometime in late December or early January," Anderson
said in opening statements. "But a lot of people at the facility were
feeling bad," he said. "There was an outbreak of flu. It was
not an unusual thing for someone at the camp to say they are sick to get out
of work or to get a trip to the hospital." Alexander died two days
after being taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth on Jan. 7, 2001.
"Just because there is a death doesn't necessarily mean there is someone
at fault," Anderson said. Texas Rangers Sgt. Alvin Alexis
testified that the boot camp had a policy of requiring probationers at the
370-bed Mansfield facility to take over-the-counter drugs for three days
before they could request a visit to the camp's nurse. Alexis said
Alexander complained of coughing up blood but had to take cold and flu pills
for three days and then tried for another three days to visit the camp's
nurse. Alexis based his conclusions on CSC records and interviews with CSC
employees and boot camp inmates. Reyes' attorney, Michael Wallach, told
jurors they should question the reliability of inmates' statements, even
Alexander's. "You will have to determine whether Bryan Alexander
was a reliable historian of his own health problems," he said. The
civil lawsuit, which initially sought more than $700 million in damages, is
expected to last more than a month, court officials said. Attorneys for
Alexander's parents are not disclosing how much in damages they'll seek at the
conclusion of the trial. (Fort Worth Star Telegram)
July 14, 2003
Jury selection begins today in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the
parents of an 18-year-old Arlington man who died after becoming ill at a
former Mansfield facility for probationers. While serving a sentence
for drunken driving, Bryan Alexander developed a rare lung infection and died
Jan. 9, 2001, two days after being transferred to a Fort Worth
hospital. Alexander's parents, Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert, are suing Correctional Services Corp., the
Florida-based private contractor that operated the camp, and its former
nurse, Knyvett Reyes, who was convicted in
Alexander's death last year. The lawsuit, which initially sought $755
million, contends that the camp and its employees ignored warning signs of
Alexander's failing health. Attorneys for Correctional Services and
Reyes did not return phone calls Friday. The lawsuit may help prevent
other inmates' medical concerns from being ignored, attorneys for Alexander's
parents say. Last year, Reyes, the camp's former nurse, was sentenced
to two years in jail, but a probationary sentence was imposed in lieu of jail
time. She was also ordered to pay $10,939.74 in restitution. The attorneys
for the state and for Reyes negotiated the sentence. Reyes' attorney,
Jack Strickland, is trying to appeal the conviction. But the special
prosecutor in the case is fighting the request, meaning that Reyes'
conviction can be used as evidence in the civil case, attorneys say.
Plaintiff attorneys said they will focus on Reyes' actions in Alexander's
death and how the private contractor limited inmates' access to medical
attention. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office ruled that
Alexander died of pneumonia caused by an antibiotic-resistant infection.
Doctors at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth could not detect and treat
the infection in time to save his life. Six months after Alexander's
death, the county's 19 criminal-court judges voted to close the boot camp and
residential drug-treatment programs at the 370-bed facility. The judges also
voted to end the county's $2.9 million annual contract with Correctional
Services Corp. (Star-Telegram)
January 22, 2003
A
former Mansfield boot camp nurse convicted of negligent homicide in the 2001
death of an inmate is appealing and asking for a new trial. Knyvett Reyes,
36, was sentenced in August to four years of community supervision for the
death of boot camp probationer Bryan Alexander, 18, of Arlington. Reyes
struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid serving two years in state jail. The judge who presided over the non-jury
trial in June found that Reyes failed to provide timely and adequate medical
care to the teen-ager, who died of a rare lung infection that was resistant
to antibiotics. Alexander's parents
are suing Reyes, the boot camp's doctor and a Florida-based private
contractor that ran the facility. The suit contends that Alexander's pleas
for medical help were ignored and his death could have been prevented. The civil case is scheduled to begin July 7
in Judge Tom Lowe's 236th District Court. (Star_Telegram)
December 31, 2002
Attorneys for parents of an 18-year old who died after falling ill at a
Mansfield boot camp filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Tarrant County
and its 19 judges who managed the correctional center. The lawsuit
contends that the judges who supervised the Tarrant County Community
Correctional Facility failed to ensure that its staff provided proper medical
care for Bryan Alexander, 18, of Arlington. The boot camp's former
nurse, Knyvett Reyes, was sentenced in August to
four years of community supervision. She was convicted of negligent
homicide in Alexander's death for failing to provide the teen-ager with
timely medical care. A $755 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by
Alexander's family is pending. (Star-Telegram)
August 31, 2002
FORT WORTH - Former Mansfield boot camp nurse Knyvett
Reyes was sentenced Friday to four years community supervision for negligent
homicide and ordered to pay restitution to Bryan Alexander's family.
Alexander, an 18-year-old probationer at the boot camp, died in 2001 of a
lung infection that led to pneumonia after leaving her care. During her
trial, the prosecution accused Reyes of failing to provide adequate and timely
attention. Reyes was sentenced to two years in jail, but the probationary
sentence was imposed in lieu of jail time. Reyes was also ordered to pay
$10,939.74 in restitution. The attorneys for the state and Reyes negotiated
the sentence. Alexander, who was in the boot camp because of a
drunken-driving conviction, died after being taken from the camp to John
Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Reyes is also barred from performing any
nursing duties involving direct patient care during her probation. She is working
as a hospital clerk. Barring an appeal, criminal proceedings are now
concluded. But family members have filed a $755 million wrongful death civil
lawsuit. The family two weeks ago moved to add Tarrant County's 19 criminal
judge to the suit. (Star-telegram)
June 29, 2002
A
nurse accused in the death of a probationer at the former Mansfield boot camp
was convicted Friday of negligent homicide. Knyvett
Reyes, 36, of Arlington, faces up to two years in state jail in the death of
18-year-old Bryan Alexander, a probationer at the camp. "It's kind of
difficult to feel sorry for nurse Reyes because she didn't show any empathy
for Bryan," the teen's father, Rickey Alexander, said outside the
courtroom. "The important thing for us was we didn't want her in a position
where she could do the same thing to some other person." "Bryan
Alexander died as a result of being ignored," special prosecutor Bill
Turner said during closing arguments. A pending $755 million wrongful death
lawsuit in Alexander's death kept the courtroom packed throughout Reyes'
two-week trial. Alexander's parents are suing Florida-based Correctional
Services Corp., the private company that ran the 370-bed Mansfield facility
for probationers. (The Star-Telegram)
June 28, 2002
A
former boot camp nurse thought an inmate who died after complaining of
coughing up blood had a cold or strep throat, she testified Thursday. Knyvett Reyes, 36, of Arlington, is being tried on
charges of manslaughter and negligent homicide in the death of Bryan
Alexander, a probationer at the Mansfield camp. Prosecutors contend Reyes
failed to provide Alexander with adequate and timely medical attention.
Witnesses for the prosecution have said Reyes was skeptical of inmates'
illnesses, and that she did not provide physicians with enough information to
detect Alexander's infection. During Reyes' cross-examination, special
prosecutor Bill Turner accused her of altering Alexander's medical records,
ignoring his complaints and failing to take some vital signs that could have
helped doctors save the teen-ager's life. Turner accused Reyes of creating
records after Alexander died to help in her defense. Original boot camp
records and inmate's files have not been located, he said. (The
Star-Telegram)
June 25, 2002
A
Colorado prison warden testified Monday that a Mansfield boot camp nurse
could not have known an inmate under her care had a fatal illness based on
his written request for medical treatment. The nurse, Knyvett
Jane Reyes, is on trial on negligent homicide and manslaughter charges in the
death of 18-year-old Bryan Alexander, a probationer at the camp who medical
examiners determined died of a form of pneumonia. Prosecutors have argued
that Reyes did not thoroughly examine Alexander. They contended she should
have taken several vital signs, such as his blood pressure and heart rate,
which would have revealed a rare infection that eventually caused his death
Jan. 9. An official with the state nurse licensing agency testified last week
that Reyes should have sent Alexander to a doctor Jan. 5. Alexander was taken
to the hospital Jan. 7 and died two days later. Special prosecutor Lindsey
Roberts said Alexander's weight loss - about 25 pounds during his two months
at the camp - and claims that he was coughing up blood should have been red
flags. Roberts said Alexander was 6 feet tall and weighed 150 pounds when he
died. (The Star-Telegram)
September
27, 2001
The boy knew rage. A troublemaking, dope-smoking misfit, "Brad" was
in and out of trouble with the law, and more in than out. He ran away from
home, stayed out all night, stole. Help came in the form of confinement to a
juvenile "boot camp" run by Correctional Services Corp., a private
company that manages two Dallas County juvenile facilities. Sent to CSC's
program for emotionally disturbed youths in Southern Dallas, Brad's condition
quickly deteriorated. Privately, the boy's group counselor told his
grandmother, "I am not qualified. I do not have the education. He needs
more than I can give him." Those words, from one of CSC's own employees,
might be used to sum up the company's long and troubled history of running
juvenile and other jail facilities here and nationwide with what one critic
calls a "Costco" approach to juvenile treatment. It is a track
record that includes chilling episodes of sexual abuse, gross mismanagement
and, in one Tarrant County case, the death of an 18-year-old. In the past
decade, in New York, Florida and Texas, local authorities and the federal
government have canceled contracts with CSC, following a host of complaints
from former CSC inmates and their families. One top Texas government official
in the juvenile justice system, who declined to be named, says CSC has a
two-pronged pitch when it sells its services. First, it promises much lower
costs. The Texas Youth Commission, for instance, budgets $129 per day per
juvenile at its facilities, compared with the $80 or $90 a day CSC charges.
In other instances, CSC pledges to help counties make money. At CSC boot
camps in North Texas, drill instructors are hired at $7.46 an hour. Their
training consists of observing other instructors for a week, before being put
to work. "There were a whole lot of people hired to do jobs they didn't
know how to do," says one educator who taught at the facility, speaking
on the condition that she not be identified. She worked for another company
hired by the county to provide schooling at the CSC facility but quit after
six months because she believed she and her staff, who went for weeks without
offices or phones, were ill-equipped to handle their responsibilities. One
fresh-out-of-college education major, she recalls, was handed the
responsibility of developing a special education program. After the July 1999
attack on his grandmother, Brad was taken to the Dallas County juvenile
detention center. A month later, state District Judge Hal Gaither committed
him to the CSC boot camp. Initially, his grandmother welcomed the
development. She believed the help she had sought had finally arrived. But
even behind bars he continued to misbehave and spent countless hours,
sometimes shackled and handcuffed, seated on a concrete bench in a small
confinement room that reeked of urine. Brad, like many of his peers, did not
meet with an individual counselor, family counselor or psychiatrist for months.
When he did see a doctor, the juvenile simply told the psychiatrist to halt
his prescribed drugs, and the physician agreed, according to records. The
lack of promised counseling wasn't unique to Brad's case. Attorney Craig
Sargent represented a mentally retarded client sent to CSC's unit for
emotionally disturbed kids. His client, he says, was also denied the family
counseling he had been promised. At a hearing to determine whether the boy
should be sent to a Texas Youth Commission facility, Sargent grilled a CSC
drill instructor and program director Brown. The instructor testified that
despite working with the youth every day, she had not realized he was
mentally handicapped. "That would be important to know when you're
addressing someone as far as their mental capacity and their ability to
follow your directive, if they have any defect. Would you agree with
me?" Sargent asked. "Yes, sir," the employee replied. For four
months, CSC had been receiving $82 a day to treat the boy, Sargent notes.
"It pissed me off as a taxpayer," he recalls. In the late '90s, the
company ran into similar problems in Florida. Dade County officials
terminated contracts when they discovered CSC had deliberately kept
delinquents beyond their release dates to pocket extra money. The local
school district paid the company to teach kids in its custody; CSC was
accused of collecting money for days when it provided no schooling.
"They are a completely greedy company. They have a Costco approach to
meaningful intervention," says Marie Osborne, an assistant public
defender in Dade County who went to court to get 11 of her indigent clients
removed from a CSC facility. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice
conducted a study of the facility and found a lack of training, inadequate background
checks on employees and inadequate food service. Employees had even helped
stage fights between 13- and 14-year-olds while their peers watched and
referred to these bloody scrabbles as "The Main Event" in memos,
according to CSC employees' testimonies. The lawsuits against CSC are
mounting to the point analysts say that they are threatening the corporate
bottom line. Once a Wall Street darling, CSC has fallen on hard times.
(Dallas Observer)
July 13,
2001
Five former Mansfield boot camp inmates filed a civil lawsuit Thursday,
alleging that they were sexually harassed or given inadequate medical care
while housed there. Two female plaintiffs allege that a male guard
fondled them and repeatedly made sexually suggestive comments. Three
former male inmates allege that they suffered long-term physical problems
after failing to receive prompt and adequate medical attention.
Arlington attorney Howard Rosenstein, who filed the suit Thursday,
represented three female former boot camp inmates who won a $2.8 million
award in a sexual harassment suit against Correctional Services Corp. in
March. "Again, we find ourselves in the situation where, due to
the absence of enforcement of a security policy at CSC, instructors and
guards were allowed to isolate, torment and sexually abuse these women,"
Mr. Rosenstein said. The suit is the latest in a series of legal
battles facing the company, which operates more than a dozen facilities in
Texas and runs facilities in 18 states. A $ 755 million lawsuit
alleging inadequate medical care was filed by the parents of Bryan Alexander,
who died Jan. 9 from pneumonia while an inmate at the boot camp. The
company also faces a civil lawsuit by a former operations manager who alleges
that he was improperly fired for reporting staffing shortages. The
company has repeatedly denied the allegations in those cases. (The
Dallas Morning News)
June 21, 2001
A panel of judges voted unanimously Wednesday to close the Mansfield boot
camp and residential drug treatment facility July 6 and reopen it as a day
treatment program for probationers. The Board of Criminal Judges, with
11 of its 19 members in attendance, decided to move up the closure date from
Aug. 31. A contract with Florida-based Correctional Services Corp. to
operate the 370-bed facility ends Aug. 31, but the company has agreed to end
its obligations sooner. The judges voted this year not to renew the
contract with Correctional Services Corp. The company came under
scrutiny after some female inmates were sexually assaulted by employees and
because of questions about the quality of health care for inmates.
Probationer Bryan Alexander, 18, of Arlington died of pneumonia Jan. 9, two
days after being transported to a Fort Worth hospital. Alexander's
parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the nurse who treated
him, the company and others. (The Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
May 19, 2001
Two Tarrant County judges pulled about a dozen probationers from
drug-rehabilitation programs at the Mansfield boot camp facility Thursday
after reports that a guard had consensual sex with an inmate. Boot camp
administrator Randy Tate declined to discuss details of the allegations,
other than saying that the reports are being investigated and that the guard
has been suspended. State District Judges Jamie Cummings and Sharen
Wilson removed probationers from the substance-abuse treatment program at the
facility Thursday after officials notified the county's probation department
of the reports. (Arlington Morning News)
May 17, 2001
A privately operated prison that was the subject of a Texas Rangers
investigation over prisoners' treatment will now be shuttered. The
370-bed Tarrant Community Corrections Facility will close in less than three
months due to a $2.8 million budget shortfall. Earlier this year, the
judges voted to not renew a contract with Florida-based Correctional Services
Corp. to operate the facility. The company, which has run the center
since 1992, has been criticized because of escapes, sexual assaults by
employees and questions about the health care inmates have received.
Earlier this month, a Tarrant County grand jury indicted a nurse who provided
medical treatment for a boot camp probationer until two days before he died
of pneumonia. (AP)
May 4, 2001
Rick Alexander, hat clutched in hand, sat for nearly 50 minutes as a lawyer
defended the woman the Arlington resident is convinced helped kill his
18-year-old son. Mr. Alexander listened intently as Fort Worth attorney
Jack V. Strickland lambasted the Tarrant County grand jury's indictment on
charges of manslaughter and negligent homicide against Knyvett
Jane Reyes, a nurse at the Mansfield boot camp where Bryan Alexander was an
inmate. " I don't think that Nurse Reyes is a victim," Mr.
Alexander said in a hallway at the Tarrant County Justice Center.
"Bryan told me he filled out three requests, not to see the doctor, but
to go to the hospital. But he said, ' She's real mean and she doesn't
like me. ' He told me that himself." Bryan Alexander died Jan. 9
at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He was sentenced to the
camp for assault and drunken driving. The teen filed a written request
for medical attention Jan. 4. Camp officials contend that he was seen
by Ms. Reyes the next day and given antibiotics, but the teen was required to
continue a workout regimen through Jan. 6. James Slattery, chief
executive officer of Sarasota, Fla.-based Correctional Services Corp., was
out of town Thursday and was unavailable for comment on the pending court
case. (Arlington Morning Star)
May 4, 2001
A 35-year-old nurse at the Mansfield boot camp was indicted Thursday on
charges of manslaughter and negligent homicide in connection with the death
of an 18-year-old inmate. The indictment alleges that Knyvett Jane Reyes recklessly and negligently caused the
death of Bryan Alexander of Arlington by failing to adequately assess his
condition, report his illness and provide adequate care at the Tarrant County
Community Correctional Facility. The two-page indictment states that
Ms. Reyes failed to adequately assess and evaluate Mr. Alexander's medical
status, failed to accurately report his status to the boot camp's attending
physician, and failed to stabilize Mr. Alexander's medical condition and
prevent complications. The indictment also says Ms. Reyes did not order
bed rest, and did not prohibit strenuous physical exertion or transfer Mr.
Alexander to the hospital in a timely manner. Florida-based
Correctional Services Corp. has operated the Mansfield facility since 1992.
The boot camp is part of the Tarrant County Community Correctional
Facility. (Arlington Morning News)
May 4, 2001
The parents of a Mansfield boot camp inmate, who died of pneumonia days after
complaining of being ill, filed a $755 million wrongful death lawsuit Friday
against the company that runs the camp and others. Bryan Alexander, 18,
of Arlington, died Jan. 9, two days after being transferred from the camp to
Fort Worth's John Peter Smith Hospital. The lawsuit contends the camp
and its employees ignored signs of Alexander's "falling health" and
were grossly negligent in providing medical treatment. Defendants in
the lawsuit are Correctional Services Corp., a private, Florida-based company
that runs the camp; CSC attorney Tony Schaffer; the Tarrant County Community
and Corrections Department; CSC nurse Knyvett
Reyes; and Dr. Samuel Lee, who was employed by the company. Reyes was
indicated Thursday on a charge of manslaughter and negligent homicide in
Alexander's death. An Austin administration law judge, who suspended
Reyes' nursing license in March, wrote that Alexander "would most likely
have been" cured if his illness was diagnosed earlier and treated with
other antibiotics. In February, three former inmates were awarded $2.8
million by a Tarrant County judge for sexual harassment the women suffered at
the facility. (Star-Telegram)
April 20, 2001
Members of Tarrant County's judiciary have voted to stop sending probationers
to the Mansfield boot camp out of concerns that there won't be enough money
to keep the camp open long enough for the next platoon to graduate.
Under the contract with Florida-based Correctional Services Corp., the county
pays $21.94 a day per bed, regardless of whether the beds are occupied. This
arrangement will continue until the contract expires Sept. 1. The
judges voted in February to manage the facility after the private
contractor's contract expires in September. Allegations of sexual
harassment by guards and the death of a probationer in January have plagued
the boot camp. (The Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
April 6, 2001
A Tarrant County grand jury will decide whether to indict officials at the Mansfield
boot camp in connection with the death of a former inmate, a special
prosecutor said Thursday. Grand jurors will hear evidence April 25 from
witnesses and the Texas Ranger's investigation into the death of 18-year-old
Bryan Alexander of Arlington, who was an inmate at the boot camp, also known
as the Tarrant County Community Correctional Facility. Mr. Smith has
notified Correctional Services Corp., which has run the boot camp since it
opened in1992, that the Alexander family may file a civil lawsuit. A
Correctional Services Corp., official said Thursday that a grand jury was the
proper venue for consideration of the investigation. The Texas State
Board of Nurses Examiners on March 2 indefinitely suspended the license of Knyvett Jane Reyes, the boot camp nurse who provided
medical care to the teenager. Two other inmates have alleged that they
received inadequate medical care at the camp, charges facility officials have
denied. The Board of Criminal Court Judges voted Feb. 21 to assume
management of the 370-bed facility when Correctional Services' operating
contract ends Aug. 31. On March 5, a Tarrant County judge awarded $2.8
million in damages to three female former inmates who sued Correctional
Services Corp. and a former drill instructor for sexual harassment.
(The Dallas Morning News)
March 21, 2001
A Tarrant County criminal justice task force has recommended that the
Mansfield boot camp program be discontinued and its beds used for housing
probation violators. If approved, the program would occupy the 120 beds
currently used for the boot camp. (Dallas Morning News, March 21, 2001)
March 6, 2001
Bryan Alexander's medical treatment while incarcerated at the Mansfield boot
camp was so poor that one official compared it to "modern day torture,"
and the nurse supervising him has her license temporarily suspended. Knyvett Jane Reyes' nursing license by the Texas State
Board of Nurse Examiners was suspended Feb. 13, according to documents
released Monday by State Sen. Chris Harris' office. Mr. Alexander died Jan. 9
at John Peter Smith Hospital of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia caused by a
staphylococcus inflection. Charles Smith, attorney for Rick Alexander, Bryan
Alexander's father, said the nurse's suspension validates his client's
claims. "This is what we've been saying all along, that medical service
was substandard," he said. On Jan. 3, Mr. Alexander first notified
medical staff through a locked drop box that he was not feeling well. Inmates
at the boot camp submit sick forms into a locked box. In the case of Mr.
Alexander, his form was not read until Jan. 4.Documents show Mr. Alexander
was not assesses by Ms. Reyes until Jan.5, two days after he filled out a
report detailing his complaints of flu-like symptoms. "I caught the flu
or something from somebody. My whole body is sore. It hurts real bad when I cough," Mr. Alexander wrote on Jan.
3. "My nose gets closed up to where I can't even breathe and the pills
I've been taking are not working. Mr. Reyes, who had been on Christmas
vacation, returned to work Jan. 3. According to the drill instructor's
testimony, Ms. Reyes was aware of the ailing teen's symptoms Jan. 4. On Jan.
5, he filled out another form. According to registered nurse carol Dobrich,
an independent expert hired by the board to review the case, the treatment of
Mr. Alexander, who died at John Peter Smith Hospital on Jan. 9, amounted to
"modern day torture." "By 2 p.m. on January 5th, once she knew
Bryan Alexander had as temperature of 101, and a red, sore throat, respondent
knew he had an infection," according to Ms. Dobrich's testimony, outline
in the order suspending the license. "And her failure to have him seen
by a doctor or send him immediately to the emergency room was an
inappropriate nursing response. (Arlington Morning News)
March 1, 2001
Three women who allege they were sexually harassed while inmates at the
Mansfield boot camp asked a state judge Wednesday for up to $4 million in
damages. "If this court does not dress down and discipline this attitude
every women, everyone else, is subject to the same consideration these women
got," Brice Cottongame, the attorney
representing the three women, said in closing arguments. But the attorney for
Correctional Services Corp., the Florida-based company that operates the boot
camp, said employees, not the company, are at fault. the civil trail's final
day included testimony from a Correctional Services executive, who refuted
earlier testimony from a state senator. On Wednesday, Mr. Rau suggested that
the senator misinterpreted a comment he made. "I did not make any
statement like that," Mr. Rau said. "There was point in the
conversation where I said I would like to get all the facts and hear both
sides of the story. "The senator said, "What could the other side
of the story be?' which is when the statement was made. That is the other
side of the story." "We stand of Senator Harris' credibility,"
Mr. Cottongame said. "Sen. Harris has no ax to
grind, no interest in this lawsuit." (Arlington Morning News)
February 27, 2001
In the latter dated Jan. 30, 2000 - 11 days after Kari Echels
Chattha graduated from the boot camp - she wrote to
Joseph Fonville telling him she missed him and she
was worried about him. She used the term of endearment "honey."
Tony Schaffer, an attorney representing Correctional Services Corp., which
runs the boot camp, said Mrs. Chattha 's letter
proves she was involved romantically with Mr. Fonville.
Mrs. Chattha, 19, and two other plaintiffs, Karen
fowler, 21, and Annawaynette Creek, 33 allege in
their suit they were fondled and sexually harassed by boot camp workers
during their incarceration at the Mansfield boot camp over a seven-month
period in 1999. Ms. Fowler and Ms. Creek also are suing former boot camp
maintenance worker Michael Zahn. Fred Bagely, a
former vice president of CSC, testified in a videotaped deposition that
sexual harassment was a problem at the Mansfield Facility. he initially
learned of the allegations made by Mrs. Chattha,
Ms. Fowler and Ms. Creek in 1999. he said. (Arlington Morning News)
February 26, 2001
The county's 19 criminal court judges voted unanimously last week to stop
using a private contractor at the Tarrant County Community Corrections
Facility, which houses the boot camp and three substance abuse programs.
Three former female inmates are suing Florida-based Correctional Services
Corp., alleging sexual abuse at the 370-bed facility. The company's contract
expires Sept. 1. The lawsuit's allegations are among recent criticisms of the
facility. Accusations of sexual misconduct by male guards against female
inmates have plagued the camp since it opened in 1992. The facility has also
endured accusations of the staff shortages and questions of proper medical
care. Bryan Alexander, 18, a boot camp inmate, died of pneumonia Jan. 9.
Relatives allege he didn't receive timely medical care. "I don't think
any of us want to see CSC or any private company run this camp any
longer," Judge Gallagher said last week. State Sen. Chris Harris,
R-Arlington, who testified against Correctional Services Corp. on Friday in
civil trail, said the company's problems may be a
result of paying many of its employees near the minimum wage. Last year, 50
of 77 employees at the facility were paid less than $17,000 per year,
according to company records. "They are in business of making
money," Harris said. "As result, they are out there cutting
corners." Attorneys for the plaintiffs have alleged that a corporate
culture exists at the company. On Friday, Harris testified that a company
executive vice president told him in a telephone conversation that the women
at the boot camp "got what they wanted." He said the company
"seemed to have no concern about what happened to the women."
According to the company's contract, a female inmate cannot be alone with a
male guard unless a female guard is present. Testimony during the first three
days suggested that staff shortages prevented the company from following its
policy of female inmate supervision, which is part of its contract with the
county's probation department. "They are allowing employees to work
16-hour shifts, and sometimes more than that," Harris said outside the
court after his testimony Friday. "It obviously came down to the
corporate bottom line." (Star-Telegram)
February 23 ,
2001
The private company that operates the Mansfield boot camp filed false reports
about staffing hours to Tarrant County officials, the facility's former
manager testified Thursday. John Renfroe, a former U.S. Army lieutenant
colonel who worked for the Florida-based Correctional Services Corp. between
June 1994 and June 2000, testified that he had reported the practice to his
supervisors since 1995. "The data that had been in the monthly reports
indicated that CSC as meeting or exceeding contract hour requirements,"
said Mr. Renfroe, a witness in a civil trail in
which three women are suing the company because of sexual harassment at the
facility. "If you did the math, what was being reported included
extraneous, inappropriate figures." (Arlington Morning News)
February 22, 2001
Tarrant County criminal judges agreed
Wednesday to assume management of the Mansfield boot camp when a contract
with Correctional Services Corp. ends in August. the 19-member Board of
Criminal Judges cited a $2.5 million budget shortfall in its decision not to
renew the private company's contract. The facility could close by Sept. 1 if
the legislature does not approve additional funding, the judges said. Recent
controversies - including the death of an inmate, the hospitalization of two
others and allegations of sexual exploitation of female inmates - were factors in the decision. State Sen. Chris
Harris, R-Fort Worth, who has strongly criticized the boot camp's operation,
praised the judges' decision and said he will ask other state agencies
funding. "I think the judges are the ones who are accountable on that
since they're the ones with the oversight," Mr. Harris said. "I
think this is smartest thin they can do."
(Dallas Morning News)
February 22, 2001
The private company that runs the Mansfield Boot Camp was negligent in allowing
two former workers to sexually harass women at the facility. an attorney for
the three former inmates said in court Wednesday. An attorney for
Florida-based Correctional Services corp. apologized for the incidents and
defended the company's record of quality management. Ms. Fowler and Ms. Creek
allege former maintenance worker Michael Zahn sexually harassed and exploited
them during their several month stays in 1999 at the boot camp. Mrs. Chattha alleges Joseph Fonville
forced her to participate in improper sexual activity during her 1999 stay.
In July, Mr. Zahn received two years' probation after he pleaded guilty to
two counts of official oppression in connection with both incidents.
"The attitude of this corporate defendant will outrage you."
(Arlington Morning News)
February 22, 2001
As compliance officer at the Mansfield boot camp, John Renfore
spent six years faulting the private contractor that runs the facility,
citing staff shortages and a failure to protect female inmates from sexual
abuse. That testimony Thursday before 141st District Court Judge Paul Enlow bolstered the case of the three former female
inmates who are suing Florida-based Correctional Services Corp., which runs
370-bed facility for probationers. The women assaults contend CSC employees
sexually abused then while they were serving sentences at the Tarrant County
Community Corrections facility in Mansfield. On Thursday, Renfore
said he outlined staffing shortages and inadequate supervision of female
inmates in numerous memos that he sent to CSC officials and his bosses with
Tarrant County Community Corrections Department. those complaints began in
1995 and continued until the probation department fired him in June, he said.
Fort Worth lawyer W. Brice Cottongame, who is
representing the women, said the incidents were caused by a corporate culture
in CSC that does not protect female inmates and ignores their complaints of
abuse. Sherry Johnson, who worked as a drill instructor at the camp last
year, said grievances filed by inmates are often thrown away or shredded by
CSC supervisors. She also said CSC employees retaliate against inmates who
file grievances. "They would read them out loud and laugh, then throw
them in the trash," she said. "They would be disregarded for
misspelling a CSC employee's name." (Star-Telegram)
February 07, 2001
The former operations manager of a Mansfield boot camp filed a lawsuit
Tuesday charging he was unjustly fired after pointing out deficiencies at the
camp. Mr. Renfore says his relationship with Correctional
Services and Ms. Calaway soured 1999 after he began
filing critical reports with boot camp administrators. The reports said that
because of staff shortages, the company was not keeping the facility properly
cleaned and maintained, and not adequately supervising its staff and did not
have enough drill staff on duty to properly supervise probationers.
(Arlington Morning News).
January 23, 2001
The Texas Rangers agreed Wednesday to act on a local judge's request for an
independent investigation into the death of an 18-yeat old former Mansfield
inmate. Mr. Harris, who called for wholesale changes at the boot camp five
months ago in the wake of the alleged sexual abuse of three former inmates.
since the Mr. Alexander's death, various judges have removes
more the 50 of the camp's 120 inmates. (Arlington Morning News)
December 14, 2000
A former employee of the private company that operates a North Texas
correctional facility is denying a lawsuit's claims that female inmates were
sexually harassed. Zahn, in deposition released this week, said his behavior
was limited to peeping through an attic vent while one of the women performed
unsolicited sexual acts. (Arlington Morning News)
October 2, 2000
Three teenagers ran from security officers and scaled a seven foot fence in a
recreation yard at the minimum-security center for non-violent offenders.
(Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Oct.6, 2000)
January 16, 2000
Accusations that neglect caused the death of an inmate at a Mansfield
boot camp last week may slam the door on a million-dollar deal for Tarrant
County to lease its long-shuttered Cold Springs Correctional Facility,
officials said Tuesday. The contract to operate the 384-bed Cold Springs
facility for state inmates. After months of negotiations and some last minute
changes, the contract, signed by CSC officials, was received by county
officials Tuesday. But all five members of Commissioners Court and the
sheriff now say they won't approve it unless the investigation into the death
last week of 18-year old Bryan D. Alexander -- whose family says boot
officials failed to get him proper medical care for pneumonia -- shows that
CSC was not at fault. County officials' concerns about contracting with CSC
for new prisoners were heightened last week when several district judges
began pulling offenders out of the facility after Alexander died. The boot
camp has gone through a year of turmoil, including escapes and allegations of
drill instructors sexually assaulting female inmates, and has struggled with
staffing. Similar issues plagued the facility in the mid-1990's, said James
Slattery. Commissioners Dionne Bagsby and Marti Vanravenswaay voted against the CSC contract last year,
saying they were concerned about problems at the boot camp. (Star-Telegram)
Colorado County Juvenile Facility
Eagle Lake, Texas
Correctional Services Corporation
February 7, 2006 The Victoria Advocate
Colorado County officials are expected to decide today if the county will
close the Eagle Lake Juvenile Detention Facility Boot Camp. The decision will
be made during a special commissioners court meeting
at 9 a.m. The only item on the agenda is to consider authorizing County Judge
Al Jamison to close operation of the boot camp. The county has been operating
the facility since Sept. 1 after the previous operator, Florida-based
Correction Services Corporation, notified the county it would end its
contract on Aug. 31. The court conducted a six-month review, Jamison said in
a Monday phone interview. "We're losing money on the facility and I
would like to shut it down and quit the bleeding."
September 5, 2002
A juvenile sent to a military-style correctional boot camp in Eagle Lake died
Saturday from what officials there said was a "clear case of
suicide." Police in Eagle Lake were contacted after the young man's
death and are conducting an investigation, MacIntyre
said. They could not be reached for comment Sunday. The Colorado County
facility, operated by the Sarasota, Fla.-based Youth Services International,
is part of a growing trend of private correctional centers. (The Houston
Chronicle)
Community House Arrest
Program
Wichita County
September 20, 2003
Since the Community House Arrest
Program started six months ago in Wichita County, the program has led to a
hotbed of controversy, confusion and hard feelings. But, for better or
worse, CHAP is flat-lining this month. The
program, designed to monitor people charged with non-violent crimes with
electronic ankle bracelets until they are sentenced or charges are dropped,
is expected to shut down by Oct. 1, program administrators said Thursday.
"Although the commissioners, several judges and
many in the Sheriff's Department are behind the concept of the house arrest
and its potential benefits, there can be no such program without a concerted
effort from the staff of the District Attorney's Office," (Times
Record News)
Cornell
Companies
(bought by GEO Group)
Houston, Texas
How
The Recession Hurts Private Prisons Nancy Cook, Newsweek June 30, 2010
October 25, 2011 AP
The management company that formerly ran a Rhode Island prison is suing the
facility's governing body, saying it is owed more than $671,000, according to
a complaint filed in federal court. In a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S.
District Court in Providence, Cornell Corrections of Rhode Island, Inc. says
the corporation running the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central
Falls still owes money it agreed to pay the firm in 2008. The prison is run
by the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation, a quasi-public agency.
Cornell Corrections operated Wyatt from its opening in 1993 to July 31, 2007,
when the corporation took over, according to a 2009 report on the facility.
Cornell Corrections says it reached a deal in 2008 with the corporation over
the amount of money it was owed under an earlier agreement. The lawsuit says
Wyatt's governing board still hasn't paid. The suit seeks $671,808, plus
interest, costs and attorneys' fees. The corporation stopped making full
payments to Cornell Corrections in 2006, according to a report released last
month by former R.I. Auditor General Ernest A. Almonte. As of August 2007,
the corporation owed Cornell Corrections more than $3.9 million, Almonte's
report found. The 776-bed facility houses medium- and maximum-security
federal detainees awaiting trial or transfer to federal Bureau of Prisons
facilities. It lost a contract to house federal immigration detainees after
one died in its custody in 2008. The jail has been beset by financial
problems in recent years, having lost $6.2 million and taken on $3.5 million
in additional debt from 2007 to 2009, Almonte's report said. The city of
Central Falls once banked on revenue from the prison, but hasn't been paid in
three years. The city filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. Attorneys for
Cornell Corrections and the corporation did not immediately return messages
on Tuesday.
September 1, 2010 Smart Money
Owners of municipal bonds issued to pay for jails might not get to pass
Go--and could have trouble collecting interest payments as well. These tax
free bonds don't have a monopoly on defaults, but they're well represented
among failures and troubled issues among the more speculative classes of
municipal bonds. Data from Municipal Market Advisors reveals a slew of
tax-free bonds issued to fund construction of privately run prisons and
detention facilities in states from Texas to Rhode Island to Montana. The
most recent example is Littlefield, a West Texas town of about 6,500 people.
Located between the New Mexico border and Buddy Holly's hometown of Lubbock,
Littlefield had to dip into reserves to cover payments for about $1.2 in bonds
and other debt used to finance the Bill Clayton Detention Center. The bonds
were issued in 2000, but the expected revenue stream evaporated when, after a
prisoner suicide in 2008, the 310-bed private prison lost its contract to
house out-of-state inmates. In 2009, the Geo Group (GEO), formerly known as
Wackenhut Security, ended its operating agreement with the detention center,
leaving it unoccupied. In April, Fitch Ratings, which in 2009 lowered the
bonds to BB from BBB, affirmed a negative rating outlook. Littlefield city
manager Danny Davis says the city is scrambling to avoid default on the
$780,000 worth of annual payments and plans to cut police and fire service
while dramatically raising property taxes when the new fiscal year begins
Oct. 1. The property could be sold or could be taken over by the state,
though neither option is certain. "It's going to be difficult," he
says. "In the meantime, we're just trying to keep our heads above water
until we get to a solution." Bob Libal is the
Texas campaign coordinator for Grassroots Leadership, a lobbying group which
opposes for-profit prisons, and the editor of the blog Texas Prison Bid'ness. He says many small towns agree to build
"speculative prisons" to be run by private contractors using
municipal bond financing but that many of these projects in a post-Sept. 11
boom have had trouble. Libal criticizes the
development groups that get paid up front for building detention centers thus
saddling the bond-issuers (usually special public facilities corporations created
solely for those projects) with risky debt. "They go after a lot of
towns without a lot of sophistication and resources to do the due
diligence," Libal says. "If they let the
bonds go under, it's very difficult for them to issue any more debt."
Matt Fabian, director of research at Municipal Market Advisors, cites similar
bond woes in Central Falls, R.I.; Hardin, Mont.; and Baker County, Fla.,
where about $105 million in total debt has run into trouble because the
prison projects haven't worked out as expected. "The incarceration rates
drives speculation," he says. "There's an idea that you can profit
from this prison trend." Investors in these increasingly-insecure jail
bonds have certainly had to assume more risk, even though they get higher
yields. The $99 million Central Falls Detention Facility bond issue of 2005
entered technical default in 2009 when it drew on its reserves to make
payments. The bonds, issued at par with a yield of 7.25%, last traded at the
end of 2009 at 85.3 cents to the dollar, with a yield of 8.69%. Municipal
revenue bonds issued in 2002 that funded the West Alabama Youth Services
detention facility defaulted in 2005. The bonds last traded in February at 9
cents to the dollar with a yield of 73.6%. Fabian says some of the biggest
private prison busts are unlikely to have simple resolutions. A shopping
center is easy to repurpose; a detention center is not. "It's hard to
restructure," he says. "Even the land underneath a prison isn't
worth as much as it was." Even with a resurgent effort by the private
prison industry to use their facilities to detain illegal immigrants and an
attempt by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to overhaul
detention procedures, problems persist. The Baker Correctional Development
Corporation, created to finance a correctional facility and immigration
detention center west of Jacksonville, Fla., dipped into reserves for its
August payment to holders of bonds issued in 2008. With those bonds trading
last at 71.25 cents to the dollar with a yield of 20.73%, investors looking
to lock up their money should probably seek less risky types of municipal
bonds.
August 17, 2010 Market Watch
The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO 22.20, -0.17, -0.76%) ("GEO") announced
today the final results of the elections made by former stockholders of
Cornell Companies, Inc. (NYSE: CRN) ("Cornell") as to the form of
merger consideration they wish to receive in connection with the acquisition
of Cornell by GEO. GEO closed the acquisition on August 12, 2010, after Cornell
stockholders approved the transaction at a special meeting and GEO
shareholders approved the issuance of shares of GEO common stock issuable as
merger consideration at a special meeting.
August 12, 2010 AP
Private prison operator Geo Group Inc. on Thursday disclosed preliminary
results of a vote by shareholders of Cornell Companies Inc. on that company's
proposed sale to Geo Group. In all, holders of some 15.2 million shares of
Cornell common stock voted on Wednesday on how they would like to receive
their payout once the company is sold. Holders of about 54.5 percent of the
shares elected to receive Geo common stock; 21.5 percent want cash. Another
24 percent didn't make a valid election, Geo Group said. Under the terms of
the deal, Cornell shareholders had two options: Receive 1.3 shares of Geo
common stock for each Cornell share held, or cash equal to the market value
of one Geo share plus $6 or the fair market value of 1.3 shares of Geo common
stock, whichever is greater.
July 27, 2010 Charlton County Herald
For years Charlton County Schools got well over $1 million annually in state
funds to make up for the county's low tax base. Those dollars have fallen
dramatically this year, however to just $27,000. Superintendent Steve McQueen
believes local system funding has changed because of errors in the county tax
digest. Because of the drop, the Charlton County Board of Education voted
unanimously last week to appeal the digest to the state auditor’s office.
“Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is get the equalization board to
exercise their discretion and adjust our funding,” explained BOE Attorney Kelly Brooks. “When the state auditor’s
office receives our appeal, they will notify the state department of
education to hold off on the final determination of our funding for 2011.”
The lawyer says this will buy the school system 45 more days, time enough the
school board hopes, for the Charlton County Tax Assessor’s office to come up
with an accurate tax digest. “There have been substantial post-levy
reductions in the digest through timber tax appeals and Cornell’s appeal [on
the D. Ray James Prison valuation],” said Brooks. “Call me skeptical but for
six years in a row the county’s certified digest has meant nothing.” Last
year for example, Charlton County’s certified digest was $332 million but the
county, school board and cities never collected taxes on that amount. After
the state approved the digest, but before payments started coming in, the
digest dropped by $16.5 million because of the prison appeal. That one reduction
amounted to a loss in property tax revenues to the school system last year of
$252,000.
June 22, 2010 DOJ Press Release
ROBERT B. SURLES, 64, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced today by United
States District Judge Clarence Cooper to federal prison on charges of
conspiracy and wire fraud for his part in a scheme to defraud the operator of
a California corrections facility of almost $13 million. United States
Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “This defendant
was part of an elaborate fraud scheme that ironically involved the
construction of a prison. He will now experience how business is conducted
inside a real prison.” SURLES was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be
followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution
in the amount of $5,417,500. SURLES was found guilty of one count of
conspiracy and 15 counts of wire fraud by a federal jury at the conclusion of
a two-week trial on February 19, 2010. SURLES’ co-defendants, EDGAR G.
BEAUDREAULT, JR. and HOWARD A. SPERLING, were sentenced to federal prison
terms on April 29, 2010, following their pleas of guilty. Both cooperated
with the government and testified in SURLES’ trial. BEAUDREAULT is currently
serving a prison sentence of three years, one month. SPERLING is currently
serving a prison sentence of five years, 10 months. According to United
States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:
From August 2003 through January 2004, BEAUDREAULT, SPERLING and SURLES
conspired to defraud Cornell Corrections of California, Inc., a private
company that operates corrections facilities for various governmental units.
In June 2003, Cornell Corrections contracted to have a corrections facility
built in Canon City, Colorado for $13 million. The $13 million purchase price
was to be held in an escrow account until the facility was completed. In
August 2003, the defendants induced Cornell Corrections to transfer its $13
million to an account in Atlanta, which they controlled, by falsely
representing to Cornell that the account was an escrow account that was
administered by a reputable bank. Upon receipt of Cornell Corrections’ $13
million, the defendants wire transferred the majority of Cornell’s $13
million to other accounts, to be used for their own purposes. Under the terms
of their contract, the defendants were also to obtain a construction loan on
behalf of “Western Comfort, Inc.” the general contractor who began
construction of the facility. No loan was secured, making Western Comfort
another victim of this scheme. This case was investigated by special agents
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys
Bernita B. Malloy and David E. McClernan prosecuted
the case.
June 2, 2010 Yahoo Business Wire
The GEO Group (NYSE: GEO - News) and Cornell Companies (NYSE: CRN - News)
announced today that the waiting-period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 with respect to
the previously announced proposed merger of GEO and Cornell Companies
(NYSE:CRN - News) has expired as of 11:59 pm on Tuesday, June 1, 2010,
effectively clearing the transaction by the United States Federal Trade
Commission and the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division.
The closing of the transaction remains subject to GEO and Cornell stockholder
approval, and other customary conditions to closing. GEO and Cornell continue
to expect that the transaction will close in the third quarter of 2010.
April 29, 2010 Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
An Alpharetta man was sentenced Thursday to three years and five months in
prison for bilking a Colorado corrections facility project out of nearly $13
million. Edgar J. Beaudreault Jr. pleaded guilty in
December to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In 2003, Beaudreault, 61, and San Diego co-defendant Howard
Sperling tricked Cornell Corrections of California Inc. into transferring $13
million into an Atlanta account that was supposed to be an escrow account for
the purchase price of a Canon City, Colo., facility under construction, court
authorities said. Rather than having the escrow administered by a reputable
bank, Beaudreault and Sperling wired the money to
other accounts for their own personal use. Under the same contract, the two
men and another defendant also were supposed to obtain a construction loan on
behalf of the general contractor on the project, but didn’t. “These
defendants were part of an elaborate fraud scheme that ironically involved
the construction of a prison,” U.S. attorney Sally Quillian
Yates said. “They will now experience how business is conducted inside a real
prison.” In addition to the federal prison sentence, Beaudreault
is required to serve three years on supervised release and pay $5.4 million
in restitution.
April 29, 2010 PR Log
An investor in CRN shares filed a lawsuit in Texas State Court on behalf
of current investors in Cornell Companies, Inc. (NYSE:CRN) alleging breaches
of fiduciary duty by the Cornell board of directors for selling Cornell
Companies too cheaply to The GEO Group. If you currently hold shares of
Cornell Companies, Inc. (NYSE:CRN), you have certain options and you should
contact the Shareholders Foundation, Inc by email at
mail@shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1 (858) 779 – 1554. Cornell
Companies, Inc., located in Houston, Texas, is a provider of correctional,
detention, educational, rehabilitation and treatment services outsourced by
federal, state, county and local government agencies for adults and
juveniles. On April 19, 2010, Cornell Companies (NYSE:CRN) and the GEO Group
(NYSE:GEO) announced a merger agreement pursuant to which The GEO Group will
acquire Cornell Companies for stock and/or cash at an estimated enterprise
value of $685 million based on the closing prices of both companies' stocks
on April 16, 2010, including the assumption of approximately $300 million in
Cornell debt, excluding cash. Under the terms of the definitive agreement,
stockholders of Cornell will a value of approximately $24.96 per Cornell
(CRN) share. According to Cornell Companies the Boards of Directors have approved
the merger agreement and the offer represents a 35 percent premium over the
closing price of Cornell's stock (CRN) on April 16, 2010. Shares of Cornell
Companies, Inc. (CRN) traded after the takeover announcement at $24.74 per
share, and at $18.62 per share the trading day before the news. CRN shares
were down from its 52weekHigh of $25.13 per share, and from $27.71 per share
in 2008. At least one analyst set a price target for Cornell stock at $29.00
per share. On April 27, 2010, an investor filed a lawsuit against members of
the board of directors, Cornell Companies Inc and The Geo Group over breaches
of fiduciary duty arising out of the attempt to sell Cornell Companies, Inc.
(NYSE:CRN) to the GEO Group. According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges,
among other things, that the proposed acquisition is intended to take
advantage of Cornell’s temporarily low current valuation and that the
agreement contains certain provisions, like the $12million termination fee
and “no shop” provision that unduly benefit GEO Group by making an
alternative transaction either prohibitively expensive or otherwise
impossible.
April 24, 2010 Grits For Breakfast
Texas Prison Bidness brings word that the Geo Group
gobbled up yet another competitor, adding to its already enormous debt load
and making it the second largest private prison company on the planet, behind
Corrections Corporation of America. Reported the Financial Times: The Geo
Group offered about $385m for Cornell Companies in a mixture of cash and
stock, valuing the company at about $24.96 a share. The company will also
take on about $300m of Cornell debt. The Geo Group's most recent 10K
statement is really quite an amazing read, for anyone interested,
particularly the lengthy section on risk factors, where the possibility is
raised that a quarter-billion dollars in unsecured bonds issued privately
last fall might be considered a "fraudulent conveyance" if the
company defaults and a bankruptcy judge ever takes a close look at the deal.
Facing a mountain of debt, mostly from acquiring competitors, this appears to
be a pretty critical year for the Geo Group, with contracts up for renewal on
almost one in five beds they operate. According to the 10-K: "As of
January 3, 2010, eleven of our facility management contracts representing
10,407 beds are scheduled to expire on or before December 31, 2010, unless
renewed by the customer at its sole option. These contracts represented 19.3%
of our consolidated revenues for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2010."
Other risks identified in Geo's 10-K include: •Our significant level of
indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition and prevent us
from fulfilling our debt service obligations. •A decrease in occupancy levels
could cause a decrease in revenues and profitability. •State budgetary
constraints may have a material adverse impact on us. •Public resistance to
privatization of correctional and detention facilities could result in our
inability to obtain new contracts or the loss of existing contracts, which could
have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and
results of operations. •Adverse publicity may negatively impact our ability
to retain existing contracts and obtain new contracts. •We may face community
opposition to facility location, which may adversely affect our ability to
obtain new contracts. •We may not be able to obtain or maintain the insurance
levels required by our government contracts.
April 19, 2010 Palm Beach Post
Private prison operator The GEO Group Inc. (NYSE: GEO, $18.91) has agreed to
buy rival Cornell Cos. in a deal worth about $685 million, including the
assumption of about $300 million of Cornell's debt. The merger is a move to
expand to meet increasing demand for private correctional facilities and
services, the companies said in a release.
February 26, 2010 AP
Cornell Cos. Inc.'s sales and profit will decline if the state of Arizona
removes inmates from the company's Oklahoma prison, an analyst said as he
downgraded the prison operator's shares. First Analysis Securities analyst
Todd Van Fleet downgraded the Houston company to "equal weight"
from "overweight." The January budget proposals from Arizona's
governor and legislature would phase out the use of private out-of-state
beds. Arizona is struggling to close budget shortfalls. Van Fleet said there
was less than a 25 percent chance that Cornell would be able to persuade
legislators to keep Arizona inmates in the company's Oklahoma prison. The
loss of the Arizona prisoners which could cut into Cornell's annual earnings
by 35 cents to 45 cents per share. Van Fleet cut his estimate for 2010 profit
to $1.09 per share from $1.69 per share, and his 2010 sales estimate to $398
million from $440.6 million. On Wednesday, when it released fourth-quarter
earnings, Cornell predicted it would make $1.31 to $1.41 per share in 2010.
The guidance assumed that Cornell would continue to keep all its Arizona
inmates for the rest of the year. The contract for the Arizona prisoners ends
in mid-September, Van Fleet said. Cornell shares slipped 13 cents to $18.61
in midday trading. They have dropped about 25 percent since Arizona proposed
its budget in mid-January.
February 23, 2010 Pueblo Chieftain
A Chicago man who pocketed $605,000 in construction funds during the building
of a youth treatment facility here was convicted Friday of conspiracy and
wire fraud. A federal jury in Atlanta found Robert B. Surles,
64, guilty of conspiracy and 15 counts of wire fraud in connection with a
scheme to steal nearly $13 million from Cornell Co., which built the Southern
Peaks Regional Treatment Center in 2003. From Aug. 2003 to Jan. 2004, Surles, along with Edgar Beaudreault,
60, of Georgia, and Howard Sperling, 45, of San Diego, conspired to defraud
Cornell of construction funds. Surles was to obtain
a $12 million construction loan, but he and his co-defendants never obtained
financing for the project and instead led the contractor to believe they had.
The trio falsely represented that the funds were in an escrow account, but
instead the money was transferred to other accounts. Although some money was
used to get the construction started, the majority of
funds was taken by the trio for personal purposes. The evidence at trial
showed Surles took $605,000 of the funds, according
to Patrick Crosby, public affairs officer for the United States Attorney's
office in Atlanta. "This defendant fraudulently induced a company to
transfer approximately $13 million into an ‘escrow account’ that turned out
to be nothing but a piggy bank for the defendant and his
co-conspirators," said Sally Quillian Yates,
acting U.S. Attorney in Atlanta. "A federal jury was not fooled by the
story he told when he testified and convicted him on conspiracy and multiple
counts of fraud." Both Beaudreault and
Sperling pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and testified
against Surles. All three are awaiting sentencing
for the crime and Surles is slated to be sentenced
April 27.
January 22, 2010 Times-Union
The Charlton County Commission, the county school system and Folkston are all
hastily adjusting their budgets after a single successful appeal of a
property assessment. Commissioners are expected to approve an "error and
relief" agreement in February to reduce the assessed value of privately
owned D. Ray James Prison from $97 million to $55 million. The successful
appeal by Cornell Companies, owners and operators of the prison, will cost
the city, county and school system at least $730,000 in anticipated tax
revenue. County Manager Steve Nance said Cornell appealed the assessed value
of the prison after it nearly doubled in 2009. Two new structures - an
addition that will house 700 inmates this year and another facility for 300
prisoners from both Charlton County and the U.S. Marshals Service - were on
the tax rolls for the first time this year, likely leading to the increase in
value, Nance said. During the appeal, Cornell officials didn't dispute the
accuracy of the appraisal of the facility. Instead, they argued it would be
impossible to sell the sprawling prison complex for what the company invested
because the structures are for very specialized purposes - to securely house
inmates. They also claimed the original part of the prison, more than a
decade old, had depreciated in value, Nance said. "They contended the
value did not equal the cost," he said. The property appraiser who
determined the appraised value never visited the prison until after Cornell
filed an appeal, Nance said. Instead, the appraiser determined the value from
manuals, he said. "She did not actually tour the facility until the
appeal was made," he said. "After the tour, she agreed the value
was too high. It was a lot more austere than she thought." Despite the
hardship losing an estimated $334,000 in anticipated tax revenue, Nance said
county officials have no plans to contest the ruling by the Board of
Assessors. "It would be difficult for us to appeal our own valuation,"
he said. Also, there is no appeal process unless the complaint is taken to
the Board of Equalization by the property owner, Nance said. "Is there
any recourse [for Folkston and the school district]?" Nance asked.
"I don't think they have the right to challenge this." Now, the
already cash-strapped county will maintain a "continuous evaluation
process" to cut spending to make up for the shortfall, Nance said.
Folkston City Manager Pender Lloyd said the appeal will cost his city at
least $108,000 in anticipated tax revenue - nearly a 5 percent cut to the
city's $2.4 million budget. "We knew Cornell was probably going to
appeal," Lloyd said. "We certainly had no idea it [the prison's
value] would drop by $42 million." Lloyd criticized the timing, saying
one appeal should not have so much impact to local governments. An appeal of
the magnitude of Cornell's should have been resolved before the county digest
was completed to give local governments an accurate estimate of how much
revenue would be generated in taxes. The city will delay some projects
planned this year, including construction of a new park, he said. Travel to
conferences and training is also canceled, unless it is required by law,
Lloyd said. "We have some revenues built up, so we can handle it,"
he said. "We're all affected and we've got to work through this thing.
We've got to deal with it."
May 20, 2009 Yahoo.com
Cornell Companies, Inc. (NYSE:CRN) today announced that it has been
informed by the Georgia Department of Corrections that the Department will not
start using the Company's recently completed expansion at its D. Ray James
Prison in Georgia. The Company's previous guidance, included in the first
quarter earnings release, provided a base case that assumed that the 700-bed
expansion at D. Ray James Prison would begin to ramp at the beginning of the
third quarter of 2009, and an alternate case that, if the expansion was to
remain empty for all of 2009, earnings for the full year would be reduced by
up to approximately $0.08 per share. Today's updated guidance assumes that
the expansion will remain empty for the remainder of the year. As a result,
the Company now expects earnings per share for the full year of $1.62 to
$1.70. The Company also reaffirmed the earnings guidance range for the second
quarter of $0.42 to $0.46 per share.
February 2, 2009 Ledger-Enquirer
A California man pleaded guilty Monday to taking part in a plot to
defraud a prison construction firm out of almost $13 million. Howard A.
Sperling, 44, of San Diego entered the plea to a charge of conspiracy to
commit wire fraud. Sperling could receive up to 20 years in prison when
sentenced April 30 by U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper. Sperling and two
others conspired to defraud Cornell Corrections of California Inc., which
operates 71 private corrections facilities in 15 states, federal prosecutors
said. In 2003, Cornell was hired to build a prison in Canon City, Colo., and
the $13 million purchase price was to be placed in escrow until completion.
Cornell was induced to transfer the money to an Atlanta account controlled by
co-defendant Edgar J. Beaudreault that was supposed
to be administered by a reputable bank. Prosecutors say most of the money was
transferred to other accounts, and Sperling withdrew $365,000 in cash,
transferred $400,000 to personal and family members' accounts, paid $215,000
to banks and credit card companies, $85,000 to a Harrah's Casino and $60,000
for a Mercedes Benz. Beaudreault, 60, of
Alpharetta, Ga., pleaded guilty Dec. 17 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Charges against the third defendant, Robert B. Surles
of Canon City, are pending. A motion hearing is set for later this week.
December 17, 2008 AP
A Georgia businessman has admitted taking part in a scheme to defraud a
California construction company of nearly $13 million. Edgar J. Beaudreault of Alpharetta pleaded guilty Wednesday in
Atlanta to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Federal prosecutors say Beaudreault, 60, and two others conspired to defraud
Cornell Corrections of California Inc., which operates private corrections
facilities. In 2003, Cornell was hired to build a prison in Canon City,
Colo., and the $13 million purchase price was to be placed in escrow until
completion. Cornell was induced to transfer the money to an Atlanta account,
and most of it was then diverted to other accounts. Beaudreault
could receive up to 20 years in prison and be fined $250,000 at sentencing
March 18.
August 26, 2008 Atlanta Business
Chronicle
An Alpharetta, Ga., man is among a group indicted Tuesday on charges of fraud
related to a prison-building contract in Colorado. Edgar J. Beaudreault Jr., 60, of Alpharetta, Howard A. Sperling,
43, of San Diego, and Robert B. Surles, 62, of
Canon City, Colo., were indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple charges.
The indictment alleges from August 2003 through January 2004, the men
concocted a scheme to defraud Cornell Corrections of California Inc., a
private company based in Ventura that operates corrections facilities for
governmental units. In June 2003, Cornell Corrections contracted to have a
corrections facility built in Canon City, Colo., for $13 million. The money
was to be held in an escrow account until the facility was completed. But in
August 2003, the men allegedly got Cornell Corrections to transfer the $13
million to an account in Atlanta controlled by Beaudreault,
and allegedly told Cornell the account was an escrow account administered by
a reputable bank. After the transfer was made into the Atlanta account, the
indictment claims the men then transferred the $13 million to other accounts
to be used for their own purposes. The indictment charges 20 counts of wire
fraud and one count of conspiracy. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20
years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.
July 15, 2008 The Daily Cougar
As Sen. Barack Obama wages his presidential campaign across the United
States with political gusto, he's attracted names such as Vice President Al
Gore and Sen. John Edwards. University of Houston Associate Professor of Law
Tony Chase has also temporarily shifted his duties as a professor to become a
member of the National Finance Committee of Obama's campaign. "I've
known (Obama) for quite some time, and I was one of the people he asked
whether if he should run," Chase said. "Because of that, this is
very personal, and I genuinely believe he is best for this country."
Aside from teaching, Chase is chairman and CEO of ChaseCom
L.P. and Chase Radio Partners. He is also chairman and co-founder, together
with SBC Communications Inc., of The Telecom Opportunity Institute, an
organization that provides technical literacy training at no cost to at-risk
communities. He serves as a director of Leap Wireless International Inc. and
Cornell Companies Inc., and is chairman of the Houston Zoo Development Board.
He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as a director
of the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast and Houston Parks. Chase began
teaching communications law and contracts at the UH Law Center in 1990 and
received the Edith Baker Faculty Award in 1994. On July 8, he stepped down as
the director of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank to dedicate more time to the
campaign. "I can't pick out a certain experience, but teaching graduate
law and undergraduate classes has been particularly helpful in preparing me,
because students are the future and full of ideas that in turn help me think
about today's issues," Chase said. "My experience at the University
helps me by being part of the excitement and interest among young and potential
voters." As for his motives, he believes that the nation, in its current
state, needs Obama as president. "I've known Barack and Michelle for a
long time, and based on that, I believe he is a transcendent political
figure," Chase said. "I know him well and his integrity and how he
responds to pressure, but also how he will be an excellent leader." As
the member of the National Finance Committee for the campaign, he helps make
decisions on how the campaign will utilize its funds and how the fundraising
will be run. He also performs special projects such as arranging meetings
with constituents and senior advisors. "The experience I gain from the
campaign will only help the way I try to bring practical experience to the
classroom, and this is actually quite relevant to what I teach at the
University," Chase said. Chase will return to teach in the fall and
resume his usual duties for his organizations. "I will still do what I
can to accommodate my teaching responsibilities and campaign duties and
continue to voice my support for Barack Obama," Chase said.
January 23, 2007 Market Watch
Cornell Companies, Inc. announced that, at a special meeting of its shareholders
held earlier today, a proposal to merge with the Veritas Capital Fund III,
L.P., was rejected. As a result of this vote by shareholders, Cornell will
continue to operate as a stand-alone publicly-traded entity. Although the
company has not yet announced the timing of its fourth quarter earnings
conference call, management intends to use such forum to provide further
commentary on the transaction, as well as to discuss any changes to the
previously-released 2007 guidance that was made public as a result of the
transaction process.
January 19, 2007 AP
Alpine Associates, a Cornell Cos. (CRN) shareholder, plans to vote
against Cornell's plan to be acquired by Veritas Capital Fund for $18.25 a
share. Alpine and related entities own 631,700 shares, representing a 4.49%
stake. Thursday, shares of private-prison operator Cornell closed at $18.90,
up 16 cents. Alpine said "the current transaction does not fairly value
Cornell's shares." Other shareholders have expressed opposition to the
deal.
October 9, 2006 Market Watch
Cornell Companies, Inc. (CRN : news, chart, profile ) announced today the
execution of a definitive merger agreement with Veritas Capital, under which
Veritas will acquire Cornell in a transaction valued at approximately $518.6
million, including the assumption or repayment of approximately $273.6
million in debt. Under the terms of the agreement, Cornell stockholders will
receive $18.25 in cash for each share of common stock they hold. The
Company's Board of Directors has unanimously approved the agreement and will
recommend that Cornell's stockholders approve the merger. James E. Hyman,
Cornell's chairman and chief executive officer, said, "The Board of
Directors has completed a comprehensive review of the strategic alternatives
available to the Company, the result of which we are pleased to announce
today. The Board endorses this transaction and believes it to be in the best
interest of Cornell's shareholders. Veritas Capital is a private equity
investment firm headquartered in New York. Founded in 1992 by Robert B.
McKeon, Veritas invests primarily in companies specializing in outsourcing
services to the government, primarily in the areas of defense and aerospace,
security and infrastructure. Veritas' portfolio of companies includes, or has
included, DynCorp International, Integrated Defense Technologies, Vertex
Aerospace, McNeil Technologies, The Wornick
Company, and TRAK Communications, among others. Veritas is dedicated to
providing the highest level of critical services and equipment to the defense
and federal sectors around the world. For more information, please visit
www.veritascapital.com.
September 29, 2006 New York Times
Pirate Capital, a $1.7 billion fund based in Norwalk, Conn., lost half
its investment team this week, according to a letter from the founder and
portfolio manager, Thomas Hudson. In addition, Pirate, an “activist” fund
that pressures management to increase shareholder value, is being
investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission on suspicion of
failing to alert the commission when it was selling stock, according to one
person briefed on the inquiry. Mr. Hudson’s letter, dated Sept. 28 and on
stationery with a pirate ship logo, said that Pirate would close to new
investors Sunday, to focus on delivering returns rather than collecting more
money. “I’ve decided to return the firm to its roots,” Mr. Hudson wrote. “The
goal is to focus on returns and not the size of the assets we manage.” Pirate
Capital has had a difficult year: its flagship Jolly Roger Fund is up only
3.3 percent, while its activist fund is up 2.86 percent, according to
materials sent to investors. Those returns are well below the average
activist fund. Hedge Fund Research in Chicago tracks the returns of 44 funds
that operate solely activist strategies; through August those funds have
returned 10.39 percent. An S.E.C. spokesman, John Nester, declined to
comment. Isa Bolotin, head of investor relations at Pirate Capital, did not
return calls seeking comment. Pirate is known for its unusually brash tactics
and unabashed style. A New York magazine cover article reported that Zachary
George, 27, an analyst with the firm and former competitive snowboarder, told
the chief executive of the Cornell Companies, a prison operator, that “You
work for us,” and that Mr. George and Pirate wanted Cornell sold and the
chief executive sacked. “Next year we’re going to be here, and you won’t,”
Mr. George told the chief executive, according to the article. Mr. Hudson
said two investment professionals, including Mr. George, resigned on Monday.
On Wednesday, Carl Klein, a portfolio manager, resigned, and Mr. Hudson asked
two more analysts to leave. Five people, including Mr. Hudson, remain. The
S.E.C. is investigating whether Pirate was late in reporting to the commission
material changes in its holdings. Investors with at least a 5 percent stake
must report any changes to those holdings.
September 1, 2006 Alaska Report
The FBI served four more search warrants today in its investigation of
the relationship between lawmakers and oilfield services company VECO
Corporation, an Anchorage-based oil field services and construction company
whose executives are major contributors to political campaigns. Bill Allen,
owner of VECO, and his firm, were involved in a renovation of Alaska Senator
Ted Stevens' chalet in Girdwood in the recent past. The Associated Press is
reporting that the search warrants seek "from the period of October 2005
to the present, any and all documents concerning, reflecting or relating to
proposed legislation in the state of Alaska involving either the creation of
a natural gas pipeline or the petroleum production tax." An Anchorage
FBI spokesman says that about two dozen search warrants have been executed so
far, including three today in Anchorage and one in Willow. No arrests have
been made as of yet. AlaskaReport has learned that
a staffer in one of the offices raided has been providing information to
federal authorities. In an interview with KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Wev Shea, a former U.S. attorney for Alaska says he knows
who created the climate that he alleges allowed corruption to flourish.
"The Republican Party is going to rue the day in this state for allowing
Randy Ruedrich (chairman of the Republican Party of
Alaska) to remain as a chair. He's bringing this party down and it's
bad." KTUU also interviewed Rep. Eric Croft. He says he saw this coming
two years ago, during a legislative committee meeting concerning VECO’s pitch
for a sole-source contract award for a private prison. "I said at the
time, in 2004, on the Whittier proposal, someone's going to jail over this 'cause I could see how corrupt the process was,"
said Croft, D-Anchorage.
August 31, 2006 Anchorage Daily News
Federal agents swarmed legislative offices around the state Thursday,
executing search warrants in a coordinated series of raids that appeared to
target the longstanding relationship between the oil-field service company Veco and leading lawmakers. Above Anchorage’s 4th Avenue,
FBI agents spent most of the afternoon behind the closed doors and drawn
blinds of the fifth-floor offices of Senate President Ben Stevens and Senate
Rules Committee Chairman John Cowdery, both Anchorage Republicans. Through
slits in the blinds, one agent in Stevens’ office, wearing rubber gloves,
could be seen packing away evidence in a container. In Juneau, tourists and
residents were greeted with the extraordinary sight of FBI agents hauling out
files form the Alaska State Capitol after searching offices there. After the
FBI searched his Wasilla office and questioned him, Rep. Vic Kohring,
R-Wasilla, the chairman of the House Special Committee on Oil & Gas, said
the investigation was focused on Veco. Other
legislative offices known to have been searched Thursday included those of
Reps. Pete Kott of Eagle River and Bruce Weyhrauch
of Juneau, and Sen. Donny Olson of Nome. Kott, a former House speaker, and Weyhrauch are Republicans. Olson is the only Democrat in
the group. FBI spokesman Eric Gonzalez said federal agents executed about 20
search warrants Thursday, not all in legislative offices. The warrants were
executed in Anchorage, Juneau, Wasilla, Eagle River and Girdwood, he said.
Ray Metcalfe, a former legislator and the founder of the independent
Republican Moderate Party, said he has been trying to get the authorities
interested in what he described as the “corrupt” relationship between Veco and the Republican-lead
legislature, principally Ben Stevens. “I put all the stuff in front of
federal prosecutors a year and a half ago,” Metcalfe said Thursday, clearly
relishing the turn of events. “I laid hundreds of pages of detailed
information alleging bribery, and I distributed it to federal authorities, I
distributed it to the U.S. Attorney’s office, I distributed it to the (state
attorney general’s) Office of Special Prosecutions, and we held a
demonstration in front of the attorney general’s office that hardly anyone
showed up for.” Metcalfe attempted to initiate a recall campaign against
Stevens, but his effort was rejected by Lt. Gov. Loren Leman on legal grounds.
After first announcing he’d run for re-election in November, Stevens changed
his mind in June and opted to retire.Tamara Cook, a
lawyer who heads the nonpartisan legal services division of the Legislature,
said Thursday evening that she reviewed a couple of the search warrants at
the request of legislators or aides upon whom they were served. The search
warrants allowed the FBI to search computers and office files including
financial records, she said. The warrants named Veco
Corp., she said, but could not say whether Veco was
a target or whether the investigation concerned oil taxes, its failed push to
build a private prison in Alaska or something else.
August 28, 2006 Yahoo.com
Cornell Companies, Inc. (NYSE:CRN - News) announced today that Mark S. Croft,
the General Counsel and Secretary of the Company, resigned on Saturday,
August 26, 2006, to attend to personal matters unrelated to his role as an
officer of the Company. Patrick N. Perrin, Senior Vice President and Chief
Administrative Officer, has been appointed to the office of Secretary of the
Company to succeed Mr. Croft.
June 5, 2006 Houston Business
Journal
Cornell Companies Inc. on Monday afternoon said it has retained a
financial advisor to assist the Houston operator of prisons in analyzing ways
"to maximize shareholder value." The announcement, which came in a
brief news release distributed Monday after the regular session of the stock
market closed, essentially puts Cornell (NYSE: CRN - News) on the block as a
candidate to be acquired. Beyond making the brief statement about hiring a
financial advisor, Cornell in the Monday release said the prison operator
does not intend to make further announcements on the matter until the
NYSE-listed company "has made definitive decisions on its future strategic
direction." No assurance can be given that any transaction will be
pursued," according to the Cornell press release.
February 10, 2006 Yahoo
Cornell Companies, Inc. announced today the settlement of a securities
class action lawsuit. In re Cornell Companies, Inc. Securities Litigation was
originally filed by certain Cornell stockholders in March 2002 on behalf of
all purchasers of Cornell's common stock from March 6, 2001 to March 5, 2002.
The Company has agreed to settle this class action lawsuit for $7.0 million
to avoid further protracted and expensive litigation. The settlement amount
will be funded through the Company's directors' and officers' liability
insurance and will have no impact on the Company's financial position,
results of operations or cash flows. Under the terms of the settlement,
Cornell has not admitted to any wrongdoing.
September 29, 2005 Baltimore Sun
Two Maryland judges said yesterday that the Ehrlich administration's decision
to close the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School without a clear plan to replace it
is jeopardizing the welfare of youths and putting public safety at risk.
Baltimore County Circuit Judge Kathleen Cox and Anne Arundel Circuit Judge
Pamela North told legislators that with Hickey preparing to close, there are
not enough places to send tough young offenders who need to be removed from
their homes to protect their safety and the community. The department said
some Maryland youths will be sent to programs in Texas, Iowa, Indiana,
Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Ohio with rates ranging from $47,450 to $116,800
per child per year. The list includes three facilities run by a for-profit
Texas-based company that, according to published reports, was forced to close
one of its centers amid complaints of abuse. Under pressure from Pennsylvania
authorities, a company operating as Cornell Abraxas closed its New Morgan
Academy near Reading in 2002 after about a dozen children were sexually
assaulted by adults over the span of less than two years, according to the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The same company runs programs that the Department
of Juveniles Services plans to use in Shelby, Ohio; Marienville, Pa.; and
South Mountain, Pa., according to a list provided to legislators yesterday.
Another facility on the list has had a more recent, but less severe, incident
of violence. The Summit Academy reform school in Herman, Pa., has said that
four workers were fired in July over a June 18 incident in which a
17-year-old male student suffered cuts to his face and ear.
September 29, 2005 Star-Telegram
In a move denounced as a political witchhunt, Rep.
Tom DeLay was indicted Wednesday with two associates on a felony charge of
conspiring to circumvent Texas' prohibition of corporate campaign donations
to secure the Republican takeover of the Texas House in 2002. Shortly after
Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle announced the indictment, the
Republican congressman from Sugar Land resigned his powerful majority leader
post in Washington, at least temporarily. DeLay, 58, is accused of conspiring
with two associates to convert $190,000 in donations from several
corporations into campaign contributions on behalf of seven Republican
candidates who were involved in what many had believed would be close
contests for seats in the Texas House.
September 28, 2005 Bloomberg
U.S. Representative Tom DeLay, the No. 2 Republican in the House, was
indicted by a Texas grand jury for criminal conspiracy in connection with
illegal corporate political donations, prompting him to give up his
leadership post. Two former campaign aides, John Colyandro
and Jim Ellis, were also charged with conspiracy by the state grand jury in
Travis County, according to the single-count indictment. The charge stems
from an investigation into alleged use of illegal corporate contributions by
DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, in the
2002 races for the state House of Representatives. The four-page indictment
charges that DeLay conspired with Ellis and Colyandro
to use donations from companies including Williams Companies Inc. and Sears,
Roebuck and Co., now Sears Holdings Corp., to help finance the election
campaigns of seven members of the Texas House in 2002. Under Texas law,
corporations aren't permitted to donate to candidates. Other companies named,
but like Williams and Sears, not charged in the indictment were Diversified
Collections Services Inc., Cornell Companies Inc., Bacardi U.S.A. Inc. and Questerra Corp.
September 22, 2005 Texas Lawyer
A private corrections company seeks to hold Locke Liddell & Sapp liable
for more than $5 million that's allegedly missing from an account set up for
a land deal. Houston-based Cornell Companies Inc. sued Locke Liddell and
David Montgomery, a partner in the firm, alleging malpractice, among other
things. The company filed Cornell Companies Inc. v. Locke Liddell & Sapp,
et al. on Aug. 26 in Houston's 333rd District Court. In its petition, Cornell
alleges that the defendants "dropped the ball" by failing to ensure
that a proper escrow account was set up in 2003 to hold the company's funds.
Those funds were intended to be used to buy land in Colorado on which to
develop a regional correctional rehabilitation center. As alleged in the
petition, the defendants gave Cornell the "green light" to wire
almost $13 million into an account that was purported to be an escrow
account. "There was no escrow agent; there was no escrow account,"
alleges Scott Hershman, one of the attorneys representing Cornell. The suit
against Locke Liddell is related to a suit that a Cornell subsidiary filed
last year in the Superior Court of Fulton County in Atlanta. Cornell alleged
in its second amended complaint in Cornell Corrections of California Inc. v.
Longboat Global Advisors, et al. that attorney Edgar J. Beaudreault
of Roswell, Ga., a defendant in the suit, handled the construction loan
transaction on behalf of Longboat, which was providing financing for the
corrections facility project. Cornell Corrections alleged in the Georgia
complaint that Beaudreault, who is also Longboat's
vice president and managing director, arranged for the escrow account but it
turned out to be a regular bank account. Cornell Corrections further alleged
in the complaint that, although the company wired the funds to Bank of
America in August 2003, it didn't learn until November of that year that the
bank was not holding money in escrow and that a withdrawal never authorized
by Cornell Corrections had been made. Hershman, a partner in Lackey Hershman
in Dallas, says he doesn't expect Cornell Corrections will be able to collect
the damages awarded in the Georgia case, because he thinks the money is gone.
Michael Shaunessy, an Austin, Texas, attorney who
represents plaintiffs in legal malpractice cases but is not involved in
Cornell's suit against Locke Liddell, says the fact that a company hires
lawyers to handle this type of transaction doesn't eliminate the company's
responsibility to exercise due diligence in the matter. Shaunessy, a partner in Shaunessy & Burnett, says he expects Locke Liddell
and Montgomery to raise a causation defense, arguing that those who took the
money out of the account caused Cornell's loss. Cornell can argue that, if
the defendants had set up the account so that the money couldn't be moved
without the company's authorization, Cornell would not have suffered the
loss, he says.
September 13, 2005 American-Statesman
A Travis County grand jury today added new felony charges against two
officials with Texans for a Republican Majority who first were indicted last
fall. The grand jury re-indicted political consultants John Colyandro and Jim Ellis on first-degree felony charges
that the two laundered a $190,000 corporate check into campaign donations
during the 2002 elections. It added lesser felony charges of unlawfully
making a contribution to a political party and criminal conspiracy involving
the $190,000 transaction. Just weeks before the 2002 election, Colyandro, who was executive director of the political
committee created by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, sent
a blank check to his counterpart, Ellis, in Washington.
September 9, 2005 Houston Chronicle
A Travis County
grand jury indicted a business organization and a political
committee founded by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Thursday on
felony charges of violating election laws by using corporate money to
influence state elections. The indictments accuse the DeLay-founded Texans
for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee of two counts of
illegally soliciting corporate money for political campaigns. The indictment
of TRMPAC is significant because it reflects on DeLay's role in overseeing
the committee. DeLay served on its board of advisers and helped raise some of
the corporate money at the core of the controversy. Texas
election law prohibits the use of corporate or labor-union money
to influence races for elective office. TRMPAC could face a fine of up to
$40,000, but the committee filed articles of dissolution with the Texas
Ethics Commission in July. Earle said the dissolution does not matter because
TRMPAC's management or board of advisers can be held liable for its criminal
conduct.
August 9, 2005 Houston Chronicle
A state district judge refused Tuesday to dismiss charges of money laundering
and accepting illegal political contributions against two associates of U.S.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land. Judge Bob Perkins denied
arguments from John Colyandro and Jim Ellis that
the charges were based on an unconstitutionally vague law and that the
indictments were improperly worded. Lawyers for Colyandro,
who worked for DeLay's fundraising committee Texans for a Republican
Majority, and Jim Ellis, who worked for Americans for a Republican Majority,
have said they will appeal, likely delaying any trial for at least several
months. The charges stem from the 2002 Texas legislative elections. The
money-laundering charges are based on $190,000 in corporate money that was
sent to the Republican National State Elections Committee.
June 3, 2005 Houston Business
Journal
Insurgent shareholder Pirate Capital LLC has captured the board of
Cornell Cos. Inc. Pirate gained control of the Houston-based prison operator
last month after setting sail on a proxy fight that originated a year
earlier. Toting a treasure trove of Cornell common shares -- a 14.8 percent
stake as of mid-May -- the Connecticut-based investment firm emerged with the
right to put seven directors on Cornell's nine-member board. Cornell controls
the remaining two seats on the board, which increased from seven to nine
members as part of a new agreement with Pirate. "It appeared that
(Cornell) had been heading for a distracting and costly proxy battle,"
notes Scott Schneeberger, a stock analyst at Lehman
Brothers. Cornell also got Pirate to concede that the investment firm will
not pursue a transaction to take the publicly traded Houston company private
for at least the next two years. At the same time, Cornell Chairman James
Hyman will no longer steer the board of directors after the end of this
month. Despite 20 years of experience in operations, finance, process
management, mergers and acquisitions, Hyman's name is conspicuously missing
from the slate of nominees for the new board.
July
13, 2005 Houston Chronicle
A state district judge declined Tuesday to dismiss charges of accepting
illegal political contributions against an associate of U.S. House Majority
Leader Tom DeLay. Lawyers for John Colyandro, who worked for DeLay's fund-raising committee
Texans for a Republican Majority, had claimed that the indictment against him
was based on an unconstitutionally vague law. Judge Bob Perkins also
declined to dismiss a charge of money laundering against Colyandro,
although that issue remains technically alive. The charges stem from
the 2002 Texas legislative elections.
The money-laundering charges are related to $190,000 in corporate
money sent to the Republican National State Elections Committee. The committee then gave the same amount to
seven Texas House candidates.
March 11, 2005 The Deal
True to its swashbuckling name, hedge fund Pirate Capital LLC is preparing to
make a run at struggling Cornell Cos., a prison and juvenile-facilities
operator. Since last year, Houston-based Cornell has been under pressure from
Thomas R. Hudson Jr., portfolio manager at the 2-year-old Norwalk Conn.-based
hedge fund, to seek a buyer. After a series of missteps by Cornell, Pirate's
Jolly Roger Fund LP launched a proxy contest on Feb. 24 to take over all
seven seats on Cornell's board at an annual meeting expected in June.
"You can just see the shots being fired across the bow of Cornell,"
says Sheryl Skolnick, an analyst at Fulcrum Global Partners LLC in New York.
Skolnick says a strategic acquirer would pay roughly $20.50 a share for the
assets — $270 million in equity plus $112 million in debt. Cornell traded
early last week at around $14.40 a share. Anton Hie, an analyst with
Jefferies & Co. in Nashville, says a strategic acquirer would value
Cornell at $16 to $18 a share, and would cut costs by eliminating overhead
and other administrative expenses. A financial buyer could break up the
company and sell various facilities "in pieces," Hie says.
Skolnick, whose firm does not do work for Cornell, cites Nashville-based
Correction Corp. of America and Geo Group Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., the two
largest private providers of adult-prison management services in the U.S., as
likely buyers. Hie, whose firm does not own Cornell stock, says CCA and Geo
might be more interested in Cornell's adult facilities, but he would not
estimate a valuation on these assets. Privately held Management and Training
Corp. of Centerville, Utah, could also be interested, Skolnick says. She and
other analysts say the other major player in the industry, Sarasota,
Fla.-based Corrections Services Corp., is smaller than Cornell and unlikely
to make a bid. "These publicly traded companies are interested in
growing, and acquiring Cornell would help them improve their bottom
line," says a corrections consultant. Officials for CCA and Geo did not
return calls seeking comment. Cornell posted a loss of $897,000 for the third
quarter of fiscal 2004, the latest results available, compared with a profit
of $1.4 million a year earlier, even as sales rose to $74.7 million from
$68.6 million. The company has made some internal changes. In January it
hired James Hyman to replace outgoing CEO Harry Phillips. Skolnick says Hyman
has some real estate experience but "may not know what he's gotten
himself into." Pirate Capital, which has a 14.8% Cornell stake, has yet
to offer an opinion of Hyman. As part of a broad strategy to learn
shareholder concerns, Hyman has met with numerous investors, including
activist hedge fund managers, since he took over in January. He has also
huddled with Pirate officials several times in the past month, and says he
plans to do so again. "It's part of an ongoing process," Hyman
says. "I asked [investors] to be very frank and tell me as straight as
they can how they view Cornell." He says Cornell would consider any
offer, but that the company is not seeking a buyer. Cornell also recently
replaced director Marcus Watts with Isabella Cunningham, a communications
professor at the University of Texas. That move, says a shareholder, suggests
"creeping compliance" with Pirate's wishes. Shareholders had
repeatedly asked the board to replace Watts, a partner at law firm Locke
Liddell & Sapp LLP, who they argued lacked sufficient independence. Locke
Liddell & Sapp has a business relationship with Cornell. Cunningham,
considered independent, developed a criminal-justice program at St. Edward's
University in Austin, Texas. Skolnick says Hyman will have his work cut out
for him. He acknowledges that Cornell has made some major mistakes lately.
For example, it leased an abandoned jail in Bernalillo County, N.M., and
announced in spring 2003 that the facility would house roughly 1,000 inmates
by the end of that year and generate $25 million in annual revenue. But after
lease problems and poor planning, Skolnick says, the facility held only 300
inmates by the end of 2004 and brought in significantly less revenue than
promised. Cornell's acquisition of an abandoned training school in
Plankinton, S.D., was another botched purchase. The company turned the school
into a juvenile-detention center with an investment of $200,000. For the
program to be profitable, Cornell needed the state to pay $175 a day per
inmate. But the state agreed to pay only $125. After three months, Cornell
closed the operation. "What this points out is how Cornell generally
does not complete the necessary due diligence before going out and opening
facilities," Skolnick says. "They do a terrible job of completing
projects and ramping up occupancy in their facilities." On Feb. 1
Cornell announced plans to buy San Diego-based Correctional Systems Inc. for
$10 million, an acquisition Hyman says is complementary. Other shareholders
have risen to Pirate Capital's support. "We believe that the board's
attempt to simultaneously replace the company's CEO and CFO without reaching
out to Pirate Capital, its largest shareholder, represents another example of
poor judgment," says Nelson Obus, president of
New York hedge fund Wynnefield Capital LLC in a
January Securities and Exchange Commission filing. People familiar with
Pirate say its nominees have vastly more experience in corrections-facility
management, restructuring and turnarounds than Cornell's current board.
Pirate nominee Richard Crane, a corrections-project consultant, is a former
general counsel to CCA, one of the companies that might consider acquiring
Cornell. Then there's Sally Walker, president of Encourage Youth Corp., a
consulting firm specializing in programs for juvenile offenders. Pirate is
also nominating two people from within its own ranks: portfolio manager
Hudson and investment analyst Zachary George. Says Skolnick:
"Shareholders would be well-served to have a professional management
team that is focused on returns instead of revenue growth."
March 10, 2005 Dow Jones
Cornell Cos.' (CRN) fourth-quarter loss ballooned as the company took a
number of charges and announced that it will eliminate two layers of
management and close underperforming programs. In a press release Thursday,
the prison operator said that among the jobs eliminated was that of President
and Chief Operating Officer Thomas R. Jenkins. Chief Executive James Hyman
will assume the chief operating officer responsibilities. In a bid to improve
its operations, Cornell said it was trimming its management, cutting Jenkins'
job as well as a number of vice president and director-level positions that
"interfered" between business unit managers and their programs. The
shakeup is just the latest in a slew of management changes at Cornell. Hyman
himself was named chief executive in January. John Nieser,
the chief financial officer, was named in February. Meanwhile, a group of
shareholders including Pirate Capital LLC, which hold about 15% of the
company, have called for the entire board to step down. Apart from changes to
its management, Cornell said Thursday it will close a number of its programs
that consumed cash and managerial talent that could better be spent
elsewhere. The
programs, set to be shuttered in the first and second quarters, include the Joz-Arz program in the District of Columbia, the
Residential School in Illinois, which is owned by the company, and behavioral
health programs in Pennsylvania.
November 9, 2004 PRNews
Cornell
Companies, a leading provider of privatized adult and juvenile correctional,
treatment and educational services, announced today that the Company has
commenced a search for a new chief executive officer. Harry J. Phillips, Jr. will continue to
serve as chief executive officer until a successor is named and, thereafter,
will continue as chairman of the board of directors.
October 22, 2004 AP
Two associates of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay who have been indicted
for alleged campaign finance violations will be allowed to put off answering
a civil lawsuit until their criminal charges have been resolved. State District Judge Joe Hart on Thursday
postponed a civil lawsuit against John Colyandro
and Jim Ellis, who were charged last month with laundering corporate
donations during the 2002 elections.
September 22, 2004 AP
The money laundering allegation in a congressional ethics complaint filed
against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay involves the same $190,000 in
political contributions that led to indictments of the Texas congressman's
aides on similar charges. DeLay is accused in an ethics complaint of misusing
the Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee to launder
$190,000 in illegal corporate contributions through the Republican National
Committee for use in Texas legislative races. On Tuesday, a grand jury in
Texas indicted Jim Ellis, a paid consultant to Texans for a Republican
Majority, and John Colyandro, former executive
director of the Texas committee, on money laundering charges involving the
same $190,000 check. A third aide was indicted on separate charges. The
indictments allege that on Sept. 13, 2002, Ellis delivered a check for
$190,000 to the Republican National Committee. The check was signed by Colyandro and made out to the Republican National State
Elections Committee. Accompanying it was a list of several GOP Texas
legislative candidates and the amount of money that each should get from the
RNC, according to the indictment. The indictments said the $190,000 came from
corporate contributions to Texans for A Republican Majority. Givers included
Diversified Collection Services Inc., $50,000; Sears, Roebuck and Co.,
$25,000; Williams Companies Inc., $25,000; Cornell Companies, $10,000,
Bacardi USA, $20,000 and Questerra Corp., $25,000,
the indictments said. They did not account for the remaining contributions.
The Republican National State Elections Committee subsequently wrote checks
totaling $190,000 to seven Texas candidates, the indictment alleges. Texas law prohibits
the use of corporate money for direct political purposes.
August 15, 2004
Rarely does the siren of shareholder revolt sound as loudly as it has at
Cornell Cos., a Houston-based operator of adult and juvenile corrections
centers and treatment facilities. During a conference call last week,
investors irate over the company's performance blasted Chairman Harry
Phillips. "Our capital is being wasted here, and our company is being
undermanaged," said Zachary George with Pirate Capital, a Connecticut
hedge fund that owns 7.5 percent of Cornell's shares, making it one of the
company's biggest investors. "We are not going to let you guys destroy
this company. Your time at Cornell is limited." Pirate, which began
buying Cornell shares in May, targets companies it believes are undervalued.
It isn't alone in its displeasure: Thirty-five percent of the company's
investors withheld their votes for directors at the last annual meeting, and
that was without any organized effort. Investors have ample reason to be
ticked off. Net income was almost $8 million in 2000, but the company hasn't
seen a profit like that since. Last year, earnings were less than $4 million.
Profit margins have been halved during the same period. Cornell's market
value has tumbled to $166 million from $228 million in 2001. For Cornell's
management, the hour of reckoning is nigh. Promises of a prosperous future
will no longer quell the discontent. The sirens are sounding, and the message
for management is clear: The future is now. (Houston Chronicle)
August 14, 2002
Prison builder and operator Cornell Cos. Inc. said on Tuesday its second
quarter profit fell, in part from a one-time charge for a federal prison
contract in Mississippi that it failed to win. The company, which
operates 69 prisons, detention and substance treatment centers across
America, said short-term prospects for new contracts were uncertain as
federal funds were diverted to the new Homeland Security Department.
But Cornell also said it was optimistic about the growth in the future as
prison recidivism rates increase, along with demand from Immigration and
Naturalization Service detention centers. In addition, increasing budgetary
restraints on states should drive demand for prison privatization.
Cornell said unusual items, including about $1 million in costs of the failed
bid for the Southeast Federal Bureau of Prisons project in Mississippi
reduced earnings by 5 cents per share. (Yahoo Finance)
August 13, 2002
Prison builder and operator Cornell Cos. Inc. on Tuesday said net income fell
in the second quarter, pressured in part by a one-time charge after it failed
to win a federal prison contract. (Yahoo Finance)
June 2, 2002
Cornell Companies Inc. (NYSE:CRN - News) updated today its outlook following
the announcement of results from a recent federal procurement process. The
Company previously submitted a response to a request for proposal from the
Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) for a potential new prison in the Southeast
U.S. The Company did not receive this award. Since these awards require
construction to be completed within 365 days, the Company had successfully
pre-arranged and received bank commitments for a construction and
lease-financing vehicle that would allow it to meet this schedule. As a
result, the Company has elected to expense approximately $530,000 in
after-tax costs in the second quarter, or $0.04 earnings per share,
representing bank commitment fees and related accounting and legal costs.
(Yahoo Finance)
May 31, 2002
Shares of prison builder and operator Cornell Cos. Inc. dropped more than 19
percent in intraday trading on Friday, a day after the Federal Bureau of
Prisons awarded a contract to a Cornell rival, analysts said. The
1,500-bed contract went to Corrections Corp. of America, the No.1 prison
operator, on Thursday. Cornell was the other finalist for the $109
million contract. "It's a disappointment. There's a chance
they could have gotten it," said Jim McDonald, an analyst with First
Analysis. But the chances were slim, he added, because Corrections
Corp. had an empty facility in Georgia, whereas Cornell would have had to
build a new facility. Lehman Brothers downgraded Cornell's stock on
Friday morning to "buy" from "strong buy."
Cornell's troubles may not be over, said Matt Hull, an analyst at Avondale
Partners, who has the stock at an "accumulate" rating. The
prison bureau's move "removes growth from the picture at the federal
level, and state budgets have less money, so you don't see a lot of prison
expansion at the state level," he said. "These stocks sell on
growth, and that's what were missing," Hull
said. "Now there's no near-term catalyst." (Yahoo
Finance)
May 1, 2002
At
the D. Ray James Prison in south Georgia, the
inmates have been kept behind bars by all types of lawmen: sheriffs, chiefs
of police and more than a few wardens. But never, until now, have they been
kept in jail by a charity. In August, a partnership headed by Provident
Foundation Inc., a not-for-profit group based in Baton Rouge, La., bought the
prison, a 1,500-man compound on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp. Corrections
experts say they don't know of another example in recent times of a charity
owning a prison. Provident isn't a conventional charity. It is run by a group
of lawyers, investment bankers and financial consultants. Lehman Bros.
Holdings Inc. and other Wall Street titans do its financial work. With that
impressive firepower, Provident is trying to carve a unique niche for itself
in the corrections world, offering off-the-books financing for public and
private prison operators. It has helped the state of North Carolina and
Cornell Cos., a for-profit prison company, buff their financial profiles.
Provident does this by creating special subsidiaries and partnerships that
take advantage of controversial accounting rules and allow its clients to
keep debt off of their balance sheets. As scrutiny of complex accounting
grows in the wake of the Enron Corp. collapse, Provident offers the unusual
twist of a nonprofit playing the off-the-books game. The foundation's major
deal with Cornell sparked an embarrassing restatement of the Houston-based
company's financial figures last month. The company's top official has been
stripped of his titles as chairman and chief executive. In April 2001,
Provident formed a subsidiary, Carolina Corrections LLC, to bid for a
contract to build three 1,000-bed prisons for North Carolina. This
arrangement allows North Carolina to avoid borrowing more money itself at a
time when its budget deficit has grown. But in the long run, renting could
cost the state more than simply building the prisons itself. North Carolina's
nonpartisan fiscal-research division has estimated the 20-year-lease expense
as $370 million. That's $146 million more than the $224 million purchase
price. Early this year, Cornell's stock continued to rise. But on Jan. 31,
its auditor, Andersen, sent a troubling letter to members of the Cornell
board's audit committee. Acting after it had come under fire for its auditing
of Enron, Andersen questioned the purpose of an unusual $3.7 million retainer
Cornell last August had agreed to pay Lehman. The retainer wasn't linked to a
specific assignment but was supposed to pay for work Lehman might do in the
future. Six days after receiving the letter, Cornell announced plans to
review its accounting of the August sale-leaseback. Its stock fell 43% in one
day. (The Wall Street Journal)
April 29, 2002
Cornell has announced that it will establish a memorial to American ideals at
the Shanksville-Stonycreek school, near the
Pennsylvania site of the crash of United Flight 93 on September 11th.
(Cornell Companies/Yahoo! Finance)
March 8, 2002
Milberg Weiss, Levy and Levy, P.C., Cauley Geller Bowman
and Coates, LLP, and Schiffrin and Barroway, LLP announced that a class action has been
commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of
Texas on behalf of purchasers of Cornell Companies, Inc. The complaint
charges Cornell and certain of its officers and directors with violations of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint alleges that during
the Class Period, defendants issued favorable but false statements and made
false and misleading statements about the Company's business. (Press
Releases from Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes and Lerach, LLP, Levy and Levy, P.C., Cauley
Geller Bowman and Coates, LLP, and Schiffrin and Barroway, LLP)
April 25, 2002
This isn’t a good time to be CEO of a Houston company audited by Arthur
Andersen. Especially if you are a former Arthur Andersen accountant. And most
especially if you may have to restate your earnings because the “innovative”
off-the-books transaction you arranged six months ago could violate the same
SEC rules that exposed Enron’s partnerships. In August, Steve Logan completed
a deal that he boasted would enable Cornell Cos., the country’s third-largest
builder and operator of prisons, to double the industry’s growth rate. His
deal involves a sale/leaseback transaction, in which facilities are sold to a
bond-issuing special-purpose company, Municipal Corrections Finance, or MCF,
and leased back to Cornell at a favorable rate. “We’ve changed the industry,”
the CEO declared last summer. “This is something that competitors have been
trying to do for a decade. No one else has been able.” On Jan. 31, auditors
alerted Cornell of a possible conflict with SEC rules, which require that the
equity owner of MCF—in this case affiliates of Lehman Brothers—own at least 3
percent of MCF for it to qualify as a separate company. Cornell’s shares fell
43 percent on the news, to $9.96 from $17.48. At issue is $3.65 million
Cornell paid to Lehman Brothers in September. The fee was reported as a
retainer to Lehman Brothers for future financial advisory services. However,
it could also be seen as a belated payment for Lehman Brothers’ role in
setting up MCF, which would reduce Lehman Brothers’ equity below the required
level. Outside ownership was the missing ingredient in Enron’s partnerships.
(The e-Network for CEOs)
March 6, 2002
Prison
builder and operator Cornell Cos Inc. said Wednesday it will restate its
earnings for 2000 and for three quarters of 2001 after reviewing two
off-balance-sheet transactions, a move that will reduce previously reported
earnings. Last month Cornell said its board of directors -- acting on the
recommendation of its independent auditor -- had formed a special committee
to review an August off-balance-sheet transaction in which Cornell sold 11
facilities and then leased them back. It also said it was reviewing what it
called a ``synthetic lease transaction'' which occurred in 2000. The
facilities were sold to affiliates of an unnamed investment bank. Cornell
said Wednesday that it has decided to consolidate the transactions, moving
them back onto the company's income statements and balance sheets. The effect
of the restatement will require waivers of certain covenants under the
company's senior credit facility, Cornell added. Based on discussions with
its lenders, Cornell expects to reach agreement to waive and/or restructure
the covenants. (Reuters)
February
11, 2002 Last Wednesday, Cornell Cos. , a
Houston-based prison builder and operator, announced that it is reviewing its
books - or rather, reviewing an off-book transaction that it entered into
during 2001. Not surprisingly, in this post-Enron environment, the market
reacted very negatively. However, from the Sleuth's point of view, there are
several "disconcerting" aspects to all of this: Even though this
"retainer agreement" was reportedly entered into during the third
quarter, the Sleuth was unable to find references to any "retainer
agreement" in CRN's third quarter 10-Q Report, and there was no evidence
that the company had either paid this $3.65 million to Lehman Brothers or had
recognized this debt as a liability. Likewise, this $3.65 million
"retainer" does not appear to have been used to pay for any of the
costs of the company's secondary offering, announced on November 27, 2001,
for which Lehman Brothers was the lead underwriter. A review of the Company's
filings with the SEC for this offering fails to show that any of CRN's
expenses from this secondary offering were paid out of any "retainer
agreement." And then, the company also announced a changing of the
guard. One of its outside directors would become chairman, while the
now-former chairman would remain president and chief executive of the
company. This press release came only eleven minutes after the announcement
of the investigation. (Securities Sleuth)
February
6, 2002
Prison builder and operator Cornell Wednesday said it was reviewing
accounting issues raised by its auditor related to an off-balance-sheet
transaction, in one of the clearest signs yet that accountants are
increasingly questioning such deals after Enron's collapse. Cornell said its
board of directors had formed a special committee to review an August
transaction in which Cornell sold 11 facilities and then leased them back.
Accounting firm Andersen, under fire for blessing Enron's books, was
Cornell's auditor, according to its most recent quarterly report. Cornell,
which said the review could have material financial consequences, also said
its president and chief executive will no longer be chairman. The news sent
Cornell shares plunging on the New York Stock Exchange, where they lost more
than half their value before recouping some losses. Cornell shares were down
40 percent, or $7.03 to $10.45 on the New York Stock Exchange in late
afternoon trading, making it the largest percentage loser on the NYSE on
Wednesday. Cornell said the facilities were sold to an entity owned by
affiliates of an unnamed investment bank for net proceeds of $173 million.
Cornell is focusing on a $3.65 million non-refundable fee it paid to the
investment bank and whether that fee affected the previously reported
accounting treatment for the transaction, the company said. It also is
looking at whether its financial statements appropriately reflected the
amount paid to the investment bank. The fee was for financial advisory
services concerning future financing vehicles and strategic development.
Depending on the results of the accounting review, the company could be
forced to put the facilities back on its balance sheet as assets and take on
the debt of Municipal Corrections Finance L.P., the entity formed to buy the
facilities, as a liability, Cornell said. Municipal Corrections Finance is a
completely independent entity from Cornell and involves no Cornell employees,
the spokesman said. Cornell, which provides prison, treatment and educational
services to government agencies, also said it had installed an outside
director, Harry Phillips Jr., as its new chairman. Phillips succeeds Steve
Logan, who remains president and chief executive of Cornell. (Reuters)
February
7, 2002
Shares of private prison operator Cornell Cos. fell 43 percent
Wednesday after the company disclosed it is reviewing its accounting of a
real estate deal in August. Also Wednesday, Houston-based Cornell named Harry
Phillips chairman, replacing Steve Logan, who remains president and chief
executive officer. The special committee is reviewing whether the retainer
amount paid by Cornell to the investment bank would reduce the previously
established equity of the investment bank affiliate in Municipal Corrections
Finance. If that happened, Municipal Corrections Finance's assets,
liabilities and operating results would have to be reported as part of
Cornell's financial statements going back to 2001's third quarter. (Houston
Chronicle)
Corplan, Argyle,
Texas
June 9, 2010 Arizona Silver Belt
At two consecutive city council meetings in April, the Globe council
members heard from a group of men representing three corporations: Emerald
Correctional Management, Corplan and Cuny Corporation. These men addressed the council
regarding their desire to put in a bid with the Arizona Department of
Corrections to construct a private, 1,000-bed prison in the City of Globe.
The men presented estimates of economic growth that sounded almost too good
to be true. According to Mike Moore of Emerald Corrections, “the city could
get a monthly revenue check per inmate per month but it would depend on the
monthly per diem that the state pays. It does pay and it’s a sizable number.”
The group of business men went on to say the entire project would be $60 to
$100 million in construction, and the goal would be to hire local workforce
for 70 percent of the construction. They also promised to help the city with
expansion of the sewer infrastructure. The city council took two hours to
reach a decision, but in the end, a 4-2 vote in favor of supporting Emerald
Corrections’ bid to build the prison was approved. A deal too good to be
true? Well, there might be more than meets the eye. Case Study: Hardin, Mon.
In 2004, Mr. James Parkey of Corplan
- the same James Parkey who spoke to the Globe city
council - proposed the construction of a private prison in Hardin, Mon., a
small rural city suffering from economic stalemate. A team of experts spoke
to the city officials, selling them hope of economic prosperity through the
private prison business. The 450-bed prison was supposed to generate 150
secure jobs and at least $100,000 in annual per-prisoner revenue. The
companies involved, Corplan as the developer, Cuny Corporation as the civil engineer of the project,
and Civigenics as the prison operators, promised to
realize the project from start to finish. To pay for the prison, the city of
Hardin would have to conduct a bond sale. Prior to the construction, Parkey promised the city officials an economic
feasibility study, which was carried out by Howard Geisler, a consultant
specializing in prisons, and who had worked together with Parkey
in a number of other cities. The study presented facts and figures that a
Montana state auditor later described as providing “little methodology” and
lacking “historical data to support anticipated prisoner counts.” The auditor
went on the say the report made “a number of assumptions made related to
financial viability that appear to be unfounded.” The prison was built, and
the three companies involved received their payments and Hardin prepared
itself for its first prisoners. In this case, however, they built it, but no
one came. Hardin became so desperate to get prisoners in their prison, that
they requested taking sex-offenders and later even Guantanamo Bay prisoners.
Since the prison had been built for less high profile inmates, with 24-bed
cells, Hardin’s requests were turned down. Hardin’s detention center never
received the expected prisoners and the city has been in bond default for the
last two years. A post on the detention center’s website reads, “any person
or parties interested in operating or leasing space in the Hardin Detention
Facility should contact...” “Do a lot of research” -- The pain is still
throbbing in Hardin, Mon. After contacting the executive director of economic
development and the mayor, the only comment given was “do a lot of research.”
Hardin, Mon. is one of the most prominent cases, where Corplan
and its partners have left a city with an empty prison. Corplan’s
website lists a number of sample prisons that they have built that are
surviving. However, it does not list Hardin. Neither are a number of other
cases, where things ‘went wrong,’ including facilities in LaSalle County,
Texas, Pioche, Nev., Lindsay, Okla., McLennan County, Texas, Las Cruses,
N.M., and St. Luis, Ariz. In Willacy County, three county commissioners who
were working very closely together with Corplan
were indicted on bribery charges. Parkey’s and Corplan’s actions have caught attention in the media. Dan
Rather reported on a few cases, especially the prison in LaSalle, Texas.
Frank Smith, of the non-profit organization Private Corrections Working
Group, has been following Parkey and Corplan over the years. Smith warned that the economic
feasibility report must be read very closely and to expect that there may be
exaggerations or left out aspects. The economic feasibility study “sells” the
project more than examines it in some cases. When asked why nothing has been
done legally against Corplan, Smith named a number of small factors that may be reasons why is some
cases nothing was done. In Globe’s case, Corplan,
Emerald Corrections, and Cuny Corporation have
asked for support for a bid in response to a request for proposals put out by
the Arizona DOC. In Hardin, the three partner corporations told the city that
the prison operator, Civigenics, would provide the
service of having prisoners housed in the facility. This could be a major
difference in the success or failure of the proposed Globe project. The
Arizona DOC will be awarding the contracts for the prisons by June 30, 2010.
April 28, 2010 San Pedro Valley
News-Sun
Allowing a private detention center to operate in Benson is not in the
city's best interest said Michelle Brane, the director of the detention and
asylum program for the Women's Refugee Commission. In fact, Brane said
private prisons like the proposed 200-bed facility are "horrible for
rural communities." Corplan Corrections, a Texas
Company, wants to build a 104,000-square-foot facility to house mostly women
and children who are in the country illegally. The company known for building
prisons and detention centers in the U.S., has promised the city big payouts
if they sponsor the $27 million bonds needed to pay for the prison
construction. Representatives of Corplan, including
Toby Michael and James Parkey, have told city
officials and council members that the bond is paid for through federal
funding. Corplan Corrections has already selected a
25-acre parcel that would hold the facility, that they are calling a
"Family Residential Center of the Southwest," near Benson Municipal
Airport. However, Brane said the promise of federal funding is not a true
statement. "I have spoken to the Department of Homeland Security, and
the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement because if Corplan
were to get funding, it would be from them," she said. "At this
point there are not any (request for proposals); there have been no
discussions with the federal government. Nothing is a sure thing and in fact
I would say highly doubtful." City Manager Glenn Nichols said city staff
has moved forward with investigating whether this would be a good economic
move for the city, and it will be discussed by the City Council during the
May 10 regular meeting. Nichols said the biggest concern remains
accountability. "We have seen nothing in writing from the Department of
Corrections that this would definitely be funded," he said. The second
concern is the city's liability if the bond were to go into default. Corplan Corrections says there is no liability on the
city's part, but Nichols said they are not completely sure. Nonetheless, the
direction the city will take will depend on how the council votes on May 10.
Nichols said the council will be presented the information, discuss it and
vote to either move forward with the process or stop it. Corplan
Corrections has painted a picture of great economic promise if Benson moves
ahead with the project. In closed-door meetings with council members, Corplan has promised a federally funded facility that
would house 500 women and children in the country illegally and would create
up to 150 jobs. The city has also been told they would get an increased
revenue stream of $218,000 a year. Similar facilities have been proposed in
New Mexico and Texas, and one became a failure in Hardin, Mont., where the
city signed off on $27 million in bonds in 2007 for a 200-bed facility. The
facility was constructed, but to this day sits empty with no federal grant
funding or per diem fees as promised by Corplan
Corrections. Kim Hammond, mayor of Hardin, has warned cities like Benson to
tread lightly when considering the proposals brought forth by private
companies like Corplan.
April 23, 2010 Texas Observer
State Rep. Eddie Lucio III, a Brownsville Democrat, is following in his
father's footsteps by joining forces with Corplan
Corrections, a scandal-plagued prison development company. Lucio is
representing Argyle, Texas-based Corplan
Corrections in its bid to build an immigration family detention center in
Weslaco, a Rio Grande Valley town that is in Rep. Lucio's district. State
Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., also a Democrat Brownsville, “consulted” for Corplan in 2003 and 2004. Corplan
and its CEO, James Parkey, specialize in selling
desperate communities on risky government-financed prisons with promises of
jobs and economic development. Typically, the company talks local governments
into financing speculative jail facilities and then leaves the community to figure
out how to keep them open. In recent years, Corplan
has been at the center of numerous controversies, including a bizarre
prison-building scheme in Hardin, Montana that involved a private military
force called American Police Force run by an ex-con. The prison cost the
small town $27 million but never housed any prisoners. In one of his latest
gambits, Parkey has approached city officials in
several towns across the U.S. – Benson, Arizona; Las Cruces, New Mexico; and
Weslaco, Texas – with a proposal to build a new detention center for
immigrant families. Parkey’s reputation, however,
has caught up with him in Las Cruces and Benson, where officials have nixed
the deal. That’s not the case in Weslaco. Weslaco Mayor Buddy de la Rosa told
me that he was first introduced to Parkey two or so
years ago and the project has been in the works ever since. Corplan, he said, is handling all the details. The
company recently brought Rep. Lucio on as an attorney for the project.
Weslaco is in Lucio’s district. In February, Lucio and Parkey
spoke to the Weslaco City Commission and urged the commissioners to pass a
resolution giving Corplan authorization to file a
“grant application” for the facility, according to minutes from the meeting.
(De la Rosa said he has not seen the application and doesn’t know to whom it
will be submitted.) It might be a lousy deal for the city – if it's a deal at
all. "James Parkey and Corplan
are prison developers who get paid when a prison is built," said Bob Libal, an anti-private prison organizer with Grassroots
Leadership. "It's not necessarily in their interest to make sure the
prison project is successful." The Weslaco project is particularly
fraught with risk, Libal says, because the Obama
administration has all but done away with detaining immigrant families. In
August 2009, federal officials removed immigrant families from the T. Don
Hutto Residential Center, a privately-operated jail near Taylor that
attracted international attention after advocates and detainees reported
inhumane conditions. The Obama administration has also let Bush-era plans to
add new family facilities expire, said Michelle Brane, director of detention
and asylum programs at the Women's Refugee Commission. “To my knowledge – and
I spoke specifically with Immigration and Customs Enforcement about this –
they insist they don’t have any requests for proposal out there or any plans
for building a new family detention facility,” said Brane. “I think they’re
being duped frankly.” Mayor de la Rosa said that he wasn’t aware of the shift
in federal policy but said it may explain why he hasn’t heard from Parkey or Lucio recently. “They have been remarkably
quiet for the past several weeks,” he said. Representing Corplan
appears to be a Lucio family business. According to Texas Ethics Commission
filings, state Sen. Eddie Lucio, also a Brownsville Democrat, worked as a
“consultant” for Corplan in 2003 and 2004 at a time
when the company was part of a consortium of private prison interests seeking
to build a 2,000-bed immigrant detention center in Raymondville, the seat of
Willacy County. (I did a feature story on Raymondville's prison boom in 2006.
You can read the whole gruesome story here.) During that time, Lucio also
represented other corporate entities involved in the bid: prison construction
company Hale-Mills, prison operator Management and Training Corp., and
Aguirre, Inc. Here's what I wrote in 2006: The consortium needed a deal
closer and found one in state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. The Brownsville Democrat
had worked as a "consultant" for Corplan
and Management & Training in 2003 and 2004, according to records filed
with the Texas Ethics Commission. He had suspended his consulting work in
2005 in the aftermath of the bribery scandal, but Hale-Mills hired him this
year for the federal detention center project. Lucio says Hale-Mills paid him
"to figure out what kind of impact this will have on the community, to
talk to the general public to see what their feel is." [Former Willacy
County Attorney Juan] Guerra alleges that Lucio made multiple appearances in
Raymondville pressuring the commissioners to select Management & Training
over Corrections Corp. "As far as I'm concerned, had it not been for
Eddie Lucio the commissioners would not have gone and put the county in a $60
million debt," Guerra says. "In my opinion, in his position as a
senator he let our commissioners, including me, know where he stood... Once
your senator lets you know what he wants, it's hard to go against
[him]." In 2005, Lucio ended his consulting work with Corplan after two Willacy County commissioners pleaded
guilty to accepting cash bribes in exchange for their votes to award a
contract for another Raymondville prison. Amazingly, no one was ever indicted
for supplying the bribe. Sen. Lucio no longer appears to be working for Corplan, at least according to personal financial
disclosure statements for the last four years filed with the Ethics
Commission. Rep. Lucio’s involvement with Corplan
is not disclosed on his latest disclosure filing. The form was turned in on
February 16th, the same day Lucio appeared at the Weslaco City Commission
meeting. It's not clear why Corplan is not listed
as a source of occupational income. For some, the whole thing stinks. “I
think that raises some pretty serious questions especially when he’s
presenting false information to a local body that’s in his district,” said Libal. “Does it break any law? I don’t know. Does it seem
like a big conflict of interest? Yes.”
Coryell County Jail
Gatesville, Texas
Corplan, CiviGenics
November 13, 2006 Killeen Daily Herald
A Willacy County official has a word of caution for the Coryell County
Commissioners' Court as it considers a private prison vendor as a remedy for
its overcrowded jail facility. "Have your sheriff talk to our sheriff.
He will let you know what kind of problems he is having," said Juan
Guerra, who pulls double duty as both county and district attorney in Willacy
County. Guerra said his county has struggled through criminal investigations
that saw two of its county commissioners convicted, and it is also is in
danger of defaulting on a bond payment because it hasn't received enough
federal prisoners to generate the needed revenue to sustain the facility.
Coryell County Commissioners are expected to open a proposal from Innovative
Government Strategies to construct and operate a jail facility when they meet
in regular session at 10 a.m. Monday in the Coryell County Courthouse.
According to the documents turned in by Innovative Government Strategies, the
proposed project team includes James Parkey, with Corplan Corrections Inc., for developer, Hale-Mills for
construction company, Municipal Capital Markets Group for financing, Deborah
L. Williams for architecture and engineering and CiviGenics-Texas
Inc. for management and operations. Coryell County Attorney Brandon Belt
previously expressed concern about the proposed operator, saying that CiviGenics had been at the center of controversy
recently. However, it is not just CiviGenics that
has a troubled past. The commissioners' consideration of the group comes just
days after a federal judge sentenced former Willacy County Commissioner
Israel Tamez to six months in jail for his role in
a bribery scandal connected to a $14.5 million prison project to construct a
U.S. Marshals Service jail. On Nov. 9, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen
handed down the sentence and also gave Tamez three
years' probation and imposed a $25,000 fine. Tamez
and former Commissioner Jose Jimenez, who died of cancer before being
sentenced, pleaded guilty in January 2005 to taking more than $10,000 in
kickbacks, Guerra said. Former Webb County Commissioner David Cortez also was
involved in the scandal and was convicted in March 2005 of funneling the
bribes to the Willacy County commissioners in exchange for their votes to
hire a consultant in the prison project, Guerra said. Cortez is scheduled to
be sentenced Nov. 20. "My understanding was, as far as implicating the
company, it has not been implicated, but the commissioners have been
convicted," Guerra said. "Our records indicate that when (Cortez)
came before the commissioners when this happened four years ago, he
represented himself as a private consultant for Corplan."
In May 2005, Willacy County, on Guerra's instructions, filed a civil suit
against Corplan and Hale-Mills alleging that the
two companies were parties to the bribery. The suit later was dismissed,
Guerra said. Guerra said he could not say whether a federal investigation was
still pending, and U.S. District Court offices were closed Friday for the
federal holiday. Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence could not be reached
either. Guerra said the lack of competitive bids when Willacy was building
its third federal facility – against his advice and despite the criminal
implications – was not only suspect, but something that possibly lost Willacy
County millions. "No one is checking to see if you are getting your
money's worth," he said. "Because we don't know if that facility
cost $50 million to construct." In fact, Guerra said according to information
he received from experts, the project, which was for a facility to house
Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, could have been done for
between $30 and $35 million. "The information that I got, from experts
that reviewed the expenses, says they could not justify the $50 million. They
padded the construction costs by an extra $20 to $15 million," Guerra
said. "What is funny you get commissioners that are indicted for taking
$10,000. I am just wondering who are the real crooks?"
Crystal City
Bobby Ross Group
June 4, 2003
City librarian Annette Lehmann doesn't really mind the FBI agents and Texas
Rangers using her conference room day after day for interviews, but she
wishes they'd check in with her first. "It's during the day when
there is really nothing going on, so it doesn't bother me. I'd just like to
be told," she said. "The Texas Rangers wear guns. That's how
you can tell them apart," she added. A little over a month after
voters here gave the boot to a City Council faction that some accused of
running the city like a totalitarian state, the winds of rumor and reform are
both blowing hard. The Rangers and federal agents are busy trying to
make sense of a $14 million detention centers purchase the old administration
rushed through with great secrecy early this year. They also are following
other money trails at City Hall and at the city's economic development
corporation. The $14 million purchase of a pair of prison facilities from the
Bobby Ross Group in Austin remains the big mystery. "We still
don't know exactly where the money went," Mayor Raul Gomez said of the
mammoth deal. "People are just waiting to find out what happened. It's
like they say, 'I hope they (the investigators) don't find anything, but if
they do, I hope something is done about it,'" he said. Both the
FBI in Del Rio and District Attorney Roberto Serna in Eagle Pass have
declined to discuss their investigations in Crystal City. Sources say that so
far nearly a dozen people have been interviewed and numerous records have
been subpoenaed. The sale was financed by high interest bonds sold without a
referendum through a public facilities corporation, and the closing was at a
title company in Austin. An enigmatic key figure in the detention
centers deal was Mario Hernandez, 64, a former city councilman whose name is
on the bronze dedication plaque on City Hall dated 1963. Hernandez
earned thousands in Crystal City as a consultant to the economic development
corporation for cheese factory and tire recycling deals that have yet to bear
fruit. But when he hit the jackpot on the detention centers deal, he was
working for someone else. Acting as a representative of the Bobby Ross
Group, which sold the detention centers to the city, Hernandez made hundreds
of thousands of dollars when the deal closed. "He was paid
$300,000 when the bonds were sold," said Tim Kurpiewski,
a Bobby Ross vice-president in Austin, who said Hernandez made additional
money on the deal that he would not disclose. After the prison
facilities were sold to the city, Hernandez sought to be hired to a
$120,000-a-year city job overseeing the operating contract with Bobby Ross
Group. However, since the change on the City Council, he has dropped
out of view. Contacted by telephone this weekend, Hernandez declined to
be interviewed. Hernandez's background is of special interest to
authorities. In the early 1990s he served 32 months in federal prison
for convictions in a credit card scam in Wisconsin and for harboring
undocumented immigrants in San Antonio. In that case, authorities
accused him of keeping Mexican immigrants locked in a shed on Rigsby Avenue
and releasing them in the daytime to work as laborers. According to the
Bexar County Sheriff's Department, Hernandez is wanted on an active
misdemeanor warrant for theft of service under $500. Former Crystal
City Mayor Frank Moreno, who last fall asked the FBI to look into the city
government's activities, was elected to the council this spring. He
said the outside probes are essential to clear the air. "The
people are glad that finally some type of investigations are
started, and they are definitely glad that both the FBI and the Rangers are
involved," Moreno said. (San Antonio Express-News)
February
25, 2003
The forced removal of a council member
from a City Council meeting has ignited a political battle over whether
Crystal City's government is operating in the open. At the recent
February meeting of the council, member Raul Gomez began questioning City
Manager Eleazar Salinas about city expenditures. Mayor Jody Cerda told him he
was out of order. "I was told by the mayor I should not be asking
those questions, and I said, as a councilman, I have the right to ask about
bills and invoices," Gomez told the San Antonio Express-News for a story
in Monday's edition. Gomez refused to be silenced. "If
someone from the public wants to talk about something, they need to give
10-day notice to the city manager, and if he thinks it's fit, he'll put it on
the agenda," Gomez told the Express-News. The newspaper reported
that Cerda's critics were worried by the recent sale of $14 million in bonds
to buy two detention centers near Crystal City from the private company that
operates them. It reported the council approved the deal with the Bobby Ross
Group last month with almost no public comment or release of information. The
council also turned away questions from the public. Gomez and Macias,
who opposed the detention center deal, said they were given no information
before the purchase. Even now, more than a month later, they said they
haven't seen complete financial documentation. The purchase was done
through a recently created, Cerda-led public facilities corporation that sold
the high-interest bonds. Documents examined by the Express-News showed the
facilities corporation paid $9 million for the centers, plus the surrounding
75 acres. The Zavala County appraiser values the centers at $6 million, the
newspaper reported. The lease-purchase deal included a $1.1 million
payment back to Crystal City, with $300,000 apparently going to the city and
$800,000 to the city's economic development corporation - also led by Cerda,
the newspaper reported. In a separate contract, the Bobby Ross Group
will still operate the centers, with revenue generated by the centers going
directly to pay down the bonds, the newspaper reported. (AP)
Dallas County Jail
Dallas, Texas
Aramark, Keefe, Mid-America
October 11, 2006 The Dallas Morning News
Dallas County commissioners voted Tuesday for the first time to award a
jail commissary contract, ending a tradition in which the sheriff decided who
gets the lucrative deal to sell snacks and other items to more than 7,000
inmates. The roughly $34 million, five-year contract awarded to Keefe
Commissary Network is expected to generate more money for the county than the
existing contract. County officials who didn't like how the former sheriff
handled the awarding of the existing commissary contract moved to get state
law changed last year to allow commissioners to decide the commissary vendor.
The new law allows the sheriff to designate commissioners to decide the
contract. Sheriff Lupe Valdez didn't want to be involved because of past
problems, her spokesman has said. Keefe, a St. Louis company, estimated that
annual revenue to the county based on sales of snacks, pens, toiletries,
playing cards and other items would be about $2.6 million, which is almost
four times what the current contractor provides. That contractor, Mid-America
Services, was given the contract in 2002 by then-Sheriff Jim Bowles, who was
a longtime friend of the owner, Jack Madera. At the time, commissioners
complained that other companies offered better financial terms. Commissioner
Kenneth Mayfield cast the sole vote against the contract award, saying
Aramark offered a better value to the county. He said Aramark offered a
slightly higher commission rate as well as $1 million in upfront money, to be
paid out each year of the contract. But Commissioner John Wiley Price said
Keefe guaranteed the county at least $2 million each year. "The numbers
speak for themselves," he said. Mr. Mayfield also said Keefe did not
disclose to the county its involvement in a federal corruption investigation
in Florida involving a prison contract until after the Justice Department
issued a news release about it in July. The county's request for proposals
required such a disclosure. The former head of the Florida corrections
department and a prison official were charged in July with accepting more
than $130,000 in kickbacks from a Keefe subcontractor over two years in connection
with a 2003 prison-store contract. "There's a lot of smoke there,"
Mr. Mayfield said. "I find it incredulous that Keefe did not know they
were under investigation in 2004 and 2005." No knowledge: Keefe's chief
executive wrote in a July 31 letter to purchasing supervisor Linda Boles that
the company had no knowledge of illegal activity related to the case. In a
Sept. 11 letter, U.S. Attorney Paul Perez in Florida wrote that Keefe and its
employees are considered witnesses in the investigation but that could
change. "Nothing in this letter ... shall preclude the United States
from later determining that Keefe or any of its employees are subjects or
targets of this investigation," he wrote. It isn't the only controversy
in which the company has been involved. In 2004, Keefe was found to have
charged sales tax on some items that aren't taxable in Texas in connection
with a Collin County jail commissary contract. As a result, almost 600
inmates were overcharged more than $5,000, records showed. Because of the
error, the Collin County sheriff awarded the contract to a different firm.
October 4, 2006 Dallas Morning News
Dallas County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved the first
phase of a plan to provide more clinical space inside the jail for inmate
medical and mental health needs. The county's selection committee recommended
that St. Louis-based Keefe Commissary Network be awarded the five-year
contract to sell snacks, toiletries and other items to the more than 7,000
inmates. The company's bid calls for a 40 percent commission on sales or $2
million in guaranteed annual revenue for the county, whichever is greater.
Revenue under the current vendor has averaged about $670,600 a year over the
last three years, according to the county auditor. "It shows what can
come from a very well-run procurement process," Mr. Clemson said. Keefe
disclosed to the county that it currently is under investigation by the U.S.
Department of Justice over kickbacks its subcontractor is accused of paying
to the former head of corrections in Florida in connection with a prison
contract.
December 15, 2003
An investigation into the Dallas County sheriff and his dealings with a jail
vendor has expanded to include three other North Texas counties that have
contracts with the vendor, according to a published report. Court
records obtained by the Dallas Morning News show that the campaign finance
records of Denton County Sheriff Weldon Lucas were recently subpoenaed by
Chris Milner, who is overseeing the probe of Dallas County Sheriff Jim
Bowles. Officials in Tarrant and Nueces counties told the newspaper
that Milner had also subpoenaed jail commissary and election records
there. Milner is investigating whether Bowles improperly awarded the
Sheriff Department's commissary contract to Jack Madera of Mid-America
Services based on reports published by the newspaper in September. Milner, an
assistant district attorney in Collin County, declined the newspaper's
request for comment. Bowles accepted meals and travel expenses worth
thousands of dollars from Madera from 1999 to 2001. In 2002 he awarded Madera
the department's commissary contract even though other vendors offered higher
commissions to the department. The sheriff said he repaid Madera for
all expenses except the meals, but hasn't shown proof of those
reimbursements. Lucas awarded Mid-America Denton County's jail
commissary contract that same year under similar circumstances, the newspaper
reported Thursday. (AP)
September 22, 2003
Dallas County Sheriff Jim Bowles accepted meals, airfare and hotel rooms
worth thousands of dollars from commissary vendor Jack Madera in the two
years before he awarded Madera's company a contract to sell goods in the
jail, The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday. Bowles told the newspaper
that he reimbursed Madera or his companies for any expenses except lunches.
He said he didn't keep copies of checks that would show the
reimbursement. "I don't keep copies of checks anticipating
this," the sheriff said. "No one has ever questioned my integrity
before." Bowles has occasionally acted on behalf of Madera,
accompanying him on visits to solicit business from other sheriffs, according
to interviews. At a fund-raiser for the sheriff last week, Madera
declined to be interviewed. Bowles awarded the five-year contract to
Mid-America Services Inc., Madera's company, in June 2002. The
commissary sells snacks, soft drinks and other products to inmates. The
department receives a portion of the $4 million in projected annual revenue
to pay for some inmate programs and jail costs. Madera's bid was worth
about $600,000 in annual revenue to the sheriff's department. Other
bidders offered a minimum of $1 million, according to county records.
After county commissioners criticized the deal, Bowles said he was friends
with Madera. He later backed off that description and now says they interact
only about business. Between October 1999 and November 2001, Madera
paid for 72 meals totaling $3,698 at which Bowles or his top aide, Executive
Chief Deputy Larry Forsyth, often were the only guests, according to
financial records provided by Madera's former company. Madera paid $789
for airfare and hotels for Bowles to attend the 2000 and 2001 Sheriffs'
Association of Texas conferences in Lubbock and Corpus Christi. Madera also
paid $150 for plane tickets for Bowles' wife to attend the 2001
conference. Madera's new company advanced the sheriff $1,211 for
airfare and registration for this year's National Sheriffs' Association
annual conference in Nashville, Tenn., an expense the sheriff later
reimbursed with campaign funds. The Morning News obtained Madera's
expenses from Mid-States Services, one of the companies that Bowles passed up
to award the commissary contract to Mid-America. Madera founded Mid-States
almost 20 years ago and sold it in February 1999. John F. Sammons Jr.,
the chairman and chief executive officer of Mid-States, said he provided the
records because they show that Bowles is too close to Madera.
"Sheriff Bowles has never accepted one red cent from Jack Madera,"
said Clayton P. Henry, the sheriff's campaign consultant. "We consider
this to be sour grapes on the part of John Sammons." Some
officials said the sheriff has occasionally worked on behalf of Madera. In
1999, Bowles and Madera paid a visit to Travis County Sheriff Margo
Frasier. "It was one of those kinds of deals where Jim was
introducing me to Jack and saying Jack wanted to talk to me about my
commissary business," Frasier said. "Jim Bowles was there for the
introduction." (AP)
July 3, 2002
Several Dallas County commissioners accuse Sheriff Jim Bowles of awarding a
$20 million jail commissary contract to a longtime friend over bidders who
offered far better financial terms for the department. A five-year contract
was awarded last month to Mid-America Services Inc., owned by Jack Madera, to
sell pens, toothpaste, chips and other items to about 7,000 inmates at Dallas
County jails. The contract would generate about $4 million a year, with
$600,000 a year going to the Sheriff's Department starting July 15, according
to county officials. But two of the unsuccessful bidders, Swanson Services
Corp. and Mid-States Services Inc., said they offered to give the Sheriff's
Department at least $1.2 million a year. He said Bowles, who has been in
office 17 years, has a long relationship with Madera but showed "no
favoritism whatsoever" in awarding the contract to his friend.
Commissioners contend that Bowles, 73, has declined to turn over bid
documents from the four vendors.
Dallas School District
Dallas, Texas
Community Education Partners
May 7, 2008 Creative Loafing
Patti Welch was living in Douglasville when she went through a divorce
last year. Atlanta was her chance to start over. Weary of her one-hour,
20-minute commute to the northside law office where she works as a paralegal,
Welch found a duplex in the West End only 20 minutes from her job. But the
move also was about her 15-year-old son, Patrick. He was a smart kid, a B
student entering the 10th grade. But he'd gotten into fights. One took place just
off school grounds and involved several kids, so officials labeled it
"gang-related." That meant Patrick would be sent to Douglas
County's alternative school. Even though she was confident her son wasn't in
a gang, Welch didn't bother to appeal the school district's decision. She
thought an alternative school might help him. And she hoped the 10 days
Patrick spent in jail after his last fight would serve as a wake-up call.
Welch knew her son would be sent to an alternative school when they moved to
Atlanta. But she thought it would be temporary. Instead, officials told her
that because Patrick had a gang-related fight on his record, he'd never be
allowed to enroll in a regular school in Atlanta. She tried to make the best
of it. When told he'd be sent to Forrest Hill Academy, she looked at her son
and forced a smile. "Wow," she said hopefully. "They're
putting you in an academy." Six months later, Patrick became one of
eight student plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit filed by the American
Civil Liberties Union's Racial Justice Program in New York City. The suit
alleges that Forrest Hill – which is operated by a for-profit company called
Community Education Partners – is little more than a pathway to prison for
Atlanta's unwanted students. "It would be a stretch to even call this a
school," says Reggie Shuford, an attorney with
the ACLU's Racial Justice Program in New York. "There is little to no
academic instruction, and its students are treated like criminals. It is
nothing more than a warehouse, largely for poor children of color." The
ACLU contends that Forrest Hill students, 97 percent of whom are
African-American, spend most of their days filling out worksheets, for which
they get no feedback. According to state figures, nine out of 10 students at
the school are unable to pass the standardized state test for math
proficiency. The figures also show that Forrest Hill is the most violent
school in Atlanta. "It is a national disgrace that the Atlanta school
system has handed over its constitutional responsibility to a private,
for-profit corporation," says Emily Chiang, the case's lead lawyer.
Forrest Hill wasn't quite the academy that Patti Welch had hoped for. The
idea of putting problem children into an "alternative school" is a
recent phenomenon in the world of education. Before a federal law that took
effect in 1978, public schools had no legal requirement to provide education
to special needs kids. If a child was violent, or continually disrupted the
class, schools could kick him or her out. When the law took away that option,
teachers and school systems faced the chore of trying to tame disruptive
students. The trend of taking those kids out of regular classrooms and
putting them into "alternative" schools began to take hold. That
practice quickly led to allegations that some systems – under increasing
pressure to churn out higher scores on standardized tests – were simply
"warehousing" their undesirable students, out of sight and out of
mind. "Those schools weren't about education, but just getting through
the day," says Eric Freeman, assistant professor of educational policy
studies at Georgia State University. "Those were the 'expendable kids.'
It's no longer acceptable to have schools where kids are warehoused, but we
still have a long way to go." When it was founded in 1996, Community
Education Partners touted itself as a way to get expendable kids back into
the mainstream. From the start, however, there were indications CEP's
considerable political weight was as responsible for its rise as were its education
programs. CEP was formed in Nashville by four men with heavy Republican connections.CEO Randle Richardson, was chairman of the
Tennessee Republican Party from 1992 to 1995 and oversaw a 1994 electoral
sweep in which Bill Frist and Fred Thompson won Senate seats and Don Sundquist was elected governor. Another co-founder, John
Danielson, would become chief of staff for Education Secretary Rod Paige
under George W. Bush. One of the initial investors, Tom Beasley, had chaired
the Tennessee GOP before Richardson did. Beasley also founded the Corrections
Corporation of America, which runs privatized prisons. Founded in 1984, CCA
has grown to become the sixth-largest prison system in the country – trailing
only the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and four states. But the company also has
faced criticism for understaffing, high turnover and lax security. According
to a 1999 state audit, neglect of medical care and security at CCA facilities
in Georgia amounted to "borderline deliberate indifference." The two
companies – CCA and CEP – have turned out to share some parallels. Both had
business plans that relied on obtaining contracts to operate government
services. Both were started in Nashville by major Republican Party players.
And both went to Texas to make their mark. Texas was a natural entry point
for CEP. In 1995, George W. Bush had become governor, and his administration
was brimming with ideas to reform schools. The bundle of changes would be
touted during Bush's 2000 presidential run as the "Texas Miracle."
In that environment, George Scott, president of a Texas nonprofit education
reform group, helped CEP gain a foothold. "I got pulled into it by the
former superintendent for the Houston school department," Scott says.
"It's a sinister manipulation of reality to say that public education is
meeting its constitutional and moral obligation to these children; we throw
at-risk kids into alternative centers and forget about them. Then along came
a company that said it was going to do something different." Scott says he
first used his political connections to help the company land a contract to
take over the education services at a juvenile detention center. He was
impressed by CEP's pitch that its methods could help problem children get up
to speed academically so they go back to mainstream schools. "You have
kids in the ninth grade who can't do fractions," Scott says. "If a
kid is in the ninth grade but is at the fifth-grade level, giving them an
algebra book is useless. Under this program, we would start them at the level
where they are at, and build from there. CEP promised two years of academic
growth for every year a student was in their school." In 1997, Scott
says, he used his relationship with Paige, then Houston's school
superintendent, to help CEP land its first public school contract. Under the
future education secretary's stewardship, the Houston Independent School
District was becoming a cradle of the so-called Texas Miracle. Paige had put
a system in place that held individual principals accountable for dropout
rates and test scores. Then, the district signed a $17.9 million contract to
turn the education of as many as 2,500 children to CEP. Initially, the
corporation hired Carl Shaw – who was the former chairman of the Texas
Education Agency's assessment committee – to develop an independent test to
grade the progress of the CEP students. "I will never forget the day the
school board approved the CEP contract," Scott says. "Randle
Richardson and I were walking out of the building and I told him that not all
the kids in this are going to make two [years of progress] in one. But that
is going to be your strength. You'll say that you're being held accountable
for the program." Before CEP's contract with Houston took effect,
however, the first test results from the juvenile detention facility came
back. Scott recalls that they showed the students weren't making much
progress – some had even regressed. CEP blamed the test, and fired Shaw.
Richardson disputes that account. He says Scott let his friendship with Shaw intrude
on his judgment and that the scores showed 20 student inmates had regressed
in math but that most had made great progress. His own expert looked at the
test and determined it was flawed, an opinion seconded by the Texas Education
Agency. Whether it was over a principle or a friendship, the incident left
Scott with strong feelings about CEP. He now says the one thing he's most
ashamed of in his professional life is helping the company get into the Texas
schools. The absence of Shaw's test, he says, left the company devoid of the
very thing that had attracted him to the concept in the first place:
accountability. Instead, Scott says, CEP began to cull its political
connections. A sitting Houston school board member was hired as a consultant.
Sandy Kress, who later authored Bush's No Child Left Behind program, was
hired as a lobbyist. And when the company opened the campus of its first
alternative school, in Houston in 1997, former President George H.W. Bush was
at the opening ceremony to offer his endorsement. "They put together a
very powerful, politically juiced operation in Texas," Scott says. CEP
followed its Houston deal with a five-year, $10 million-a-year contract in
Dallas. Then, it moved on to Florida and Philadelphia. And all along it
followed a familiar pattern: It hired well-connected lobbyists to sell the
program and courted elected officials with generous campaign contributions.
CEP claimed it had found the key to educating a student population that was
thought to be beyond help. The schools used a computer-based education
program called PLATO that CEP said enables students to quickly catch up to
their age level in reading and math skills. The company was swept up in the
middle of what became a nationwide education reform movement. Bush campaigned
for the presidency heralding his "Texas Miracle" of low dropout
rates and high test scores. When he was elected, he named Paige to his
Cabinet and pushed through Congress the No Child Left Behind Act, which
instituted high achievement goals for the nation's public schools. But even
as it rode the wave of its association with Bush's education changes, CEP
became a target of criticism. Some parents complained of prison-like
conditions inside CEP schools. Others claimed CEP was, in reality, doing
little more than warehousing problem students. There were official rebukes as
well. An internal evaluation in Dallas found that "the model of
education provided by [CEP] was untenable." "The reliance on
non-certified teachers for the bulk of the student- teacher interaction was
useful for the company to save money, but was not a design in the best
interest of the students," the report went on to say. "Students who
attended Community Education Partners did not do very well
academically." CEP had even refused to provide its budget data to the
school district, the report said, which made it impossible to know just how
it was spending the money it received. In 2002, the Dallas school system
fired CEP. By then, however, the company was developing its relationship with
a new customer: Atlanta. It's unclear exactly how CEP came to acquire a $6.9
million contract to open an alternative school in Atlanta. Richardson says
the school system contacted the company in 2001. Citing the pending ACLU
lawsuit, Atlanta school officials won't even talk about CEP. At the time the
contract was signed, Atlanta officials brushed aside concerns already brewing
in Dallas. They cited a "task force" report that supposedly
recommended the district privatize its alternative schools; when the AJC requested
a copy of that report, however, school officials said they couldn't find one.
It didn't take long for concerns to crop up in Atlanta. In August 2002, CEP
opened its alternative school in temporary quarters at the old Archer High
School. Parents of some of the students attended the Rev. Darryl Winston's
southeast Atlanta church. "We were hearing allegations of mistreatment
and a prison environment," says Winston, president of the Greater
American Ministerial Council. "We met with the staff, and they admitted
that 90 percent of what we described had to do with the building. The Archer
High School campus was extremely chaotic. They told us the building did not
give us an accurate picture of what the program was about." CEP even
flew Winston and other community leaders to Houston to tour their schools
there. "We were impressed by what we saw," he says. The company
assured Winston the problem was that the Atlanta school had yet to find a
permanent location. The company prefers a specific design for its schools.
Kids are segregated into male and female classes, and the classes are
isolated inside pods within the building. "In school, kids get in
trouble in the hallway or the cafeteria or going to the restrooms," says
Anthony Edwards, a CEP vice president. "So we control that. There are
restrooms and water fountains in each of the common areas. It eliminates
movement. Kids get in trouble when they're moving." Three properties had
already been identified, but each was scuttled by community opposition to an
alternative school in the neighborhood. CEP asked for Winston's patience, and
he was willing to give the benefit of the doubt. Meanwhile, the company did
what it could to strengthen its political ties in Atlanta. When school board
members faced re-election in 2005, CEP and its executives gave money in four
races. According to Fulton County records, Randle Richardson made a $250
contribution to Mark Riley, who easily won re-election. He also contributed
$500 to Brenda Muhammad, a former board member who ran successfully to regain
a seat. CEP's chief financial officer, Phil Baggett, contributed another $250
to Muhammad. CEP was more generous in two other contests: Richardson and
Baggett each made three separate contributions to incumbent Eric Wilson that
totaled $2,000, and newcomer Yolanda Johnson received a total of $2,500.
Although Georgia law requires candidates to list the occupations and
employers of their contributors on their disclosure forms, none of the school
board candidates did that for the CEP executives. Muhammad says she had no
idea Richardson and Baggett were CEP executives until CL told her. "If
they were standing in front of me, I wouldn't know them," she says.
"No campaign contribution will influence me from making my decisions
based on the best interest of the children of Atlanta." Riley also said
he was unaware that Richardson led CEP. "That's a little
embarrassing," he says. "I make a point of never accepting
contributions from vendors. I've even returned checks before." Six
months after the school board began its new term, it extended CEP's contract
to 2009. When school opened in August, Patti Welch and her son got their
first look at Forrest Hill. Welch went through a 90-minute orientation, where
the rules of the school were laid out. Patrick wasn't to bring anything onto
campus that was considered contraband. The list included watches, jewelry,
purses, combs, brushes, keys and money in excess of $5. Paper and pens
weren't allowed either; the school would provide everything that was needed,
even tampons for female students. Patrick would go through a metal detector
each morning and be patted down by a security guard to ensure he didn't have
weapons or drugs. Backpacks weren't allowed, and books couldn't be taken
home. In fact, there was no homework for Forrest Hill students. Patrick went
through a weeklong orientation that included tests on the PLATO computer
system to determine where he stood academically. On his first day, he sent
his mother a text message: "This school is so bad." He found the
lessons boring. He complained that the teacher would simply put an assignment
on the board; then the kids would be expected to do it on their own. Once the
students were finished, they were given crossword puzzles to fill out.
"Patrick found it totally uninteresting and totally unmotivating,"
Welch says. "He kept sending me text messages, and I didn't believe him.
He started missing days, so I went up there." What Welch saw alarmed
her. The building was new and well-maintained, but the pods where students
were segregated reminded her of a jail. "There's one steel door to the
classroom, no windows. It looked like a mini-prison." Not long after
that, she heard the ACLU wanted to interview parents with children at Forrest
Hill Academy for a potential lawsuit. Welch decided to talk to the
organization. Two years ago, a special education lawyer in Atlanta called the
ACLU and suggested they investigate the CEP school in Atlanta. "As soon
as we began to scratch the surface, we were so outraged by what we found,"
says the ACLU's Chiang. "The standardized test scores are really
shocking. No one was passing." State statistics show the school has made
few strides toward improving its students' academic standing. According to
state Department of Education figures from the 2006-07 school year, 91
percent of CEP's students failed the state's assessment test in mathematics;
66 percent failed the reading portion. In its latest contract with Atlanta,
CEP agreed to a performance goal of making measurable progress in 31 categories
for the 2005-06 school year, based primarily on results from the state's
Criterion Referenced Competency tests. Of those categories, six couldn't be
measured because there were too few students enrolled to get a proper study
group, and CEP students showed improvement in 11 from the previous year. But
in 13 categories, the students tested worse. In the final category – ninth
grade physical science – there was no change: 100 percent of the students
failed both years. "They cannot deny their standardized test scores are
abysmal," Chiang says. Shirley Kilgore, a former Washington High School
principal in Atlanta who now consults for CEP, counters that it's unfair to
evaluate the program based on state tests. "Students in an alternative
program are transient," she says. "We had a girl come in here last
week. She's been here a matter of days, but her score belongs to us. Some of
these students taking the tests have not been with us for any length of
time." Richardson, the company's CEO, points out that almost 90 percent
of students sent to Forrest Hill are at least two grade levels behind in
reading and mathematics: "You wouldn't pass it either, if you're reading
at the fourth grade level and you're taking a ninth grade competency
test." The ACLU claims the heart of the problem is that Forrest Hill
cuts corners when it comes to academics. The teachers don't teach, Chiang
says, but instead hand out worksheets for the students to fill out. She also
notes that CEP has a practice of hiring inexperienced teachers. According to
state figures, the average level of experience of the teaching staff at
Forrest Hill is less than a year. Kilgore, the CEP consultant, argues that
few quality teachers want to work at an alternative school. "They are
either committed to making a difference," she says, "or else a new
teacher starting out." But at least one other alternative school
attracts far more senior teachers: The average level of experience at Fulton
County's McClarin Alternative School is 19 years.
The ACLU also alleges that students often are manhandled by the school's
staff, that teachers have even thrown textbooks at the children in their
rooms. CEP denies there is any student mistreatment. "Inexperienced
teachers are a recipe for problems," says GSU's Freeman. "These kinds
of schools are special places and full of a challenging population of
kids." Most of CEP's teachers aren't instructing in their fields of
expertise either. According to state records, of the 76 total core classes
taught at Forrest Hill, only 45 percent are taught by "highly
qualified" teachers – those who have majored in the subject they teach.
The statewide average is 96 percent. "We're very deeply concerned,
especially in an alternative school setting where you need highly-qualified
educators to work with the children," says Georgia Association of
Educators President Jeff Hubbard, whose group has lobbied against privatizing
schools. "We don't think students should be put in a situation where a
company is trying to make a profit off their education." CEP says it
spends $9,300 per student compared with $12,406 per pupil for the rest of the
students in Atlanta's public school system. The company contends the school
saves money because it doesn't have to offer such activities as sports or
music programs that are required in regular school programs. But Freeman's
skeptical. While the savings sound efficient, he stresses that, in education,
you generally get what you pay for: "These kids need a lot; they're
needy kids. You need to spend more money on them than typical schools. If
they are spending less, I'd want to know why it costs less to educate a
student with exceptional needs. Where are they saving money? What are they
subtracting and is it good? Are they saving money by hiring less experienced
teachers who have no training in dealing with these kids?" Freeman is
careful to say he hasn't studied Forrest Hill enough to make an ironclad
assessment. But, he says, "I know people who teach in alternative
schools. It's not an easy environment. It usually requires very special
teachers who can work with those kids. It's a big challenge." The Rev.
Darryl Winston is angry that he sees many of the same issues raised in the
ACLU lawsuit that led him to confront CEP officials four years ago. And his
anger isn't just directed at the company. "We need a statement from
Superintendent Beverly Hall that she takes these allegations seriously and
that the APS is looking into them," he says. "All we got was a
statement from the press person that amounted to kind of 'dismissing' it.
I've been told as recently as last week that the APS position is to wait and
see what comes out in court." What especially frustrates him is that no
one who isn't behind the walls at Forrest Hill can really know what's going
on there. "CEP has denied every one of the charges, but there's no way
to verify that," Winston says. "We need experts. I've called on the
board of education to launch its own investigation and see if the charges are
true. If they can't, they need a task force appointed by the governor to see
what is going on at CEP." As far back as Houston, CEP officials have had
to deal with complaints that the company's performance needed to be evaluated
by independent parties. "We want to be held accountable for attendance
and behavior and academics," insists CEP's Anthony Edwards. "It's
very important to us that we are a standards-based program." CEP claims
students who attended Forrest Hill in the 2006-07 school year were, on
average, performing math and reading on the third-grade level when they
arrived. The school claims that students who were at the school for at least
150 days made remarkable progress: an increase of 3.2 grade levels in reading
and four years in math. Under its Atlanta contract, however, CEP both
administers and grades those tests. There's no independent verification of
the results, but longtime educators say making those kinds of academic
strides in one year is virtually impossible. For a certain percentage of
students who are highly motivated, yes, it can be done; for an entire student
population, unlikely. "Kids with emotional and behavioral problems don't
do well in school," Freeman says. "And kids aren't just going to
snap to and start learning." Chiang says lack of progress on
standardized tests make it clear the PLATO test scores are skewed. Students
have told the ACLU that they take the PLATO tests unsupervised and can ask
each other for the answers they don't know. "CEP claims a pronounced
spike in the test scores, but we believe it is because of PLATO," she says.
"In reality, there's no teaching going on." Edwards downplays
PLATO's results. "We are not judged by these," he says. "It's
just a mechanism, a diagnostic tool. The student is given a grade level of
functionality." But the contract with the Atlanta school system says
that Forrest Hill's success or failure will be measured by a combination of
results from PLATO tests and state standardized tests. In addition, if a
student who attends CEP for at least 120 days doesn't show growth in reading
and mathematics of at least one year on the PLATO system, the contract
mandates that CEP must educate that student at no additional cost to the
school district until he or she has reached that level. Patti Welch says her
son continues to struggle at Forrest Hill, and has missed extended stretches
of school because he doesn't want to be there. But she says his disciplinary
problems now seem to be behind him. She plans to take him out of the
alternative school at the end of the year; she wants to home-school him. But
ACLU lawyers say the federal lawsuit – which names the school system, board
members and CEP as defendants – is about more than just eight kids in one
school. It cuts to the heart of a public school's responsibilities to kids
who are in the margins, and it raises questions about the risks of
privatizing public education. "We see it as a broader national problem,
the trend of privatization of government functions and warehousing kids in a
school-to-prison pipeline," Chiang says. For the students at Forrest
Hill, it's also about not being forgotten by the officials who sent them
there. "The problem is that Atlanta didn't build in an adequate system
for oversight and evaluation," Freeman says. "You want it written
into the contract to have a good program evaluation. It's got to be done by
people who know how to do it, people not connected to the school department
or CEP so there's no conflict of interest." Freeman says there should be
an annual independent review of Forrest Hill. Evaluators would go into the
school, see the teaching methods, and interview students and teachers and the
administrators. "I hope the CEP school is investigated by people who
know what they're doing," he says. "There are good questions to
ask, and they deserve good answers. The school can't answer those question,
they can only provide the information. Somebody else has to be the
evaluator."
Dallas
County Judicial Treatment Center
Milmer, Texas
GEO Group (formerly Cornell)
January 7, 2011 Dallas Observer
Cornell Companies, the private operator of correctional facilities 'cross the
country, has a motto: "People Changing People." A lawsuit filed
this week in Dallas County District Court proposes an alteration:
"People Filming People." At least, so suggest 36 former inmates of
the Dallas County Judicial Treatment Center in Wilmer, a 300-bed facility to
which men and women convicted of drug- and alcohol-related crimes in Dallas
County are sent to get clean and sober rather than spend time behind bars.
Says the suit, in January 2008 Cornell Companies employees began filming the
inmates without their consent. Caught on film were their often intense drug
treatment sessions, scenes from their daily routines and a talent show
called, but of course, Cornell Idol. The suit says the inmates, who were
already uncomfortable about the filming, were told the footage would be
transferred to DVD and shown only to the Drug Court judges who send prisoners
to the treatment center. But the complaint alleges it was "turned into a
publicity and promotional film" -- shown to, among others, Dallas County
Commissioner John Wiley Price and Attitudes & Attire -- and used as a
fund-raising vehicle and "to obtain future contracts for supervision and
operation of other treatment facilities in Texas and locations in other
states." Other patients in the facility also saw the film, says the
suit, and as a result: "The sharing of the film with the patient
population caused considerable embarrassment for the women residents from
taunts and teasing of the male patients." The suit is alleging that Cornell
Companies violated both state and federal privacy statutes, including those
related to keeping confidential records related to those undergoing drug and
alcohol treatment. It also directs the court's intention to a 2002 doc
prepared by the U.S. Department of Justice -- Practical Guide for Applying
Federal Confidentiality Laws to Drug Court Operations -- which says that
"the intent of Congress in creating these statutes was to encourage the
rehabilitation of substance abusers who might otherwise be deterred from
entering treatment by concern that their substance abuse would become public
knowledge." The suit is asking for $50,000 per plaintiff. The attorney
-- Charles Paternosto, who's up in Denison -- wants
$100,000 for providing "exemplary work for his clients"; more, if
it goes into appeal.
Danville Center for
Adolescent Females
Danville, Texas
Cornell
August 8, 2005 Danville News
Texas-based Cornell Abraxas will not renew its contract with the state to
provide youth treatment services at the Danville Center for Adolescent
Females. The company has run the facility since 1998, but has chosen not to
continue its management, citing a lack of infrastructure support.
Dawson
State Jail
Dallas, Texas
CCA
Mar
21, 2014 prisonlegalnews.org
AUSTIN,
TX – Yesterday, a Travis County District Court held that Corrections
Corporation of America (CCA), the nation’s largest for-profit prison company,
is a “governmental body” for purposes of the Texas Public Information Act and
therefore subject to the “Act’s obligations to disclose public information.”
The court entered its ruling on a motion for summary judgment filed by Prison
Legal News (PLN), a monthly publication that reports on criminal
justice-related issues and a project of the non-profit Human Rights Defense
Center. PLN had filed suit against CCA on May 1, 2013 after the company
refused to disclose records related to the now-closed Dawson State Jail in
Dallas, including reports, investigations and audits regarding CCA’s
operation of the facility – records that would have unquestionably been made
public had the jail been operated by a government agency. “This is one of the
many failings of private prisons,” said PLN managing editor Alex Friedmann.
“By contracting with private companies, corrections officials interfere with
the public’s right to know what is happening in prisons and jails, even
though the contracts are funded with taxpayer money. This lack of
transparency contributes to abuses and misconduct by for-profit companies
like CCA, which prefer secrecy over public accountability.” CCA currently
operates nine facilities in Texas, including four that house state prisoners.
“The conditions of Texas prisons have been the focus of intense public
scrutiny for nearly 40 years,” stated Brian McGiverin,
an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project. “Today’s ruling is a victory
for transparency and responsible government. Texans have a right to know what
their government is doing, even when a private company is hired to do it.” In
its summary judgment motion, PLN argued that CCA meets the definition of a
“governmental body” under the Texas Public Information Act, Section 552.003
of the Texas Government Code, because, among other factors, the company
“shares a common purpose and objective to that of the government” and
performs services “traditionally performed by governmental bodies.” In the
latter regard, PLN noted that “Incarceration is inherently a power of
government. By using public money to perform a public function, CCA is a
governmental body for purposes” of the Texas Public Information Act. CCA’s
argument to the contrary – that it is not a governmental body and does not
have to comply with public records requests – was rejected by the court. CCA
had also argued that the taxpayer funds received from the State of Texas “are
not necessarily used specifically for operating Texas facilities,” and that
such payments “are used generally to support CCA’s corporate allocations
throughout the United States.” PLN previously prevailed in a similar public
records lawsuit filed against CCA in Tennessee, where the firm is
headquartered; another records suit is pending against CCA in Vermont. The
company has vigorously opposed lawsuits requiring it to comply with public
records laws. “CCA and other private prison companies should not be able to
hide behind closed corporate doors when they contract with government
agencies to perform public services using taxpayer money,” said PLN editor
Paul Wright. PLN was ably represented by attorneys Cindy Saiter
Connolly with Scott, Douglass & McConnico, LLP and Brian McGiverin with the Texas Civil Rights Project. The case
is Prison Legal News v. CCA, Travis County District Court, 353rd Judicial
District, Cause No. D-1-GN-13-001445.
Mar
21, 2014 grassrootsleadership.org
BOISE
— Several Idaho and national faith, human and civil rights, social justice,
labor, and criminal justice reform organizations delivered a letter to Idaho
officials calling for the return of the 236 Idaho prisoners currently being
held in a for-profit, private prison — the Kit Carson Correctional Center —
in Burlington, CO. The Colorado prison’s operator, Corrections
Corporation of America (CCA), is the same company that admitted to falsifying
thousands of staffing hours at the Idaho Correctional Center (ICC) and is now
the subject of an FBI criminal investigation for its management of the Idaho
facility. “It took months of investigative research, a trial and a
contempt hearing to hold CCA accountable for cheating Idaho taxpayers and
creating a ‘Gladiator School’ at an Idaho Correctional facility,” said
Monica Hopkins, Executive Director of the ACLU of Idaho, “and yet Idaho
officials continue rewarding this kind of deceptive and abhorrent behavior by
extending their contract with CCA to ship Idahoans out of state. If we can’t
trust them in our backyard, how can we trust them over 1,000 miles away?”
Letter signatories argue that CCA is untrustworthy and Idaho prisoners’
safety and well-being are at risk under CCA’s management. In light of
Governor Otter returning control of the ICC back to the state, they now urge
Idaho officials to immediately end the contract with CCA to house prisoners
across state lines and cut ties with CCA once and for all. "It defies
comprehension why the state of Idaho continues to do business with CCA — a
company that has admitted defrauding the state, which ran a facility with
levels of violence four times higher than all other Idaho state prisons
combined, and which is currently the subject of an FBI criminal
investigation,” said Alex Friedmann, Associate Director of the Human Rights
Defense Center. “In any other context, the state would have severed its
relationship with such a company. It is time to do so now with respect to
Idaho's contract to house state prisoners in a CCA-run facility in Colorado,
located far from their families." The letter also cites a national
report released last November, which demonstrated that sending prisoners
out-of-state impedes prisoner rehabilitation by diminishing supportive ties
to family and community, a component research has shown to contribute to
better behavior and reduce recidivism. “This practice of shipping
prisoners out of sight and mind to address prison overcrowding must come to
an end,” said Holly Kirby, author of the report and organizer at Grassroots
Leadership. “For too long and with little public scrutiny, state
leaders have slapped this costly bandaid on a
problem that requires sustainable solutions to reduce the number of people
behind bars.” Furthermore, signatories of the letter argue that alternatives
exist, highlighting a January 2014 report, Justice Reinvestment in Idaho:
Analyses and Policy Framework, which showed that Idaho prison space is
currently being used inefficiently — with people convicted of nonviolent
crimes and eligible for parole occupying prison beds rather than being
released. Releasing these low-risk individuals would free up the much
needed in-state capacity to bring prisoners home from the out-of-state CCA
facility. Organizations that signed on urging Idaho officials to bring
prisoners home from a private prison in Colorado include American Civil
Liberties Union - Idaho, Idaho Public Employees Association, National
Association of Social Workers - Idaho, The Sentencing Project, Grassroots
Leadership, In the Public Interest, Justice Policy Institute, United
Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society, American Civil
Liberties Union, and Human Rights Defense Center. See the letter with
full list of signatories HERE.
August
2, 2013 texastribune.org
Male
detainees work to fix a cell door inside of the Dawson State Jail in Dallas
on Jul. 31, 2013. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice decided not to
renew its contract with the Corrections Corporation of America for the Dawson
State Jail after the state legislature struck 97 million dollars from its
funding. The unit will begin relocating its offenders on Aug. 1, 2013, and
expects to have all offenders relocated by the end of the month. The demise
of the Mineral Wells Pre-Parole Transfer Facility, which officially closes at
the end of this month, is a major economic disappointment for the community
that has been its host for more than 15 years. But the closing of the Dawson
State Jail in Dallas, which will also happen this month, comes as a relief
for many in the city, and might even result in a financial windfall. For only
the second time in the state’s history, Texas lawmakers are closing inmate
facilities to reduce bed capacity as the state’s prison population continues to
drop. The decision by legislators this year to close two privately run jails
operated by the Corrections Corporation of America is being met with very
different reactions in the communities where the jails are situated. Since
2011, Texas’ prison population has fallen to about 150,800 from more than
156,000, bringing the total of empty beds to about 12,000 statewide, said
state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, the chairman of the Senate Criminal
Justice Committee. Improved diversion programs and alternatives to
incarceration have fueled the downward trend, he added. “The logical thing to
do is to look to close facilities you don’t need,” Whitmire said. In 2011,
the state shut the aging Central Unit in Sugar Land, a Houston suburb. When
lawmakers started the regular legislative session in January, advocates for
criminal justice reform and the prison employees’ union urged them to
consider ending the state’s contracts at the Dawson jail and the Mineral
Wells unit. “Both facilities received a lot of very serious complaints,” said
Scott Medlock, a prisoners’ rights program director
and lawyer at the Texas Civil Rights Project. Lawmakers eventually agreed,
and sliced nearly $97 million from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
budget. The department’s board officially decided to terminate its contracts
for the two facilities with the Corrections Corporation of America when they
expire on Aug. 31. Jason Clark, a department spokesman, said the decision to
close both privately run facilities was based on a number of factors,
including safety and security at the units. All of the inmates who were at
the Mineral Wells jail have been transferred to other facilities, he said.
The transfer of inmates from the Dawson unit began on Thursday, and Clark
said it would be emptied by the end of the month. Established in 1997, Dawson
State Jail — which is near the Trinity River, on the outskirts of downtown
Dallas — can house about 2,200 inmates, including nearly 1,400 women. After
the deaths of at least two female inmates and a newborn baby, the facility
came under increased scrutiny in the last year, and faced lawsuits over the
health care it provided to inmates. In January, a group of civil rights
advocates urged lawmakers to take notice of poor conditions and of a 2012
health services audit that found conditions at the facility that did not meet
the terms of the Corrections Corporation of America’s contract. The
corporation has defended its oversight of Dawson. In an emailed statement in
January, the company said that the University of Texas Medical Branch
provided health care at the Dawson jail and that the company took seriously
its responsibility to oversee that care. “It’s unfortunate that these
organizations are so closed-minded when it comes to facts and perspectives
that might challenge their political agendas,” said Steve Owen, a company
spokesman, responding to civil rights groups’ letter. “CCA simply provides
safe inmate housing and quality rehabilitation programming at a cost savings
to Texas taxpayers.” But Dallas city leaders did not come to the company’s
defense in the Legislature. The jail is among a number of impediments to the
Trinity River Corridor Project, a redevelopment effort that has long been in
the works for the area. The project involves a 20-mile span of urban
development that includes houses, waterfront condominiums, office buildings
and shops and restaurants. Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, said he was unaware of
any plans to sell the prison, and he said any talk of moving forward with
development in its place anytime soon was “speculation.” But West did say
that the closing of the Dawson jail was welcome news because of concerns
about conditions there. “If there’s going to be a conversation about
repurposing the facility,” he said, “the community needs to be involved in
that.” Clark, the criminal justice department spokesman, said no decisions
had been made about the future of the jails, and that the agency intended to
work with both local and state officials. By contrast, in Mineral Wells,
about 80 miles west of Dallas, local officials lobbied lawmakers vigorously
to keep the state facility running. The jail, at what had once been a U.S.
Army base, can house up to 2,100 inmates. It opened in 1989. “It’s going to
have a significant impact on our economy,” said Lance Howerton, the city
manager of Mineral Wells. He said that the city would lose up to 300 jobs,
$80,000 annually in local property taxes and $800,00 annually in water and
sewer sales. Howerton said that all told, city officials expected the
economic impact to be about $40 million annually. Corrections Corporation has
become a partner in the community, Howerton said, offering scholarships each
year for high school seniors and providing inmate labor for city projects and
to help tend the local state park. “Being a small community, most everyone
here knows of someone” affected by the closing, Howerton said. Along with
city officials, local lawmakers and lobbyists for the Corrections Corporation
also fought unsuccessfully to keep the Mineral Wells facility open. Howerton
called the decision to close it shortsighted. With the state’s
ever-increasing population, Howerton said, there is sure to be a need for
more prison beds in the future. But Whitmire said he was confident that the
state’s continued focus on rehabilitation and diversion programs would keep
the prison population from expanding. Even if it did, he said, the Mineral
Wells facility would be a poor choice to house inmates because of security
concerns. The jail, which was not built as a place to put inmates, has long
had problems with contraband. At one point, Whitmire said, officials hung a
net above one side of the facility to keep passers-by from tossing items over
the fence. Lawmakers said they were expecting to save nearly$97 million by
closing the two facilities — money that Whitmire said could be more wisely
spent on the criminal justice system. “We’re running a good program,” he
said, “but we still have some flaws we’ve got to fix.”
May
12, 2013 www.gosanangelo.com
AUSTIN
— Texas Senate and House budget negotiators have tentatively agreed to close
two privately run state prisons. The Texas Board of Criminal Justice would
decide which two prisons to shutter under the Friday’s agreement, the Austin
American-Statesman reported. The Senate, in its state budget plan, had
targeted a 2,100-bed transfer facility in Mineral Wells and a 2,200-bed state
jail in Dallas for closure. The House, in its plan, had allocated funding for
each. Under new wording in the budget bills, legislators agreed to cut $97 million
from the criminal justice budget. That’s the amount it costs to run the
Dawson State Jail in Dallas and the Mineral Wells Pre-Parole Transfer
Facility, although the budget bill won’t specifically name those two lockups.
The conflicting budget proposals and feuding lawmakers in both chambers had
endangered the entire state criminal justice budget. The newspaper, without
naming them, said legislative leaders are in agreement on closing Dawson, but
that Mineral Wells representatives are pushing to keep their facility open,
saying it would harm the economy in the city about 75 miles west of Dallas.
State Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee,
has campaigned to close the two units for more than two years. They are both
operated by the Corrections Corp. of America under a contract with the state.
Whitmire contends that the state already has 12,000 unused prison beds and
the two aren’t needed. Brad Livingston, executive director of the Department
of Criminal Justice, wrote Whitmire earlier this month that the design of
Mineral Wells, built as a military barracks and not a prison, made it a top
candidate for closing. The design causes security and safety code
considerations, Livingston said. Its location adjacent to a park, college and
private land also contributes to security concerns, he said. Prison records
show frequent instances of contraband drugs and cellphones tossed over the
prison fence. It opened in 1989 at a time when Texas prisons were under
federal court control because of crowding and was intended as a holding site
for parolees heading out. Livingston says his agency has been planning to not
renew its contract for Mineral Wells after it expires in August.
May 3, 2013 www.thecrimereport.org
The Corrections Corporation of America, which runs 12
Texas prison facilities, is facing a lawsuit from a publication that says it
is failing to release information related to deaths and health care at the
Dawson State Jail in Dallas, reports the Texas Tribune. The prison is one of several
the legislature is considering for closure because of a declining prison
population. The lawsuit, filed in state court in Austin, seeks to force the
company to comply with an open records request that was filed in March by
Prison Legal News, a monthly magazine based in Vermont that focuses on
prisoner rights. The magazine says it is trying to "enforce its right
under state law to investigate patterns of unconscionable and
unconstitutional conditions in corporate-run jails." "This lawsuit
is about the truth," said Brian McGiverin, a
Texas Civil Rights Project lawyer for Prison Legal News. "They hide the
truth because they know the truth is horrifying." Lawmakers are
considering whether to close Dawson State Jail in the current budget, an
effort spearheaded by state Sen. John Whitmire, along with the American
Federation oif State County Municipal Employees.
May
1, 2013 statesman.com
Two
civil-rights advocacy groups on Wednesday filed a lawsuit in Travis County
district court alleging one of the nation’s largest private prison companies
is refusing to make public details about deaths and injuries in its Texas
lockups. The suit filed by the Prison Legal News, a subsidiary of the
nonprofit Human Rights Defense Center, and the Texas Civil Rights Project state
in the suit thatthey requested information from
Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America under the Texas Public
Information Act concerning its Texas contracts, lawsuits filed over its Texas
operations and information about settlements and other legal filings.
According to the suit, the company declined to respond to the request. Steve
Owen, CCA’s senior director of public affairs, said “We will review the
complaint and determine the appropriate course of action.” The filing of the
suit came as the closure of two CCA-run state lockups — the Dawson State Jail
in Dallas and the Mineral Wells Pre-Parole Center — is being considered by
the Texas Legislature. Legislative opponents of the closures said the suit
was timed to push for approval of the closures. In a press release announcing
the filing of the suit, the Texas Civil Rights Project alleged that by
refusing the release the records, CCA is “covering up the deaths of seven
people at the Dawson State Jail while denying hundreds of women access to medical
care. “ CCA has previously denied those claims. In their lawsuit, the two
groups seek a court order requiring CCA to make the records public. No
hearing date has been set.
Mar 12, 2013 dallasnews.com
Just
weeks ago the Texas Observer branded the Jesse R. Dawson State Jail on the
banks of the Trinity River near downtown Dallas as “Texas’ worst state jail,”
citing, among other things, poor conditions and inadequate medical treatment
that “in a few cases led to deaths.” Among them: Autumn Miller’s premature
baby, a girl named Gracie born after just 26 weeks of gestation. Autumn told
KTVT-Channel 11 in July that guards at the privately operated jail, which is
owned by Corrections Corporation of America, refused her cries for medical
attention. She says the guards gave her a menstrual pad and locked her in a
cell. She says they told her she just had to go to the bathroom. As a result,
Miller says in a lawsuit filed Friday in Dallas federal court, on June 14,
2012, “She looked down and watched, in horror, as she delivered baby Gracie
into the toilet.” The infant lived for four days and died in her mother’s
arms. “Within an hour of Gracie’s death,” says the suit, “CCA employees took
Autumn back to Dawson.” Autumn, who was sent to Dawson State Jail in February
2012 to serve one year for violating probation on a drug-possession charge,
and her attorneys, Paula Sweeney of Dallas and Suzanne Kaplan of Austin, are
claiming negligence and cruel and unusual punishment in the suit filed last
week. The complaint follows in full below. The suit alleges CCA guards did
nothing to help Miller, before or after she gave birth to her baby; she
claims it took guards 15 minutes just to find the key to get into her cell,
and that “several CCA employees came into the holding cell while Gracie lay
there helpless next to her bleeding mother.” She alleges one guard videotaped
the whole ordeal. Finally at the hospital, says the suit, Autumn — a
nonviolent offender — “was still handcuffed and shackled” when allowed to
visit with her baby. “As a result of Defendants’ deliberate indifference to
their serious medical needs, failure to follow the existing telemedicine
policy, failure to adequately supervise and train its employees to follow the
telemedicine policy, and to supervise and train its officers and agents to
act in an emergency,” says the suit, “Autumn is traumatized and Gracie is
dead.” The suit was filed just days after a coalition of state and national
groups issued “Dawson State Jail: The Case for Closure,” which mentions
Gracie’s death while making the case that the jail’s an unsafe place. State
legislators have also begun to push for the jail’s closure, insisting it just
isn’t needed with a dwindling state jail population. And the city of Dallas
wants the jail closed in order to develop the property along the Trinity
River.
February
27, 2013 reporternews.com
If
the nation’s largest correctional officers union gets its way, then the empty
multimillion-dollar Jones County lock up will soon house a little more than
1,000 minimum-security state inmates from the privately run in Jacksboro. Built in 2010, the
$35-million, 1,100- bed capacity prison in Jones County sits empty at the
edge of Anson, a town of 2,422. It was supposed to create nearly 200 jobs
with a $5 million annual boost to the local economy. On Wednesday, the
American Federation of State County Municipal Employees — Texas Correctional
Employees operates under that umbrella — called on state legislators to end
three contracts with the Correctional Corporation of America, citing abuses
and poor management. Along with Lindsey in Jacksboro, two other private
prisons included on the proposed chopping block are Dawson State Jail in
Dallas and Mineral Wells Pre-Parole Transfer Facility. The union’s local 3807
chapter president, Lance Lowry, said the proposal calls for the Jones County
facility to be run by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and house the
Lindsey inmates starting Sept. 1, should the state opt to not renew the private
contract. Inmates from the other private prisons also will be moved to
state-run facilities. Lowry said about 25 state and national organizations
are calling for the closure of Dawson for “extreme abuses, and other medical
abuses,” accusing Correctional Corporation of America of having a history of
abusive practices. “There were three female inmates that died there and a
baby last year, and all of the incidents were easily preventable” Lowry said.
“What we’re finding is that these private facilities are not paying their
staff the equivalent of what the state pays correctional officers.” U.S.
Department of Labor data indicate the median annual wage for correctional
officers by the state is $38,850. In contrast, officers employed in privately
operated prisons earned a median salary of $28,790. In 2011, the TDCJ
derailed plans to house inmates at Jones County facility when it terminated a
contract with the county. More than 30,000 of the state’s 93,000 county beds
sit empty — both at county jails and at centers built through county-private
partnerships, like Anson, according to the Texas Commission on Jail
Standards. “Jones County will come out better from this deal, than with a
private prison in their community,” Lowry said. “And we don’t want another
(private) facility to open to open up. That’s going to be disastrous like the
other ones.” Lowry said the union notified Jones County officials about the
proposal.
December
4, 2012 Dallas Business Journal by
Lance Murray
A
Houston lawmaker is proposing the closure of a privately-run prison in
Dallas. State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and a union representing prison
employees are proposing the closure of the privately run Dawson State Jail in
Dallas and the the Mineral Wells Pre-Parole
Transfer Facility, the Texas Tribune reported. The lawmaker and the union
said the state doesn't need the facilities and closing them would be a way to
save money. Whitmire said the state has an excess of prison beds because of
improved diversion programs and alternatives to imprisonment. Whitmire said
the Dawson State Jail sits on prime land in downtown Dallas, and local
officials would like to have the land for development. Lance Murray edits and
writes for the DBJ's website and can be reached at 214-706-7106
July 10, 2012 CBS 11 News
CBS 11 has learned a baby was prematurely born last month at the Dawson Jail
in downtown Dallas, apparently with no medically trained personnel in
attendance. The baby lived four days. In an exclusive interview with CBS 11,
Doctor Owen Murray, Vice President of Offender Health Services at the
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, said there is no state
requirement to have medically trained personnel at Dawson between 5 p.m. and
5 a.m., which was the period in which Autumn Miller gave birth to her
daughter, Gracie. It was the latest development in a series of stories CBS 11
has been investigating on the medical care provided to inmates at the
privately-run prison facility. In our first report, a severely diabetic woman
died after her family said she became ill in the jail. Her cries for help to
guards went ignored, according to her family. In our next report, a young
woman died of pneumonia after personnel at Dawson failed, according to her
family, to furnish her with the antibiotics she needed. After our second
story aired, Jean Burr contacted CBS 11. Burr is a grandmother with a dozen
grandchildren. She called us the day after her family buried her newest
granddaughter. It was a little girl, with a name that conveyed her brief
life, Gracie. “She was here by the grace of God and gone the same way,” her
grandmother said. Gracie came into the world in an unlikely place: Dawson
State Jail. The facility holds non-violent criminals who commit minor crimes.
Gracie’s mother, Autumn Miller, was convicted of a drug charge, violated her
probation and got a year behind bars. Miller arrived at Dawson in January.
She has three other children and knew what it felt like to be pregnant.
“Three weeks before the baby was born, she had requested a pregnancy test and
pap smear, because she had not had a period since she had been there and she
was feeling unwell. She didn’t know what was wrong, but she was not feeling right,“ Burr said. Officials at Dawson will not tell CBS
11 News whether they have any records of Autumn Miller requesting a pregnancy
test. Dawson State Jail is run by a private company called Corrections
Corporation of America (CCA). CCA will not respond to our questions about
what occurred inside the jail on June 14, 2012. But Burr says her daughter tells
a chilling story of what happened during the early morning hours when she
began to bleed and cramp inside the jail and had trouble walking. “They took
her down to the medical unit on a stretcher. When she got there, there was a
doctor on the screen,” Burr said. But Miller told her mother that the doctor,
who was available through a teleconference, never had a chance to see her.
“The lady that was down there in the medical unit in charge told the doctor
they did not need him for this patient and they just turned this off … She
was crying, complaining that she was feeling pressure, pain, bleeding and
something was bad wrong. They needed to do something,” Burr told CBS 11. “One
of the guards in there made the comment that, ‘Oh, it is probably the food, you
probably need to go poo.’ They gave her a menstrual pad, locked her in a
holding cell and closed the door. And then she went in there and pressure was
so bad she went to the toilet…,” Gracie’s grandmother said. What happened
next, according to Burr, has changed all of their lives forever. And, she
says, it was something no one at the jail was prepared to handle at that
time. After Miller went to the bathroom, “the baby came out and went into the
toilet and she started screaming,” Burr said. Tiny Gracie was born premature
on June 14 at just 26 weeks. She weighed a little more than a pound.
Ambulances rushed Gracie and Miller to Parkland Hospital where doctors worked
against the odds to save Gracie. Pictures from the hospital show Miller
holding her newborn, snuggled in a pink blanket, near to her chest. Miller,
still in handcuffs, holds the little girl’s hands. By day three, Miller, Burr
and other family members had hope that Gracie had a fighting chance of
surviving. But after four days, doctors told them Gracie was beyond all help.
So she made the decision to let the baby go; Autumn held her while she took
her last breath and heartbeats. And they pronounced her dead at 5:30. “And
shortly after 6, (Autumn) was on her way back to Dawson,” Burr said. Once at
the jail, Miller was placed in solitary confinement for two days, her mother,
overwhelmed with emotions, said. “This is still a woman with the afterbirth
and bleeding and stitches where she’d had a tubal … and they locked her in
there for two days … and then they took her to see a psychiatrist and said,
‘Well, you’ve been on suicide watch,’ “ Burr said. Burr, grief stricken by
the loss of her granddaughter, contacted CBS 11 after learning that the
station had been investigating the medical care at Dawson, and the
circumstances leading up to the deaths of other inmates at the facility. “I
understand that their freedom and their rights have been taken because they
have done things to cause that….(But) this could have been prevented,” Burr
said, as tears welled up in her eyes. “No baby should be born in a toilet in
prison.” Burr tells CBS 11 she believes that if Autumn had been given the
pregnancy test that she requested, things would have turned out differently.
“Then three weeks later they would have known she was having a baby,” Burr
said. “She could have been in a medical unit. She could have had the
treatment she should have been having. And maybe Gracie would still be with
us,” the grandmother said. Fighting back tears and still devastated by the
loss of her newest grandchild, she clings to an album of the pictures the
hospital took of them all together over the four days Gracie lived. “It would
have changed the outcome of what will be with Autumn for the rest of her life
to live with. She’s going to see that baby being born in that toilet – and
die — for the rest of her life … she didn’t deserve that,” Burr said.
Miller’s lawyer told CBS 11 he did not want Miller speaking to us while she
is still at Dawson. She is scheduled to be released in November. Neither CCA
nor the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will answer our specific
questions about the incident that occurred on June 14 or about the deaths of
the other inmates.
June 14, 2012 CBS
Ashleigh Shae Parks, 30, died just six weeks before she was scheduled to be
released from Dawson State Jail in downtown Dallas, a low security facility
for people convicted of non-violent crimes. Parks was serving an 18-month
sentence for drug possession. “My little sister lived long enough for my
mother to make it to her bedside,” recalled Keith Grady. Ashleigh Parks’
brother says he didn’t know his sister was sick until the family got a call
saying she had been moved from the jail to the hospital. “As soon as my
mother came in, she died.” Her family says Ashleigh had pneumonia and they
believe her death could have been prevented if she had simply gotten
antibiotics sooner. Their suspicions are based, in part, on letters they
received from inmates at Dawson. “I thought all she needed was medication,
and all my daughter needed was antibiotics,” said Reni Palmer, Parks’ mother.
Parks’ family blames the staff at Dawson State Jail for not recognizing
Ashleigh’s illness sooner. They say they filed a lawsuit but later dropped
it. “The medical personnel in ICU told me there was basically nothing they
could do for her. And these are the people at the hospital (who) told us that
the prison killed my sister,” said Grady. His anger and grief was renewed in
April when he saw a CBS 11 investigation which raised troubling questions
about a lack of medical care at Dawson State Jail. In our previous report,
CBS 11 spoke with the family of Pam Weatherby, an inmate who died while
serving a one year sentence for drug possession. Weatherby’s parents believe
their daughter didn’t receive adequate treatment for her diabetes while in
jail. Anne Roderick, another inmate, said Weatherby was very ill, but no one
moved her from her cell from for medical treatment. Roderick claims the
inmates tried desperately to keep Weatherby alive. “I knew she was going to
die,” said Roderick. “I knew if we didn’t get her out of there, she was going
to die.” Pam Weatherby died on May 12, 2010. Ashley Parks died two years
earlier. After watching our earlier report, Parks’ brother wonders if by
speaking about more, he could have helped prevent Weatherby’s death. “I
wondered if that night if I had done more myself (would) that girl still be
alive,” said Keith Grady. Nearly 20 former inmates have also contacted CBS 11
saying they were afraid to talk when they were at Dawson but now want to
speak out about a lack of medical care. Dawson State Jail is run by
Corrections Corporation of America, a private prison management company based
in Tennessee that has a contract with the State of Texas. CBS 11 obtained
internal CCA documents that show the chief of security reported that the
supervisors did not follow proper procedures by failing to call for help for
Pam Weatherby. He recommended terminating a shift supervisor. But when CCA
had to file an incident report with the State of Texas, the warden wrote
“staff acted in accordance with TDCJ procedure” and concluded that “no
training needs have been identified.”
January 11, 2012 Dallas Morning News
Update: Lancaster police arrested the suspect in a shooting that
critically injured a Dawson State Jail employee Tuesday. Walter Moore, 29,
faces a charge of aggravated assault/family violence in the attack on Shiva
Daniels, the mother of two of his children, Dallas police said. Moore was
booked into the Dallas County Jail shortly after midnight and is being held
on $250,000 bail. Daniels remains at Parkland Memorial Hospital in serious
condition. Update/rewrite with victim's name 10 pm: A shooting outside the
Dawson State Jail Tuesday left an employee in critical condition and her
attacker on the loose. Shiva Daniels, 26, was leaving work at the jail about
5 p.m. when the estranged father of her children walked up to her vehicle and
shot her twice with a shotgun, according to a police report. Hit in the neck
and shoulder, the maintenance technician called 911, spoke the alleged
shooter's name twice and told operators she was going to die. The shooter
fled the public parking lot, which serves the Dallas County courthouse across
the street, in the 100 block of West Commerce Street.
May 18, 2011 Dallas Observer
Pamela Weatherby, a 45-year-old Big Spring woman -- and, according to a
federal suit filed Monday in Dallas, an "unstable insulin dependent
diabetic" -- was serving a one-year sentence for drug possession at
Dawson State Jail when she died last July. Now her parents and two sons say
Weatherby would still be alive if not for the treatment she received from
guards and medical staff at Dawson, which is on the Trinity River on W.
Commerce Street. They're suing Corrections Corporation of America, the state
jail's operator and the country's largest private prison outfit, over her
death. Says the suit, which follows after the jump, Weatherby wasn't given
off the regular insulin shots she needed -- she got oral diabetes treatment
instead -- nor was she fed the special low-starch diet Texas requires for
diabetic inmates. The suit recounts Weatherby's two months of diabetic comas
after she was taken off insulin shots, blaming them on "CCA's deliberate
indifference to her serious medical needs." CCA spokesman Mike Machak tells Unfair Park they hadn't been served yet and
only just got a look at the suit. "However, at this point, it is
important to understand that we take the health of every inmate in our care
very seriously," he says. Lawyers for Weatherby's family didn't respond
to messages, but Elisabeth Holland, a local nurse practitioner who runs
Project Matthew, a faith-based medical program for incarcerated women, says
she isn't surprised. "My opinion is that the health care in Dawson is
worse than in a developing country," she says. "Any of those
diseases -- HIV would be another one -- that require regular medication with
regular screening gets lost." CCA is the only defendant named in the
suit. But it also mentions one Quindlynn Gray, who,
the suit alleges, signed off on Weatherby's health care at Dawson; Gray is
listed as an employee of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston,
which provides health care for Texas's corrections system. (That may not be
the case very much longer, especially if private health care providers
convince lawmakers to open the market.) The suit against CCA offers a
blow-by-blow account of Weatherby's diabetic incidents at Dawson, where, the
family alleges, her treatment didn't follow the course prescribed by the diagnostic
intake facility Weatherby came through first. Within days of her arrival at
Dawson, the suit says, Weatherby was taken off her scheduled insulin shots
and given oral Glyburide instead -- ushering in "three consecutive days
of diabetic comas," the suit says. Mistaking the comas for a suicide
attempt, the suit says, jail officials had her transferred to a mental health
unit in Gatesville, where she was put back on insulin shots and stabilized --
only to return to Dawson after a few days, where she was taken back off
insulin and her comas started up again. At 1 a.m. on June 22, the suit says,
guards found Weatherby unresponsive in her cell again; she was transferred to
Parkland, stabilized, and returned to Dawson the next morning. Weatherby died
July 14 after "yet another diabetic crisis", the suit says; an
autopsy blamed effects from her diabetes. "CCA refused to treat
Weatherby, ignored her complaints, and intentionally treated her incorrectly
with wonton disregard for any serious medical needs," Weatherby's family
claims, blaming the company for "a pattern and practice of failing to
implement processes and procedures" the state requires.
Diboll
Correctional Center
DibollTexas
Jul 21, 2014 kulturekritic.com
According to the Lufkin
Daily News, a roof collapsed last Saturday in the Diboll Correctional Center
in Lufkin, Texas, which is a privately run prison facility owned by the
Centerville, Utah-based Management & Training Corporation (MTC). The
report continues that 20 inmates received minor injuries from falling
wallboard, but 10 of those injured were transported to local hospitals for
treatment, and one is described as being in critical condition after being
airlifted to a Houston, Texas area hospital almost 100 miles away. The
facility, which has a maximum capacity of 518 inmates and houses minimum
security prisoners, is less than 20 years old, so some are asking why the
ceiling would collapse, even if there has been a lot of rain in the area
recently. According to MTC’s official website, they operate 22 prisons in
eight states, the majority being in Texas and Mississippi, as well as 21 Job
Corps programs for the U.S. Department of Labor. Prison warden David
Driscoll, said that the collapse was probably caused by the amount of rain
that they have received over the last couple of days. Issa Arnita,
spokesperson for MTC added that 86 inmates were inside the area when the
ceiling collapsed, but the cause of the accident is yet to be determined.
Lufkin Fire Department Battalion Chief Jesse Moody said that he couldn’t
understand why the roof collapsed, even though there had been a lot of rain
because the facility is a relatively new building. He added that prisoners
were tagged according to the severity of their injuries and taken for
treatment using rapid transport protocol. Several of the injured inmates were
transported to Memorial Medical Center and Woodland Heights Medical Center,
both in Lufkin, said Sgt. Brandan Lovell of the Diboll Police Department.
According to MTC’s Major Ken Montgomery, most of the remaining 85 inmates are
being transferred to another prison facility in Huntsville, Texas. He added
that because the collapsed ceiling was located in the middle of the day room,
it wouldn’t be safe to leave the inmates there at this time. The Weather
Underground reported that Diboll had received over six inches of rain five
days prior to the collapse. During the rescue operation, law enforcement
officials searched ambulances and fire trucks as they left the facility, in
the unlikely event that an inmate was trying to make a break for freedom.
Jul 19, 2014 lufkindailynews.com
Twenty inmates were
injured with 10 being transported to Lufkin hospitals when a suspended
ceiling collapsed in the dayroom of the Diboll Correctional Center, a private
prison in Diboll, Saturday morning, according to Warden David Driskell.
Driskell confirmed there were 87 inmates in the dayroom of the facility at
the time the ceiling collapsed. None of the injures appeared to be
life-threatening, according to an Associated Press report. Sgt. Brandan
Lovell of the Diboll Police Department said officers had set up a perimeter
around the correctional facility, which holds low- to medium-security
inmates. Off-duty correctional officers were on the scene, along with
officials from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Angelina County
Sheriff’s Office, the Lufkin Police Department and the Fuller Springs
Volunteer Fire Department. The prison is at 1604 S. First St. in Diboll. It
is next door to another prison — the Duncan Unit, which is part of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice system.
DeWitt County Jail
Cuero, Texas
Keefe (formerly run by Aramark)
May 9, 2006 The Victoria Advocate
Bookkeeping problems in the DeWitt County Jail commissary should be a thing
of the past now that the supplier and office policy have changed, Sheriff Jode Zavesky told county
commissioners Monday. Zavesky said he had signed a
contract earlier this month with Keefe Supply Company to supply and
administer the jail's commissary. "Our last supplier (Aramark) kind of
left us dangling," the sheriff said. "They said we were too small
an operation and they weren't coming back." Commissioner Curtis Afflerbach asked if the problems with the system that the
county auditor reported at the last court's meeting would be resolved with
the new company. "We hope to reconcile that the best we can prior to
this new contract," Zavesky said. "We've
also implemented some changes with our staff that we hope will keep us from
getting into the same problems."
Dickens County Correctional Facility
Spur, Texas
GEO Group (formerly run by Bobby Ross Group)
July 15, 2010 News Express
The GEO Group, a Florida firm that contracts with local governments to
run jails, has agreed to pay $2.9 million to settle a class-action lawsuit
alleging indiscriminate strip searches of inmates at six facilities,
including three in Texas. The Frio County Detention Center in Pearsall, the
Dickens County Detention Center in Dickens and the Newton County Correctional
Center in Newton and jails in New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Illinois were
named in the suit, which was litigated in federal court in Pennsylvania. The
suit alleged GEO employed a uniform practice or policy of strip-searching all
pre-trial detainees who entered certain GEO-operated jails, regardless of the
crime or violation for which they were detained, and without making the
legally required determination of whether reasonable suspicion existed to
justify a strip search. Inmates incarcerated at the six jails between Jan. 30,
2006 and Jan. 30, 2008 qualify for a share in the settlement, but they must
call 1-877-234-4512, or visit
http://www.multistatestripsearchsettlement.com/index.html.
September 14, 2009 The Olympian
The Idaho Department of Correction and the parents of an inmate who killed
himself in a private prison have reached a settlement ending a federal
lawsuit over the son's death. The agreement, approved Sunday by U.S. District
Judge B. Lynn Winmill, also marks the end of
lawsuits the parties had filed against each other in state court after
previous settlement talks fell apart earlier this year. The case arose after
the 2007 death of Scot Noble Payne, who had been sent to a private Texas
prison with hundreds of other inmates to alleviate overcrowding in Idaho. Payne
slashed his own throat, and Idaho officials who investigated the Dickens
County Correctional Facility said the deplorable conditions at the prison and
the physical environment of Noble's solitary cell could have contributed to
his suicide. Payne's mother, Shirley Noble, and his father, Alberto Payne,
sued the Idaho Department of Correction, saying the department was
responsible for the wrongful death of their son. The parties went into
mediation to see if they could reach a settlement, and in February both sides
agreed the parents should be awarded $100,000 and that the Idaho Department
of Correction would not admit fault for Scot Noble Payne's death. But when
the official settlement document was sent to the parents the following month,
they refused to sign. At the time, Noble's attorney said the Idaho Department
of Correction added terms to the document that hadn't been arbitrated in
mediation. The Idaho Department of Correction then sued the parents in state
court, asking a judge to force them to sign the document, and the parents
countersued, contending the state was breaching the settlement contract. The
lawsuits filed in state court have now been dismissed, along with the federal
lawsuit. The terms of the federal settlement were not released.
May 15, 2009 The Olympian
The Idaho Department of Correction and the mother of an inmate who killed
himself in a private prison are suing each other after a settlement agreement
over the son's death fell apart. Scot Noble Payne, who had been sent to a
private Texas prison with hundreds of other inmates to alleviate overcrowding
in Idaho prisons, slashed his own throat in 2007. Idaho officials who
investigated the Dickens County Correctional Facility said the conditions
were deplorable and that the physical environment of Noble's solitary cell
could have contributed to his suicide. Payne's mother, Shirley Noble, and his
father, Alberto Payne, filed a tort claim against the Idaho Department of
Correction contending that the department was responsible for the wrongful death
of their son. Correction Department officials and the parents went into
mediation to see if they could reach a settlement, and in February both sides
agreed that the parents should be awarded $100,000 and that the Idaho
Department of Correction would not admit fault in Scot Noble Payne's death.
But the next month, when the official document that would release the Idaho
Department of Correction from liability in the case was delivered to the
parents, they refused to sign. The problem, according to Noble's attorney, is
that the Idaho Department of Correction added additional terms into the
release document that hadn't been arbitrated in mediation. The mediation
agreement lists Shirley Noble, Alberto Payne, the state of Idaho and the
Idaho Department of Correction as parties in the agreement. But the release
also lists the estate of Scot Noble Payne and all of the representatives and
employees of the Idaho Department of Corrections and the state as parties.
That could throw into jeopardy another lawsuit brought by the parents - in
their role as representatives of Scot Noble Payne's estate - against several
employees of the Idaho Department of Correction. After the parents refused to
sign, the Idaho Department of Correction filed a lawsuit against them in Ada
County's 4th District Court, asking a judge to force the parents to sign the
release. The parents countersued, contending the state was breaching the
contract they reached under the settlement agreement by trying to later add
new terms. Idaho Department of Correction officials said they could not
comment on pending litigation. The parents' attorney, Wm. Breck Seiniger, Jr., said the department made a mistake when it
was negotiating and didn't realize it until it was too late - and now is
trying to place the blame, and the loss, on the parents. "I think the
lawsuit is just an attempt to intimidate the parents, frankly," Seiniger said. "If they thought the agreement meant
something different, that is not our problem." The parents have also
filed a lawsuit against Geo Group Inc., the private company that ran the
Texas prison, in U.S. District Court in Texas. That lawsuit is still in the
discovery stages, Seiniger said.
November 14, 2008 Magic Valley
Times-News
Families of two Idaho inmates who apparently killed themselves in lockups
run by private prison company GEO Group Inc., pleaded Thursday with Texas
state senators to bar out-of-state prisoners from the Lone Star State. The
Idaho Department of Correction has housed more than 300 prisoners at GEO-run
Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas, but recently announced
plans to move them to the private North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre,
Okla. The move follows allegations that GEO falsified reports and
short-staffed the Texas facility where Idaho inmate Randall McCullough, 37,
died. Families of Idaho inmates spoke Thursday at a Texas state Senate
hearing in Austin, Texas. The hearing, which dealt with general oversight of
the Texas prison system and did not result in specific action, was webcast live
over the Internet. Among those testifying was lawyer Ronald Rodriguez, who
represents McCullough's family as well as that of Idaho inmate Scott Noble
Payne, 43, who killed himself last year at another GEO-run prison in Dickens,
Texas. "Idaho prisoners need to be in Idaho where they have access to
their court - Where they have access to their families," Rodriguez on
Thursday told the Texas Senate Committee on Criminal Justice. Payne's mother,
Shirley Noble, spoke to Texas lawmakers last year and again on Thursday.
"It seems that no lessons were learned," Noble said. "If
changes had been placed - Randall would not have been so desperate to take
his own life, as my son did." Texas Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston,
chairman of the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, questioned why the
"little" state of Idaho recently decided to pull its prisoners from
Geo-run Bill Clayton. "Should we be following their lead?" he
asked. But a Texas Department of Criminal Justice official told Whitmire that
Texas inmates aren't held at Bill Clayton, and warned against painting
private prisons in Texas with a broad brush. Inmate McCullough's sister,
Laurie Williams, told Texas senators that they should do a review of all
private prisons in their state - including GEO competitor Corrections
Corporation of America (CCA). Idaho prisoners are to be taken to CCA-run
North Fork in Oklahoma, where another Idaho inmate, David Drashner,
was allegedly murdered in June. IDOC's decision to move prisoners from one
privately run lockup to another out-of-state facility concerns Williams, as
well as Drashner's wife, Pam Drashner,
who have said they want Idaho to stop shipping away its inmates. Idaho
doesn't have enough room for all its prisoners, and sending them out-of-state
has been widely unpopular. Williams also wants to talk to Idaho lawmakers,
she said. "We should be addressing the Idaho Senate," said
Williams, after Thursday's hearing in Texas. "This is Idaho sending its
inmates out of state whether it's Texas that takes them or Oklahoma and that's
what we have to have stopped." GEO made $4.9 million in annual operating
revenues off its contract with Idaho to manage prisoners at Bill Clayton. GEO
officials said shareholders won't lose out from Idaho's withdrawal because of
an expanding contract with the state of Indiana.
November 6, |
