State to compete with private companies for prison contract

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004 | 11:17 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn's administration is going to try to find another private company to run the state women's prison in North Las Vegas, but the state may eventually become the operator.

Jackie Crawford, director of the state Department of Corrections, said Tuesday she intends to compete with private companies in the bidding process for control of the 550-bed Southern Nevada Women's Facility. Crawford's proposal has the support of Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, vice chairwoman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, which helps shape the state's budget.

Giunchigliani, a supporter of state operation of the prison, said the Department of Corrections should be allowed in the competition.

Corrections Corporation of America, the company that built and operated the prison since 1997, has given notice it will not renew its contract effective Oct. 1. The company said it is pulling out because it has lost money on the operation.

Keith Munro, Guinn's legal counsel and assistant chief of staff, said Tuesday the administration would put out a request for proposals for a private company to continue to operate the prison. He said the Legislature fashioned the biennial budget to have a private company in charge.

But Giunchigliani said the state could take it over with approval of the Legislative Interim Finance Committee, which meets several times before the Legislature opens in February 2005.

Munro said it "won't take long" to put together a request for proposals and the evaluation process would require 90 to 120 days

Corrections Corporation of America is the largest operator of private prisons in the nation. Steve Owen, a company spokesman, said the company would have an interest in submitting a bid to win back a new version of the Nevada contract about he emphasized it would have to be a "viable" contract to allow the company to earn a profit.

Crawford said any bid proposal should require a company to pay it worker as much as the state would. She said that was "fair and equitable."

Crawford said the security and the rehabilitation programs of CCA at the North Las Vegas prison were good. She said there were no escapes and no major disturbances.

Crawford said CCA was "very cooperative" when she had to pare down her budget because of the tough financial times being experienced by the state.

Crawford said, "I'm not blaming (CCA)" for canceling the contract. She said she understood the company is out to make a profit.

The only issue was medical care for the women inmates, she said. CCA had complained that the state would dump sick inmates from other prison conservation camps into the North Las Vegas prison.

The prison and CCA reached an agreement for the state to assume the medical care for the inmates. Dr. Ted D'Amico, director of the medical program for the prison, said he could provide better care for the female inmates if the state assumed control of that phase.

CCA would have paid the state $14.71 per inmate each month this fiscal year and $15.15 next fiscal year to cover the health care. That would have reduced the state's payment per inmate to CCA to $33 per inmate a month this fiscal year and $34.08 next fiscal year.

The Legislative Interim Finance Committee, however, balked at the suggestion and appointed a study committee headed by Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, to examine the deal.

Raggio, a strong proponent of private companies running prisons, said the budget staff of the Legislature felt the prison would end up spending more money on this medical care than CCA was allocating.

Raggio, whose son died in the last week, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The state went out to bid in 2002 for other private companies to run the prison. It was looking for a better and more economical deal than CCA of Tennessee. CCA wound up being one of the five bidders. The others were Cornell Companies of Houston, Texas; Correctional Medical Services of St. Louis, Mo.; Prison Health Services of Brentwood, Tenn.; and Civigenics of Marlborough, Ma.

Munro said an evaluation showed the existing CCA contract was still the best.

Giunchigliani said legislators "always anticipate the state running the prison." She said the state does the best job in this area. "Hopefully Jackie (Crawford) will staff up and make a bid," she said.

Giunchigliani said, however, that she would like to see a nonprofit company run the drug rehabilitation program at the women's prison. And she wants to make sure the women are trained for jobs, not just for cooking, sewing and housekeeping.

The Oct. 1 pullout by CCA will give the chance for the state corrections department to approach the Interim Finance Committee for some extra money and then come to the session that starts in February for a full budget presentation, said Giunchigliani.

Giunchigliani said she pushed for a new women's prison in 1991 but some lawmakers wanted to put it in Lincoln County as a form of economic development. She said she had to agree to allow a private company to operate it so it could be built in Clark County where there are more services and the inmates are closer to their families.

The contract between the state and CCA runs until June 2015 with an automatic renewal every three years. CCA took the option of notifying the state now so it would have plenty of time to find an alternative operator.

CCA is the latest private company to pull out of a contract with the state in a penal institution. The state ended its contract with a private company to provide medical care at the state prison in Ely last year. Munro said that contract lasted seven to eight years.

Summit View, the male juvenile detention center in North Las Vegas, was operated by the private Correctional Services Corp. But there were problems there including escapes and staff having sexual relations with the inmates.

Correctional Services ended its contract, claiming it could not make money.

State Human Resources Director Mike Willden blamed part of the problem on the low pay at Summit View that attracted some unqualified staff. Willden advocated and finally got approval for the state to re-open the center with state employees.

Willden argued that state operation of the facility would allow for better control of security and better control of the programs being offered to the inmates.

Crawford said one of the problems both she and CCA faced in Clark County was hiring employees. She said Clark County pays higher wages and the state prison and the privately owned prison lost workers to the county.

She said the turnover rate of correctional officers at the Southern Nevada Women's Facility was high.

CCA built the North Las Vegas prison but the state eventually bought the buildings and the equipment from the private company.

The most recent controversy at the prison involved an inmate who became pregnant. DNA testing indicated the father of the baby was a former guard at the prison, authorities said.