ARCHIVE
OCTOBER 2005

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COLORADO

The American Civil Liberties Union

March 17, 2003 A female inmate who claimed she was sexually assaulted and threatened during a prison transfer has settled a lawsuit against a transport company and one of its guards. The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of Robin Darbyshire, said Friday that the terms of the settlement would not be released. The suit claimed Darbyshire, 41, was sexually assaulted and harassed by two male officers and male prisoners during a trip in May 2001 from Nevada to Colorado. The suit named Colorado-based Extraditions International, Inc., which transports prisoners between states. An after-hours call to Extraditions was not immediately returned. The lawsuit alleged that one of the officers sexually harassed Darbyshire and another female prisoner and forced Darbyshire to perform a sexual act in a rest stop near Trinidad. Darbyshire said the officer threatened to shoot her if she screamed. The ACLU also claimed the two officers allowed few bathroom stops, didn't give the prisoners enough water and food, and violated state laws requiring stops every 24 hours so inmates can be unshackled and allowed to sleep and shower. (AP)

Bent County Correctional Facility Bent County, Colorado CCA

July 1999 A 24-year-old inmate escaped from the private prison. Officials believe he may have stowed away on a trash truck. He is still at large. Earlier in the month, another inmate who was working at the regional recycling center escaped after hot-wiring a prison van. (The Denver Post, August 1, 1999)

Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition

April 9, 2004 The city of Pueblo has conceded that an ordinance passed by City Council last year, zoning a lot at the airport industrial park for construction of a private prison, is invalid. "We discovered some deficiencies in the procedures of the ordinance," said City Attorney Tom Jagger. "We felt there was no reason to take the court's time to challenge this." The city intends to begin the zoning process anew in the near future, Jagger said. The Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, a nonprofit prison watchdog group, filed a lawsuit against the city last year seeking to prevent construction of a proposed private prison at the Pueblo Memorial Airport Industrial Park. The coalition asserted in the suit that the city's actions to provide land to WCC, the private company seeking to build and operate a prison here, were done without following the city's zoning protocol or the state's open-records law, which requires advance notice of public meetings. District Judge Scott Epstein, with the blessing of both the city and the coalition, ruled the ordinance that zoned the site earmarked for the prison invalid, leaving only the open-records questions in the suit to be resolved. The suit is set for a two-day court trial before Epstein on May 6-7. Alison Maynard, the Denver lawyer representing the coalition, said the city's admission that the zoning ordinance was invalid constitutes a victory for her clients. (Pueblo Chieftain)

January 8, 2004 The company looking to bring a private prison to the Pueblo airport industrial park is in a holding pattern. WCC can't set a timeline for construction of the prison until a court case challenging the city's sale of land to the company is settled, said spokesman Ken Fortier. "Really, until those issues are resolved, I can't provide any timeline," he said this week. The Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, a nonprofit group that advocates prison only as a last resort, sued the Pueblo City Council in October in an attempt to stop WCC from taking control of the land upon which it plans to build the prison. The council voted 7-0 last year to sell the company a 34-acre lot at the eastern end of the airport industrial park, in spite of protests from nearby business owners and neighbors. WCC plans to build a 700- to 1,000-bed prerelease facility on the site. The suit claims that City Council violated the open meetings law by going into executive session without specifically publishing that the land deal for the prison would be discussed. (The Pueblo Chiefta)

October 8, 2003 A prison-reform group filed suit Tuesday to stop the state from issuing $305.6 million in bonds to build a high-security lockup in Cañon City and a university medical facility in Aurora. The Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition filed the action in Denver District Court, claiming lawmakers violated the state constitution by not placing the issue before voters. The accusation was denied by legislators and by Gov. Bill Owens. "We're confident the state has the legal authority," said Owens' spokesman Dan Hopkins, adding the matter had been reviewed by lawyers for the governor, the legislature and the attorney general. The coalition, which advocates substance-abuse treatment and mental-illness treatment over incarceration, has been highly critical of the state's prison policies, but attacked both construction plans because they were included in the same bill. "It's a blatant attempt to rob Colorado voters of their constitutional right to approve or reject government debt," said Stephen Raher, co-director of the Colorado Springs group. The coalition says the bonds, or certificates of participation, violate the TABOR Amendment, which places strict taxing and spending limitations on governments. Attorney Paul Grant, who filed the suit, added that the "pairing of the prison and the (medical) project is a classic example of legislative logrolling - combining two very different proposals in one bill in order to collect enough support for both to pass." "It's 'You vote for mine; I'll vote for yours,' " he said. "This kind of political maneuver is exactly what the single-subject clause was meant to prevent." (Rocky Mountain News)

Colorado Legislature

June 25, 2003 WCC has asked the state to allow it to look at other sites in Pueblo to locate a private prison, after its first choice was turned down by City Council early Tuesday. After a long meeting, council by a 4-3 vote turned down WCC's first choice of land for annexation, 40 acres located just west of Pueblo Boulevard and 24th Street. WCC Vice President Ken Fortier said Tuesday that the company would like to build a prison in Pueblo, but must get state approval to change its initial proposal. "Pueblo is an ideal location for this procurement," Fortier said. "We would like to stay in Pueblo if we could." WCC, formerly the Wackenhut Corrections Corp., won a state contract to build a 700-bed medium-security facility here to house convicts with little time left on their sentences and those who violated parole. But a stream of city residents told council that they don't want a prison so close to the Nature Center and the Hyde Park neighborhood, and several said WCC doesn't pay enough and can't properly run a prison. Though they voted the annexation down, council members said they want the prison and its estimated 160 jobs in the Pueblo area. Councilman Al Gurule, who also opposed the annexation, said he didn't think WCC plans to hire enough people to care for the inmates. But, he said, he wasn't completely opposed to the prison. Aguilera also joined Gurule in complaining that Pueblo's poor neighborhoods are always the areas targeted for controversial developments like prisons. "If we tried to build this same development in Walking Stick or El Camino, there would be such an outcry that you wouldn't believe," Aguilera said. WCC also is talking with Lamar about building a prison there. (the Pueblo Chieftain Online)

May 16, 2003 The state wants to expand the size of a private prison proposed for Pueblo to 750 beds from the original 500 beds, a spokesman for prison-operator WCC Corp. said Tuesday in Pueblo. WCC released the economic forecast on Tuesday, the same day Fortier and other WCC administrators and workers were in Pueblo to hold an informational open house about the prison project. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

April 21, 2003 Wanna buy a beautiful, historic old capitol building? How about a state prison? Or maybe even the Governor's Mansion? Believe it or not, state lawmakers are considering selling them. Oh, buyers wouldn't get to keep the buildings. They could get them on a lease-sale agreement, meaning they'd have to lease them right back to the state. (Rocky Mountain News)

April 10, 2003 The state Senate gave a green light Wednesday to using lease-purchase agreements to build a 948-bed, high-security prison and a medical school in Colorado. Despite long, heated arguments on the Senate floor, including warnings that voters should have a voice in determining long-term debt, the issue won't be decided by an election as some lawmakers had hoped. (Rocky Mountain News)

February 2, 2003 The senate got its first look Friday at a bill that would begin the process of building two medium-security prisons and adding space at the state's other corrections facilities. "The problem is the prisoners who are housed out of state," said Sen. John Hanes, R-Cheyenne, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "And that consists of 443 men and 64 women." Most of Wyoming's out-of-state prisoners have been kept at private prisons in Colorado. While that situation has been less than ideal because they have not been getting treatment, Colorado is now telling Wyoming to find another place for its inmates. Some Wyoming inmates are being sent to Nevada. (Billings Gazette)

Colorado Department of Corrections

September 24, 2003 A private prison planned for Pueblo should be operational in two years, the director of the Colorado Department of Corrections reported Tuesday. Joe Ortiz, whose department has a contract for the 500-bed pre-parole center, said Wackenhut Correctional Corp. of Palm Beach, Fla., is ready to proceed with the private prison construction at Pueblo Memorial Airport industrial park. Pueblo City Council recently approved the airport site, previously rejecting Wackenhut's first choice of a parcel of land near Pueblo Boulevard and 24th Street. "It's my understanding it's still very much a 'go,' " Ortiz said, alluding to local controversy over neighborhood opposition to both the Pueblo Boulevard and industrial park sites. Ortiz was asked about the timing of the pre-parole center during a hearing of the legislative Interim Committee on State Government Expenditures. The interim committee is chaired by House Speaker Lola Spradley, R-Beulah, whose district includes several Fremont County prisons. "He (Ortiz) is kind of the intake. He takes what the courts give him," Spradley said in response to several legislators' requests for his recommendations for reducing the prison budget's rate of growth. Ultimately, prison sentencing laws are made by the Legislature and applied by judges, not by the Department of Corrections. Ortiz covered many points, including plans to use private prisons even more in the future because they cost less than state-run prisons. The Department of Corrections will save money, he said, with the additional 500 private beds in Pueblo, as well as a similar 500-bed prison to be built by another firm in Colorado Springs. (The Pueblo Chieftan Online)

July 22, 2003 Officials are negotiating with a second firm to build 100 beds for male prison inmates with substance abuse problems after the first company was unable to get financing. The second company is Corrections Education Center (CEC), headquartered in Roseland, N.J., said Rep. Doug Osborn, R-Douglas, chairman of the House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee and a member of the evaluation team that selected the companies. The Colorado Department of Corrections announced on June 23 that CEC has been approved to expand its pre-parole and parole revocation center to 750 beds. The company, described as the "largest provider of rehabilitative services to the criminal justice system" treats offenders at nine facilities in Colorado, the announcement said. Osborn said Thursday that three companies replied to the state's request for proposal. The company chosen first, CiviGenics, couldn't get financing to build the structure, he said. (The Casper Star-Tribune)

June 25, 2003 Mike Arrelano, a top official with the Colorado Department of Corrections, told local officials Friday that the Colorado Department of Corrections is projecting continuing growing needs for additional prison beds. His comments came during a meeting of an ad hoc committee charged with recruiting a privately owned prison to Prowers County. "Right now we have essentially every bed filled," said Arrelano, noting that there are only about 100 available beds among the system's 22 publicly and privately owned facilities. Arrelano estimates that by January, 2004, the DOC would be using every bed that Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the state's largest private prison provider, has to offer. He said the DOC is in the process of writing a contract with GRW, another private prison company, for a 250-bed facility in Brush, Colorado, that will house both Colorado and Wyoming prisoners. Arrelano noted that there is both a growth of crime and a growth of population in the state, which, combined with stiff sentencing laws, drives the need for additional prison beds. He said there are factors which could reduce demand, so it is hard to predict exactly. "Demand is hard to predict because economic conditions prompt new ideas and they could affect demand," he said. In response to a question from a resident about out of state prisoners, Arrelano said that currently only CCA is housing out of state prisoners. When privately owned facilities first came to Colorado, he said, the DOC had a shortage of prisoner space and was housing Colorado prisoners out of state. That, he said, caused a lot of problems for the DOC, and two corporations, CCA and Dominion, came into the state and built private prisons on speculation. Last year Dominion sold their Crowley County facility to CCA. People say the private prisons can do the job of housing inmates cheaper than the state, he noted, but the private companies do not incur the same expenses as the state. The state continues to pay for medical expenses, and the state, of course, houses the higher security inmates in its own facilities. Arrelano said inmates with serious medial complications are kept in state facilities, because the DOC does not want to burden local hospitals and medical facilities in communities where privately owned prisons are located. In response to a question about whether private prison employees could go on strike, Arrelano noted the the Colorado Department of corrections retains the right to step in and take control of any private prison any time it needs to. "The Department of Corrections will never create a risk to the public," he said. "We (DOC monitoring staff) are there, visible, twenty-four seven. Both the state and the private operators strive to make them as safe as possible." (Lamar Daily News)

June 13, 2003 If city officials approve the annexation of the 70-acre site for its private prison this month, construction could start by fall, according to Wayne Calabrese, president of WCC, formerly the Wackenhut Corrections Corp. He said wages would be competitive in order to attract and retain staff. "We don't want to train people and have them leave for other jobs. A lot of attrition in the ranks isn't going to help us," he said. WCC has indicated wages for entry-level corrections officers would be more than $22,000 a year - more than $11,000 less than what the state pays its starting officers. (The Pueblo Chieftain Online)

February 13, 2003 Prisons continue to be a growth industry in Colorado as the state, strapped for cash, looks for ways to build and fill them without a big up-front hit on the budget. Department of Corrections officials said Tuesday that in addition to financing a second state-owned and operated Colorado State Penitentiary of up to 948 high-security cells, they would like to contract with private prisons for an additional 5,000 medium-security beds. Colorado law prohibits privatizing high-security prisons housing dangerous criminals, and Gov. Bill Owens' policy is to cap lower-security private prisons at no more than 30 percent of total beds statewide. Rich Schweigert, the department's director of finance and administration, said all four existing private prisons in Colorado now are owned by Corrections Corporation of America in Nashville , Tenn. Colorado inmates currently fill 2,409 of CCA's prison beds -- 584 at the 724-bed Bent County facility, 616 of the 778-bed Huerfano County facility, 639 of the 1,185 beds at Crowley County and 570 of the 820 beds at Burlington in Kit Carson County . The remaining 1,000 beds are or soon could be available to Colorado , reported CCA President John Ferguson. The state of Wyoming has inmates in 365 of CCA's beds here and has been put on notice that they will have to move out if and when Colorado decides to take them over. According to Schweigert, private prisons pay employees an average of $ 8,000 less than state correctional officers' salaries. While CCA is Colorado 's sole private prison operator right now, the state has accepted bids for two other 500-bed prisons submitted by CCA competitors. If those contracts are completed, they would take care of 1,000 of the 5,000 additional private prison beds identified as needed by the state. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

January 13, 2003 Wyoming inmates housed in Colorado prisons will be sent packing as the Colorado Department of Corrections makes more space available for its own exploding prison population. Wyoming Department of Corrections spokeswoman Melinda Brazzale said Wyoming is forced to send prisoners out of state because of the lack of space in Wyoming's prisons. (Star Tribunal)

January 8, 2003 Growth in Colorado's prison system appears ready to explode over the next decade as the population of prisoners soars, state officials warn. State Department of Corrections officials told lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee on Tuesday that they are preparing to ask for the construction of enough private prisons to house 1,500 low- to medium-security inmates by 2006. But not everyone agrees with the rapid growth of the private prison system. Rep. Tom Plant, D-Nederland, said all four of the state's private prisons soon will be owned by Corrections Corporation of America, creating a monopoly that could leave the state hostage to higher prices. "We are becoming overly reliant on the private prison system, which is motivated by profit, not societal objectives of rehabilitation," Plant said. "As we become more reliant on them, we become hostages of private prisons." To find more space for Colorado inmates, officials will begin this summer kicking out 369 Wyoming inmates from two of Colorado's private prisons. "We will do it gradually starting in August, depending on our intake," said Gerald Gasko, director of Corrections Services for the department. "Wyoming is already starting to rent beds in Nevada." The Wyoming prisoners are housed in correctional facilities in Kit Carson and Crowley counties. Six years ago, Colorado housed prisoners in Texas, Minnesota and Missouri, and had a bad experience, Gasko said. "The prisons were expensive and poorly run," he said. "It required us to be constantly running to these prisons to solve problem. ..." (Denver Post)

November 22, 2002 Colorado Department of Corrections officials still are reviewing four proposals from private prison companies to build a new medium security prison, including a plan that would put a 500-bed, pre-parole prison on a site just west of Pueblo Boulevard and 24th Street. WCC (formerly the Wackenhut Co.) is the company that wants to build the new prison in Pueblo, if given the contract by the state. The prison would sit on a 40- to 70-acre site, depending on whether Pueblo County officials decided to join in the project and have WCC build a 500-bed county jail that would adjoin the prison. WCC operates private prisons in the United States, Great Britain and Australia. During the last session, the General Assembly passed legislation calling for the construction of a medium-security prison along the Front Range, with the condition that it be built and operated by a private prison company. Pueblo County officials were approached by WCC in August to support the prison project and offered to build a new county jail at the same time. The commissioners said that having WCC build a 500-bed county jail would make it less expensive, although Sheriff Dan Corsentino has said that his officers would staff any new county jail, not WCC employees. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition

September 25, 2002 State may be paying more for private prisons than previously thought Campaign contributions could be influencing policy makers The Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition (CCJRC) today released a report raising serious questions as to the accuracy of figures used by the state to show cost savings from privatizing prison operations. The CCJRC report, "Private Prisons and Public Money: Hidden Costs Borne by Colorado’s Taxpayers," explores indirect (or “hidden”) costs which the state still pays for inmates incarcerated in privately operated prisons. Although the state pays less money per inmate per day when housing a prisoner in a privately-operated facility, the DOC (and by extension, taxpayers) still foot the bill for functions such as medical care, transportation, and administrative costs. The FY 2002-03 DOC budget anticipates spending $47.3 million on private prisons during the year. The report draws on studies (conducted in other states and nationally) which have found no conclusive evidence of cost savings from privatizing prisons and point to the probability that private prisons provide substandard services. “It is absolutely crucial that Colorado gets to the bottom of the cost savings issue before we put any more money into the privatization experiment,” said CCJRC Co-Coordinator Stephen Raher, the author of the report. “We don’t know the truth about whether we’re actually saving money and the evidence indicates that private prisons are unsafe operations with inadequate rehabilitative programming.” (www.ccjrc.org)

Crowley County Correctional Facility Olney Springs, Colorado Dominion

July 11, 2003 Three former Crowley County Prison guards are suing the private companies that operate the prison, claiming they were coerced into having sex with managers and that sexual misconduct was rampant among employees and inmates. In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday, one of the three female guards alleged that a high-ranking male official of the Crowley County Correctional Facility came to her Pueblo home and forced her to have sex. The lawsuit alleges that man had been fired by the Colorado Department of Corrections for sexual harassment. Another of the three women claimed she was raped at the prison by a guard. Female employees who resisted sexual advances by male managers were punished with undesirable assignments, hostile and demeaning verbal attacks, sexual assault and unwarranted discipline, the lawsuit said. Named as defendants are several businesses including Dominion Correctional Services that own and operate the private prison and three current or former top officials. It claimed that Warden Steve Hargett, security chief Ronald McCall and security official Julian Vigil hired female staff based on "attractiveness, whether she might be 'easy to get to bed,' or whether she might be easily manipulated." (AP)

February 8, 2002 Even before the January opening of a new 480-bed state prison in Trinidad, Colo., and a 127-bed detention facility in Akron, Colo., the four private, for-profit prisons in the state had 724 empty beds. Corrections Corporation of America, which operates private prisons in Burlington, Walsenburg and Las Animas, Colo., had a total of 575 empty prison beds. Additionally, the private prison at Olney Springs, Colo., had 149 empty beds. CCA acknowledged it has lost revenue because of the vacant beds. Last January, the private prisons had nearly 1,900 empty beds after the state transferred inmates to its new 2,447-bed facility at Sterling, Colo. It is state policy to keep as many state prisoners as possible in state prisons, rather than private ones. (Corrections Professional)

November 23, 2000 Officers from several state prisons had to suppress a riot at the prison in March 1999. Inmates flooded floors, smashed doors and windows and tried to set fires, and prison staff responded with gas and rubber bullets. Two people received minor injuries. (The Associated Press State & Local Wire, November 23, 2000)

CSC

July 2000 A guard is arrested as he left the facility after he allegedly showed up in a uniform shirt with badge and holstered sidearm and ordered a wedding party on private property to turn down its music. (Denver Post, July 27, 2000)

Defendant Extraditions International Inc. Colorado

April 12, 2002 The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Thursday on behalf of a female inmate who claimed she was sexually assaulted and threatened during a four-day prison transfer. The national and Colorado ACLU are suing Colorado-based Defendant Extraditions International Inc., a private company which transports prisoners between states. The ACLU claims a 41-year-old female prisoner was sexually assaulted and harassed by two male officers and male prisoners during a trip in May 2001 from Nevada to Colorado. One of the officers sexually harassed the prisoner and forced her to perform a sexual act in a rest stop near Trinidad, according to the lawsuit. The prisoner said the officer threatened to shoot her if she screamed. The ACLU also claims that during the four-day trip, the two officers allowed few bathroom stops, didn't give the prisoners enough water and food and violated state laws requiring stops every 24 hours so inmates can be unshackled and allowed to sleep and shower. The prisoner's constitutional rights were violated and she is seeking unspecified damages, the lawsuit said. An employee who answered the phone at a number listed under Extraditions International in Commerce City said the company was bought and is now called American Extraditions. The lawsuit is an attempt to highlight abuses in an industry that operates out of the public view, said Craig Cowie, a lawyer with the ACLU's National Prison Project in Washington, D.C. "We are investigating other incidents and we expect to file additional lawsuits in the coming weeks and months," Cowie said. The Colorado ACLU branch settled a lawsuit in the past two weeks with TransCor of Nashville, Tenn., over similar allegations, ACLU officials said. (Rocky Mountain News)

El Paso County, Colorado CMS

February 14, 2002 Last week, El Paso County commissioners dumped the company that has, for the past 13 years, provided medical and mental health services to the county's two jails. You'll recall that the Criminal Justice Center and downtown's overcrowded Metro facility carry the dubious distinction of logging nine inmate deaths since 1998. In November, the county's longtime jailhouse health provider, St. Louis based Correctional Medical Services (CMS), submitted a bid to continue its contract. The upshot is that the commissioners accepted a $1.9 million low bid from Englewood, Colo.based Correctional Health Care Management to provide medical services to the jails. During the commissioners meeting, both the elected officials and county staff only delicately approached the, uh, unfortunate problems of the past, which have resulted in wrongful death lawsuits against the county and tax-paid settlements to the families of the dead inmates. Current Undersheriff Terry Maketa was on hand to warmly welcome Correctional Health Care Management aboard. Maketa specifically noted that the new company has promised that at least one nurse who is trained in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLF) will be scheduled during every shift, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A subsequent Independent review of the county's most current jailhouse contract for health services shows that the old company, CMS, also promised at least one ACLS-trained nurse would be available at all times at the jail. Which begs a couple of questions: If Maketa and the county commissioners are so relieved to have trained 24-hour cardiac emergency nurses, why didn't they know that their current contract already required such staffing? And, did CMS violate the terms of its contract by not providing such nurses at the county's jails? Four days after the new health care contract was approved, the Sheriff's Office announced a new committee to review policies and procedures related to mental health issues at its jails. And why the county signed the contract first and asked for citizen input after the fact is one of those great mysteries of life. The sheriff's 14-member detention review panel includes representatives from the local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the NAACP, the Adams and El Paso County Sheriff's Offices, as well as Colorado Springs City Councilman and cardiologist Dr. Ted Eastburn and other local professionals. Unfortunately, the press was barred from attending their inaugural meeting on Monday night. Let's hope that doesn't set the standard for a decision-making body engaged in what should be a serious -- and very public -- review of jailhouse health-care policies. (CSIndy: Public Eye)

Extraditions International Colorado

February 18, 2002 Robin Darbyshire is the first to admit that she hasn't led an exemplary life. What she didn't expect was a five-day journey into squalor aboard a van operated by a Colorado-based private extradition company. According to Darbyshire, the trip included large doses of physical privation, humiliation, threats and harassment, culminating in a sexual assault by one of the two male drivers escorting her back to Routt County. "I was shocked at what he did to me," Darbyshire says. "What happened was a crime, and he's not going to get away with it if I can help it." Darbyshire's claims of mistreatment by a former employee of Extraditions International has prompted investigations by law-enforcement agencies in Colorado and New Mexico and drawn the attention of the ACLU's National Prison Project, which now counts Darbyshire as a client in any potential civil litigation. As with so many other aspects of corrections, the private sector has found a profitable niche in transporting prisoners. (Westword)

Huerfano County Correctional Facility Walsenburg, Colorado CCA

April 14, 2001 A Fort Cobb man pleaded guilty to injuring a restrained inmate at a prison in southern Colorado where he was a guard. Michael Cook was working for Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the Walsenburg prison under contract for Colorado. Cook was charged in U.S. District Court in Denver and pleaded guilty Thursday to depriving the inmate of his constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Cook admitted in a signed plea agreement that in 1998 he dropped the inmate, who was handcuffed, face down from about knee height onto the floor. The inmate appeared unconscious. (The Oklahoman)

January 17, 2001 Two former prison guards are on there way to prison. A federal judge sentenced Joseph Torrez and Harry Pollard on Friday to two years behind bars for beating an inmate March 1998 at private prison in Walsenburg. The two guards worked at the Huerfano County Correctional center, which is operated by Corrections Corp. of America, the nation's largest for-profit prison company. Federal prosecutors said numerous guards and officials at the facility now are under investigtion. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Kaufman said the investigation has taken a long time because of "the wall of silence by individuals in the institution...protecting each other or just denying that any wrongdoing occurred." Torrez and Pollard admitted beating inmate Daniel Murphy while his hands were cuffed and his ankles were shackled. The two admitted beating inmate Daniel Murphy while his hands were cuffed and his ankles were shackled. The investigation began after Murphy wrote to an FBI agent in Colorado Springs, asking for help. Murphy since has filed a civil lawsuit in federal court. (Denver Rocky Mountain News)

October 26, 2000 A federal judge has told two former supervisors at a private prison in Walsenburg they will serve time behind bars when they are sentenced for beating an inmate. Harry Pollard and Joseph Torrez admitted beating the inmate Daniel Murphy on separate occasions on March 17, 1998. Murphy had been subdued after injuring another guard in a fight. Prosecutors and Pollard said his supervisor, who has not been identified, told him, "You know what to do," which Pollard understood as permission to teach Murphy a lesson by beating him. The inmate was dropped face down onto the floor, injuring his face. Later that day, Torrez, who was a captain and shift supervisor, was assigned to transport Murphy to a state-operated prison in Canon City. An unidentified supervisor told Torrez to beat Murphy again, according to a 13-page plea agreement. Torrez and an unnamed officer beat Murphy while he was restrained by handcuffs, leg irons and a belly chain, according to the plea agreement. Other prison employees may also be prosecuted for beating Murphy, authorities said. (The Associated Press, Oct. 27, 2000)

INS Detention Facility Aurora, Colorado Wackenhut

September 27, 2002 Security guards at the Wackenhut INS detention facility in Aurora quelled a disturbance Thursday. The disruption was caused by several detainees during the lunch hour, said Nina Pruneda- Muniz, Denver District spokeswoman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. "It got handled in a very timely manner," Pruneda-Muniz said. "We were able to defuse any situation from going any further." Agents were determining how many prisoners were involved and why the confrontation erupted, she said. (Rocky Mountain News)

Jefferson County (Female Delinquents) Jefferson County, Colorado Cornerstone Programs

January 22, 2002 Two administrators who ran a youth corrections facility that had its license revoked by the state in 1998 have won a preliminary, multi-million dollar state contract to run a similar facility. In 1998, the Colorado Department of Human Services shut down the High Plains Youth Center operated by a company called Rebound and run by Jane O'Shaughnessy and Joe Newman. The facility often was cited for violating state regulations and the suicide of a 13-year-old boy eventually led to its downfall. Now, O'Shaughnessy and Newman head a company called Cornerstone Programs, which earlier this month received preliminary approval for the contract to run a new $7 million facility for 40 female delinquents in Jefferson County. "We've been very satisfied" with the work of Cornerstone's programs, said Steve Bates, director of the state Division of Youth Corrections. "They provide good services." However, audits of the Grand Prairie operation show the state consistently cited the 40-bed facility for violating state regulations and Grand Prairie consistently ignored those citations, some for up to three years. Violations included: Nonlicensed personnel performing medical examinations ; No relevant vocational programs outside of a Saturday welding class ; No programming with meaningful credit for students who have GEDs; No data to track students' academic progress ; Food-handling practices that were potential threats to food safety. Bates said it's important to note an audit is based on 400 different standards, Grand Prairie gets monitored quarterly, and each time there is a violation the facility is required to submit an action plan for correction. Newman said all of the states where Cornerstone operates have been very pleased. The High Plains Youth Center at Brush also failed to meet standards, but it was the death of 13-year-old Matthew Maloney in February 1998 that precipitated an intense investigation by human services, eventually leading to the facility's demise. The Utah boy committed suicide by hanging himself with a bedsheet. His body went undiscovered for four to six hours. Under the guise of "positive peer pressure," inmates essentially ran the facility, investigators found. They had terrorized staff and more vulnerable inmates. Several female employees had been offering inmates sexual favors. Other states removed their youth and Colorado followed suit. Rebound's license was revoked in April 1998. (Denver Post )

Kit Carson CC Burlington, Colorado CCA

September 10, 2003 A lawsuit making its way through the federal courts charges that the staff at a privately run prison in eastern Colorado allowed an inmate to die after they failed to provide him with needed medication. Jeffery Buller’s medication cost only about $35 a month. But for some reason, when it ran out, Buller’s mother said his prescription wasn't renewed by prison staff, and he ended up dying. Private prisons are a growing trend in this country as states try to keep costs down. Buller's mother believes that can have a fatal downside. “I have not gotten a real explanation,” said Tamara Schlitters about the circumstances surrounding her son’s death two years ago. Buller was serving time in the Kit Carson Correctional Center for sex assault. He suffered from a medical condition called hereditary angioedema and his files stated that he was to receive the drug Winstrol. Without this drug, his lungs could swell up and he could die. So the private company that runs the prison, Corrections Corporation of America, gave him the drug until several days before he was to be released. “They stopped giving him his medication because he was going to be released on the second of May,” she said. For ten days, Schlitters said her son suffered in his cell as his condition worsened, reportedly going to the medical counter each day asking for Winstrol. He was told they were out and was given another drug that didn't work. The day before he was to be released, he couldn't speak and he could barely breathe. “He was observed by other inmates trying to force his own fingers down his throat in an effort to open up his own airway,” said Schlitters. Buller died in the prison May 1, 2001. The coroner who examined his body found it was his untreated condition that killed him. Tamara's lawyers also found out that the manager of the prison's medical unit had been given an award from the company for keeping costs down. Schlitters believes her son died as a result of overzealous cost cutting. (9 News KUSA-TV)

March 25, 2003 A former inmate's mother has filed a lawsuit alleging her son died in prison because officials didn't want to refill his prescription. Tamara L. Schlitters of Trinidad filed the federal lawsuit Monday over the death of her son, Jeffrey A. Buller, 26. He died at the Kit Carson Correctional Center at Burlington in 2001. The prison is run for the state by a private company, Corrections Corporation of America. A woman answering the telephone at the prison said no one was available to comment on the lawsuit Monday. Buller had hereditary angioedema, which can cause swelling in the airways of the throat, the lawsuit said. He ran out of his prescription medication 10 days before his scheduled release on parole. Buller repeatedly asked for a refill and a doctor ordered it, but staff never obtained the medicine, the lawsuit said. The suit alleges that prison officials didn't want to spend money on the medicine because Buller was about to leave the prison. It cost about $35 for a 30-day supply. Buller had trouble breathing May 1, 2001, as he was packing for his release the next day and died, the lawsuit said. He was in prison for a sexual encounter with an underage teenage girl when he was 20, said attorney David Lane, who filed the lawsuit for Schlitters.

February 8, 2002 Even before the January opening of a new 480-bed state prison in Trinidad, Colo., and a 127-bed detention facility in Akron, Colo., the four private, for-profit prisons in the state had 724 empty beds. Corrections Corporation of America, which operates private prisons in Burlington, Walsenburg and Las Animas, Colo., had a total of 575 empty prison beds. Additionally, the private prison at Olney Springs, Colo., had 149 empty beds. CCA acknowledged it has lost revenue because of the vacant beds. Last January, the private prisons had nearly 1,900 empty beds after the state transferred inmates to its new 2,447-bed facility at Sterling, Colo. It is state policy to keep as many state prisoners as possible in state prisons, rather than private ones. (Corrections Professional)

July 2000 Colorado renews its contract with CCA despite sex scandals, a drug death and rioting. The prison has been plagued by lawsuits from ex-employees, high-turnover and security breaches. (Denver Rocky Mountain News, July 3, 2000)

January through September 1999 Charges were made that up to 15 female guards and nurses had affairs with Colorado inmates during the first 9 months of operation of this private facility.

Las Animas, Colorado CCA

February 8, 2002 Even before the January opening of a new 480-bed state prison in Trinidad, Colo., and a 127-bed detention facility in Akron, Colo., the four private, for-profit prisons in the state had 724 empty beds. Corrections Corporation of America, which operates private prisons in Burlington, Walsenburg and Las Animas, Colo., had a total of 575 empty prison beds. Additionally, the private prison at Olney Springs, Colo., had 149 empty beds. CCA acknowledged it has lost revenue because of the vacant beds. Last January, the private prisons had nearly 1,900 empty beds after the state transferred inmates to its new 2,447-bed facility at Sterling, Colo. It is state policy to keep as many state prisoners as possible in state prisons, rather than private ones. (Corrections Professional)

Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center Golden, Colorado Youthtrack

January 1, 2003 Nearly two dozen juveniles housed at the Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center could face criminal charges after they barricaded themselves in the orientation building for about an hour Monday night. The disturbance started about 11 p.m. when the boys began overturning bunk beds and breaking light fixtures. The juveniles were housed in the 22-bed orientation building, one of the several dorm-style units. While the campus is operated by the state, the orientation unit is operated by Youthtrack, a private company. (Rocky Mountain Nes)

Phoenix Center Adams County, Colorado Avalon Correctional Services Systems Inc.

May 23, 2002 Adams County will approve a new community corrections contract, despite one commissioner's concern about the escape of a sex offender from a halfway house. Commissioner Marty Flaum balked at approving the contract last week after learning that John Martinez, 19, had walked away from Phoenix House. Martinez was being held for attempted sexual assault on a minor and attempted menacing. Flaum said a sex offender belongs in prison, not in a halfway house. After the meeting, Flaum said he will vote to approve the new contract with the Colorado Department of Corrects, which provides $120,000 to keep several inmates in halfway houses who are making the transition from prison to freedom. But he is still convinced the Martinez case was mishandled. Even if Martinez thought the girl was 16, there is still the matter of waving the knife at the girl's father, Flaum said. "This guy probably isn't going to commit another sex offense -- he's going to stab someone," Flaum said. Of 29 prisoners who have walked away from halfway houses in Adams County this year, 24 have been caught, Phoenix House director Samantha Novatne said. (Rocky Mountain News)

May 16, 2002 Adams County commissioners balked Wednesday at approving a contract to put more offenders in a private community corrections program that lost a convicted child molester. Since July at least 29 inmates have walked away from facilities operated by a local subsidiary of Oklahoma City-based Avalon Correctional Services Systems Inc., according to county records. The last straw for Adams County Commissioner Marty Flaum was news that John Martinez, convicted of attempted sexual assault on a child, walked away Monday from Phoenix Center, the company's male facility. "We get these all the time," County Commissioner Marty Flaum said of the notice that Martinez had fled. "I don't know how many of these I read. What are we going to do to lock these people up?" The news came as commissioners were preparing to approve a $120,000 contract with the Colorado Department of Corrections to house additional inmates at the company's facilities who are making the transition from prison to freedom. Flaum asked that the contract be pulled from the agenda. Instead, commissioners will call a study session on community corrections, probably next week. (Rocky Mountain News)

Pueblo City-County Health Department Pueblo, Clorado American Correctional Association

November 29, 2003 The Pueblo City-County Health Department is forwarding the local public defender's concerns about jail conditions to the American Correctional Association, an association that accredits jails. Heather Maio, the Pueblo health department's environmental health director, received the Board of Health's approval on Wednesday to pass on Chief Public Defender Doug Wilson's complaints about the jail. Maio brought the issue to the board in light of the health department's recent jail inspection that mainly raised ongoing concerns about crowding in the facility, which was built for 189 inmates but usually houses around 500. She also referred to a state health official's letter noting that the state does not have jurisdiction over a jail's medical services. In the letter to the Pueblo health department, Judy Hughes of the state health department, wrote that medically related complaints may be passed on to the state board's licensing physicians and nurses, and two jail accrediting agencies - The American Correctional Association and the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare. Maio received the health board's approval to pass on Wilson's concerns to the American Correctional Association, and to send copies of the letter to Wilson, Sheriff Dan Corsentino, and Management Team Solutions' (the company providing jail medical care) physician. Maio said she hoped to speak with licensing board officials before deciding whether to contact them. For some time Wilson has publicly decried the jail's conditions, citing deficiencies in medical and mental-health treatment, as well as its sanitary and safety standards. (The Pueblo Chietan)

Pueblo City Council Pueblo, Colorado Wackenhut

October 30, 2003 The lawyer for an accused killer wants a chance to question officials about the county jail's medical and mental-health care system. Chief Public Defender Doug Wilson claims their testimony would reveal proof of wrongdoing in the awarding of the jail's medical contract to a Pueblo company. Wilson also believes the testimony would bolster his argument that his client, James Orcutt, has received inadequate care while in jail awaiting trial, violating his civil rights. Orcutt, 36, faces charges of first-degree murder and first-degree assault against an at-risk adult in connection with the alleged beating death of 74-year-old Primitivo "Pete" Sanchez in September 2002. Orcutt remains in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. Wilson is seeking dismissal of the charges against Orcutt or alternative relief, such as a reduction in charges or the judge's refusal to admit evidence at trial of Orcutt's behavior in jail. Wilson based the request on allegations that Orcutt was given the wrong medication, and sometimes none at all, by the jail's contract medical staff from Management Team Solutions. Wilson alleges in the motion that Management Team Solutions is more concerned with its bottom line than the care of inmates at the jail. He raised questions about whether the company came to hold the jail contract through unscrupulous means, and said the anonymous witness he'd put on the stand would testify that officials at Management Team Solutions were privy to bids submitted to the county for consideration by other companies before submitting theirs. (The Pueblo Chieftain)

October 9, 2003 A watchdog group filed a lawsuit Wednesday against City Council seeking to stop a private prison firm from taking control of land the city plans to sell it. The Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, a nonprofit group that advocates prison only as a last resort, claims City Council violated Colorado's open meetings law and local zoning ordinances when it committed land at the Pueblo Memorial Airport Industrial Park to private prison giant WCC, according to Pueblo District Court documents. Joining the coalition as plaintiffs bringing the suit are two couples who live near the proposed prison site: Nick and Tawnya Stringer and Steve and Linda Wilson. The suit was filed by lawyer Alison Maynard. It alleges council sidestepped the state's open meetings law by convening in executive session during a June 30 work session without making specific mention in its agenda that the land transaction involving the prison would be discussed. Also cited as a violation of the Sunshine Law was a letter to WCC vice-chairman Wayne Calabrese, which was signed by each council member and dated July 1. It stated that council authorized city administration "to take all action necessary and required" for WCC to acquire the lot at the industrial park. The suit points out that no public meeting of the council was ever publicized for that date, as the law requires. Maynard said during a telephone interview from her office in Denver on Wednesday that council could have avoided the court challenge by following state and local protocol for the actions it has taken. "The open meetings law is a very simple law," she said. "If they don’t comply with it, they’re toast. That’s what the law says, and they know it." The suit also attacks a recent zoning change to the affected lot that would allow government use of the land. It alleges that proper protocol was not followed to bring zoning in line with the anticipated use of the land. According to Maynard, the suit seeks to void actions taken at the meetings that are being challenged, and to uphold the zoning status that forbids government use of the lot in question. "Pueblo City Council has demonstrated a pattern of conducting public business behind closed doors and ignoring the opinions of Pueblo residents," said Stephen Raher, co-director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. "The laws that were designed to ensure open process in government have been flagrantly violated and the people of Pueblo have been shut out of this process." City Attorney Tom Jagger said he was not familiar with the suit, and declined to comment on the issues it cited. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

August 29, 2003 Pueblo County commissioners agreed Tuesday to pay $ 6,000 to settle a lawsuit stemming from an initial meeting about bringing a private prison to the city. Members of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, who opposed the prison, sued the commissioners for not giving notice to the public of an Aug. 8, 2002, meeting at which the prison was first discussed. The county will pay the group $ 6,000 for its attorneys fees and costs, according to County Attorney Dan Kogovsek. Kogovsek said the meeting actually was called by the Pueblo Economic Development Corp. and held at PEDCo's offices. County commissioners were invited, along with City Council members and about 50 local businessmen and women. Because at least two commissioners attended the meeting, and it contained discussion of public business, notice of it should have been given to the public, Kogovsek said. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

August 27, 2003 Despite harsh criticism from economic development officials, City County voted Monday night to ask voters to extend and redirect part of the city's half-cent economic development sales tax. Critics were not convinced. Several former council members and former members of the Pueblo Economic Development Corp. testified during the public hearing that council will be "killing the goose that laid the golden eggs." "You're killing the incentives that bring jobs," said John Verna, a PEDCo member and former council member. "How many of you are paid-up members of PEDCo? PEDCo officials, past and present, were already unhappy with council for approving the construction of a private prison in the airport industrial park. Several speakers Monday said that and the sales-tax question show that council isn't friendly to economic development. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

August 18, 2003 ON JULY 1, all seven Pueblo city councilmen signed a letter to Wayne Calabrese, vice chairman and president of WCC, stating it was City Council's "official intent to annex, sell, and transfer Lot 69 (at Memorial Airport Industrial Park) to WCC upon terms and conditions mutually acceptable to the City of Pueblo and WCC." On the evening of July 23 Council convened a public hearing on the annexation - a hearing that spilled over to the early hours of July 24. The hearing ostensibly was to get public reaction to the "proposed" annexation and sale to WCC, which plans to build a privately operated pre-release prison in Pueblo. But back on July 1, the Council letter stated: "Upon signing this letter, the City Council is hereby authorizing and directing the City Administration to take all action necessary and required to effect the sale and transfer of Lot 69 from the City of Pueblo to WCC, including, but not limited to, negotiating and drafting an appropriate contract for sale and purchase of Lot 69 and instituting proceedings for the annexation of Lot 69 to the City of Pueblo." In other words, this was a done deal as of July 1, as far as the Council and administration were concerned. Those who testified at the public hearing more than three weeks later were talking to deaf ears. This was an insult to all who came to testify in good faith. Those ears should have listened. For example, Dave Cardinal, one of the founders of the Pueblo Economic Development Corp., warned the councilmen of the dangers inherent in placing any kind of prison at the Industrial Park. He spoke of the problems PEDCo and the community faced when this city had a bad reputation around the state and nation. "It was hard for me to believe the negative things our competitors said about us when we were competing against them," Mr. Cardinal testified. "Most of them were not true, but to a company not familiar with Pueblo, they were easy to believe. "It only takes a few subtle negative remarks by the competition and we are off the site selection list and we never know why. I can just hear the competition saying, 'Pueblo, yes they have good incentives and a nice Industrial Park. I hear they even have a state-of-the-art prison in their industrial park.' "Those types of negative comments can do us serious harm with prospects, and we have no way to combat such remarks. Don't think that doesn 't happen in the cutthroat business of economic development." Mr. Cardinal's forewarning was justified. A few days after Council officially approved the annexation so that the prison would pay city taxes, a sizable company interested in a vacant building at the Airport Industrial Park broke off talks when its top officials were told that, yes, a prison was planned for the park. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

August 18, 2003 Pueblo City Council members said Wednesday that a July 1 letter they sent to WCC did not mean that a later public hearing and vote on allowing a private prison at the airport industrial park was merely a formality. The seven councilmen signed the letter to the prison company, which in part said: "This letter represents the Pueblo City Council's official expression of our intent to annex, sell and transfer Lot 69 (at the airport industrial park) to WCC upon terms and conditions mutually acceptable to the City of Pueblo and WCC. "Upon signing this letter, the City Council is hereby authorizing and directing the City Administration to take all action necessary and required to effect the sale and transfer of Lot 69 from the City of Pueblo to WCC, including, but not limited to, negotiating and drafting an appropriate contract for sale and purchase of Lot 69 and instituting proceedings for the annexation of Lot 69 to the City of Pueblo." City Council held a public hearing on the annexation July 23 and approved it at the end of the meeting, after midnight on the morning of July 24. It could be interpreted that the July 1 letter indicates that the council had decided well before the hearing to annex the land and sell it to WCC for the prison. Past and current PEDCo officials have criticized the council for allowing the private prison to be built at the airport industrial park. They fear the prison will turn off businesses who might consider moving to the park in the future. (The Pueblo Chieftan Online)

August 4, 2003 Two former economic development leaders on Thursday charged Pueblo City Council with hurting the airport industrial park's chances of attracting new business. The two also said the city should start looking for new sites for business parks. Dave Cardinal, who helped start the Pueblo Economic Development Corp., and Rich Golenda, a former councilman and longtime PEDCo board member, said putting a private prison at the airport park is a terrible mistake. Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to annex a parcel at the industrial park into the city for a prison. They also voted to sell the 34 acres to WCC, a prison company that wants to build a 700- to 1,000-bed prison at the site. Cardinal and Golenda testified at Monday night's public hearing on the annexation, telling City Council not to kill the city's golden goose. The two men said they've helped bring many businesses to the industrial park and it was never easy. Pueblo already lacks some of the amenities that Colorado Springs or Denver have for luring companies, they said. Putting a prison in the park will make it impossible to persuade business officials to consider moving to the industrial park, they said. Golenda likened council's decision to how the Romans poured salt on the fields and rubble of Carthage after they destroyed it, making sure the city could never use the land again. "That's kind of what City Council has done to economic development at that site," Golenda said. Said Cardinal: "They felt like they knew more than PEDCo. "We've got 20 years experience between us recruiting companies to Pueblo," Cardinal added. "Pueblo has had to overcome a lot of negatives. We've had to fight and struggle to to get every single industry." Several council members said before their vote that communities like Aurora, Colorado Springs and even San Antonio, Texas, have private prisons that haven't hurt economic development. "But people are clamoring to go to Colorado Springs. People are clamoring to go to San Antonio," Golenda said. "No one's going to call Pueblo and say 'I want to come there.' " The former PEDCo officials think PEDCo and the city should find another spot for luring prospective businesses. They said there are spots around Pueblo and in Pueblo West where businesses could be pointed. But mostly, Golenda and Cardinal said they just wanted to speak out about the prison decision. "We've invested so many years and worked so hard, and so have a lot of other people," Cardinal said. "We can't just walk away." Golenda repeated what he told City Council late Monday night, that it won't be the council members who ultimately live the consequences of their decision. "That's the real tragedy of this," he said. "The community is going to have to live with difficulty of the aftermath." (The Pueblo Chieftan)

July 7, 2003 The city of Pueblo has offered WCC a plot at the airport industrial park for its proposed private prison. The city sent WCC a letter Wednesday offering a lot on the southeast corner of the park for sale to the prison company, although an asking price wasn't released. City officials said they plan to negotiate a sale price with WCC next week. WCC was turned down last week in its attempt to get the city to annex land west of the intersection of Pueblo Boulevard and 24th Street for a 700-bed prison. The medium-security facility would house inmates who are about to be released and those who violated their terms of parole. City officials want the prison in or near Pueblo, but didn't think the 24th Street location was good because of nearby homes and the Pueblo Greenway Nature Center. WCC officials have seen the industrial park site and like it, according to Assistant City Manager Dave Galli. The land is not in city limits, but the city plans to attempt to annex it later this month. Even though they voted down the last WCC annexation 4-3, most of the City Council members said they'd like the prison and its 160 jobs here. Council members met in executive session Monday to talk about offering the land and reached an informal consensus. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

May 30, 2003 City Council will hold a public hearing June 9 on annexing land for a private prison, the first of a few hearings required on the issue. The June 9 hearing will deal only with whether the land proposed for the prison meets state annexation requirements, according to City Manager Lee Evett. The larger issue of the prison's compatibility with Pueblo won't be addressed by council until later in June when the council debates actually annexing the land. Many city residents are opposed to the prison, especially residents of the West Side. While they can speak to council members at the June 9 meeting, council won't be deciding anything but whether the land can legally be annexed. WCC, formerly the Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, plans to build a 500-bed private prison on land near the intersection of Pueblo Boulevard and 24th Street. (The Pueblo Chieftan Online)

February 14, 2003 The company wanting to build and operate a private prison for the state still is interested in also helping Pueblo County get a new jail next door. Wayne Calabrese, vice chairman and president of WCC in Palm Beach, Fla., said his company has an option on a site for both projects just west of Pueblo Boulevard near 24th Street. To counter any neighborhood opposition to a prison, Calabese touted the potential economic benefits of the project to the community. If things work ou, the company also would help the county secure financing for construction of an even larger jail that Pueblo County Sheriff Dan Corsentino's office -- not WCC -- would run. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

October 31, 2002 Roughly 90 people came to get answers from Pueblo County officials Wednesday night on how a private prison company, WCC, was able to get the commissioners' support to build a 500-bed prison just west of Pueblo Boulevard and 24th Street without first consulting the public. Commissioner John Klomp was the only commissioner at the forum, hosted by the local group, Better Pueblo. He sketched many of the details of the prison plan for the audience, many of whom were clearly opposed to the project. He emphasized that the state Department of Corrections will make the decision on whether WCC gets a contract to build the prison. The other speakers included Larry Odegard, state president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and Stephen Raher, of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. Odegard used his time to read a lengthy list of complaints and incidents involving WCC prisons around the country. AFSCME represents state employees and Odegard said it was clear that private prison companies make money by cutting their expenses on staff and inmate care and service. "This is a nasty company," Odegard told the audience. "I would urge the elected officials to make sure they know who they are getting in bed with." (Pueblo Chieftan Online)

October 30, 2002 Better Pueblo, a coalition of Pueblo-area labor, environmental and community groups, is hosting a public forum tonight on the plan by a private corporation to build a medium-security state prison just west of Pueblo Boulevard at 24th Street. Better Pueblo also has invited representatives from WCC (formerly the Wackenhut Co.), which wants to build the new prison, as well as representatives from the Colorado Department of Corrections. WCC ha submitted a bid to build a new 500-bed medium-security prison for the state that would house pre-parole inmates. Pueblo County commissioners have endorsed the application in hopes that WCC will also be able to build a 500-bed county jail as part of the complex, although Sheriff Dan Corsentino has said county officers would staff the jail if built. (Chieftan.com)

October 22, 2002 A Colorado criminal justice reform group has filed a lawsuit in Pueblo District Court to erase the decision by the county commissioners last Sept. 4 to endorse the construction of a private prison and possibly a new county jail as well on land west of Pueblo Boulevard. The group, called the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, claims the commissioners violated the state's open meetings law by making the decision to endorse the project by WCC (Formerly Wackenhut Co.) in an executive session that was closed to the public. Stephen Raher, co-coordinator for the group, said the court should force the commissioners to withdraw their letter of endorsement for the WCC project, which would be a 500-bed, medium-security prison on 70 acres west of Pueblo Boulevard at 24th Street. "The county has refused to reverse the actions they made in executive session. Equally disapointing is the fact they have yet to schedule a public meeting on this topic," he said. County Attorney Dan Kogovsek acknowledged that an Aug. 8 meeting with the WCC and members of City Council and the business community had not been advertised to the public or the media notified. NO decisions were made at that meeting, however. As for the Sept. 4 executive session, Kogovsek disagreed that the commissioners erred in deciding to give WCC a letter of endorsement at that non-public meeting. "WCC was making a proposal to the county on providing a county jail as well as building a prison for the state and that discussion properly fell under the protection of an executive session," he said. Kogosvek said the decision on the WCC project is out of the county's hands and rests with the Department of Corrections. "It's not the commissioners who will decide whether the prison will be built in Pueblo," he said. (The Pueblo Chieftan Online)

September 27, 2002 Pueblo County Sheriff Dan Corsentino remains to be convinced that WCC, a private prison corporation, has improved its performance record at other jails it operates before he will support any plan to have the company build a new county jail here. Corsentino said that news reports and other information about Florida-based WCC's jails in other states show there have been near-riots, stabbings and assaults that raise questions about whether the private company provides adequate staff and training at its prisons and jails. "I have a list of concerns about the professionalism of the organization that need to be addressed, but I will have to be convinced they can do the job," he said Thursday. WCC officials said they could answer those concerns, and said the 36 prisons and jails they operate in the United States are closely scrutinized because of the opposition to privatizing prisons by government-employee unions. "This is a highly politicized issue because we are displacing workers who have typically been government employees," said Ken Fortier, WCC's regional vice president. Corsentino is going with Commissioner Loretta Kennedy to meet with WCC officials next week in Florida to discuss the company's bid to the Department of Corrections to build a 500-bed, medium-security prison just west of Pueblo Boulevard and 24th Street. The prison would hold inmates about to be paroled. The company is paying for the pair's travel and lodging. WCC would build, staff and operate that prison for the state, and the company has also offered to build a new 500-bed county jail at the complex. Corsentino insisted earlier this week that his officers provide the staff at any new county jail. Fortier said the company (formerly Wackenhut Co.) was willing to agree to Corsentino's terms, although WCC's business is to build and staff prisons, jails and detention centers. "One of the big cost savings for (WCC) is in personnel expenses because we do not provide as generous a benefit package as government employees receive," Fortier said. "But if it is important to the county to use its own detention officers, we're willing to agree to that." Corsentino elaborated on his concerns Thursday, saying they amounted to more than just a question of whose personnel guard the inmates. He said that WCC prisons in New Mexico, Texas and Florida - among others - had all had serious incidents in the past three years of inmates or guards being assaulted or killed. News reports available over the Internet show that three WCC officers at the Lea County Corrections Facility in Hobbs, N.M., were convicted last April of federal civil rights violations after beating an inmate at the jail. Reports also said inmates attacked WCC guards at the Guadalupe County (New Mexico) Correctional Facility in April 1999, resulting in one guard's death. There were other incidents reported at WCC jails in Florida and Texas. Corsentino said the problems indicate WCC may not have done adequate background screening on its staff or provided adequate numbers of officers or training in some cases. While the sheriff's department would provide the detention officers at any new jail, Corsentino said that those concerns are still valid if WCC is providing the prison staff in adjoining buildings. "At the very least I would want some kind of role in who WCC hires and who is allowed to provide ancillary services inside that complex," he said. Fortier said the company had experienced problems at some facilities, but said they were no different than the problems found in state- or county-run jails. He said the company had lost "a handful" of prison contracts since it began operation in 1987. One reason WCC is willing to include a new county jail in the construction project is that gives its proposal an advantage in the eyes of state prison officials, Fortier said. "In our experience, that's always an asset," he said. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

September 25, 2002 Pueblo County Commissioner Loretta Kennedy will travel to Florida next week to discuss the possible construction of a new Pueblo County Jail as part of a 500-bed state prison here. Kennedy will visit WCC, which builds and operates private prisons. The company has proposed a prison just west of Pueblo Boulevard at 24th Street. At their regular meeting Tuesday, the commissioners said one reason they have endorsed WCC's bid to build and operate a prison for the Department of Corrections is that the Florida-based corporation might be willing to build a new county jail at the complex, which would be located on 50 acres west of Pueblo Boulevard. Kennedy, Klomp and Commission Chairman Matt Peulen said they would be unwilling to let WCC completely staff a new county jail. Sheriff Dan Corsentino also will make the trip to WCC offices in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., next week. He said the staffing issue is fundamental. "The state constitution gives the sheriff the responsibility of running the jail and I'm not going to give up that authority to any private company," he said. "I'm keeping an open mind about having (WCC) build a new jail, but there will be no discussion of having their employees provide the security." All of the county's hopes for finding a cheaper solution to the problem of building a new jail hinge upon WCC getting the state contract to build the new medium-security prison. Last week, corrections officials said the bid process would remain open through the end of September. The contract award is supposed to occur in November. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

August 30, 2002 One of the world's largest private prison corporations is putting together a plan to build a 500-bed, medium-security prison that would be located on the west side of Pueblo Boulevard at 24th Street. Officials from WCC (formerly The Wackenhut Corp.) made a presentation to Pueblo County and city officials Thursday at a meeting at the offices of the Pueblo Economic Development Corp. The meeting should have been advertised to the public because of the elected officials involved, but neither the county or city gave the necessary notice. County Administrator Mark Carmel said the lack of notice was accidental. Councilman Ted Lopez Jr. said WCC wanted a letter of support from local officials, saying they were willing to consider the project and he was willing to go that far. Councilman Pad Avalos said he could foresee obvious problems with the plan. He said WCC officials made it clear that they could not be paying wages and benefits comparable to DOC employees. "I told them this is still a labor community and by privatizing this prison, they would be displacing better-paying jobs," he said. (Pueblo Chieftan)

Pueblo County Jail Pueblo, Colorado Management Team Solutions

March 31, 2004 A class-action lawsuit filed Monday in federal court says that health-care services at the Pueblo County Jail should be taken over temporarily by the U.S. Justice Department. The lawsuit filed on behalf of inmates states that the jai's health care "fall(s) beneath standards of human decency." The lawsuit names Sheriff Dan Corsentino, the county government and the jail's health-care contractor, Management Team Solutions, as defendants. (The Pueblo Chieftan)

Ridge view Youth Services Center Arapahoe, Colorado Miscellaneous

December 26, 2002 Arapahoe County sheriff's deputies captured three teenagers late Tuesday after an escape from a youth services center. The juveniles had been free for about three hours before Deputy Chris George spotted them. Roche said deputies don't believe the teenagers had any help in their escape. The facility, at 28101 E. Quincy Ave., is not fenced but has security guards. The staff quickly became aware of the escape and began a search, but lost the trio in the darkness and surrounding hills, McDonough said. Personnel then notified deputies. Ridge View is a 500-bed juvenile facility by the state, but it is privately operated by the Rite of Passage Schools based in Minden, Nev. (Rocky Mountain News)

Southern Peaks Regional Treatment Center Cornell

January 30, 2004 A subsidiary of Cornell Companies, Inc. (the "Company") executed an agreement in June 2003 to purchase a correctional facility to be built in Colorado – the Southern Peaks Regional Treatment Center (the "Center") – upon completion of its construction. In late August 2003, in connection with the transaction, the Company deposited approximately $12.9 million of the purchase price (the "Funds") into an escrow account to assure the developer's construction lender of the Company's ability and willingness to purchase the Center upon completion. After funding the escrow account, and after repeated unsuccessful attempts by the Company and its counsel to obtain confirmation of the wire transfer and the interest accrued since the date of the wire transfer, the Company was informed in early December 2003, that (i) the bank purportedly serving as escrow agent claimed its signature to the escrow agreement had been forged and that the escrow agreement was not an obligation of the bank; (ii) the Funds were not held in an escrow account at the bank, but were held instead in one of the construction lender's bank accounts; and (iii) certain of the Funds had been released from such bank account prior to completion of the Center, in contravention of the terms of the escrow agreement. The Company immediately began an investigation to locate the Funds and to determine the circumstances that resulted in their misappropriation. In the process of trying to locate the Funds and establish a valid escrow arrangement, the construction lender and the developer of the Center represented to the Company that the Funds were then being held in a bank in Florida which had agreed to be the escrow agent under a new escrow agreement. Subsequently, the bank in Florida confirmed to the Company that an account had been established with deposits totaling $12.9 million and that it was willing to serve as the escrow agent under a new escrow agreement. After executing a new escrow agreement with the Florida bank, the Company learned that the available funds in the new escrow account totaled only $5.0 million. The Florida bank later advised the Company that the remaining $7.9 million of deposits in the new escrow account had been deposited in the form of a check drawn on a foreign bank account. The foreign check, although deposited for collection, was never paid. Accordingly, the Company initiated legal proceedings under theories of fraud, conversion, breach of contract and other theories to determine the location of and to recover the Funds. The Company has obtained temporary restraining orders freezing any and all financial accounts of the construction lender, one of its principals and certain other defendants identified during discovery. The frozen accounts include one of the construction lender's bank accounts which contains approximately $250,000. The Company has learned in discovery that approximately $700,000 of the Funds was advanced to the general contractor to fund construction of the Center, and that approximately $1.6 million was advanced to the developer. Construction of the Center is ongoing and progress to date is within the agreed time schedule, but the ability to continue construction in the absence of a valid construction loan remains in doubt. The Company remains committed to the Center and is exploring possibilities for its completion. Certain of the defendants in the lawsuit filed by the Company have represented to the Company on several occasions that up to $7.9 million would be delivered to the Florida bank restore the Funds, including a representation on January 23, 2004, that $7.9 million would be delivered on January 27, 2004. To date, no amount has been received as represented. As a result, based on current information, the Company believes its potential maximum exposure is approximately $7.9 million plus any attorneys' fees and costs associated with its investigation and the legal proceedings discussed above. The Company is unable at this time to determine the ultimate outcome of this matter. (Yahoo.com)

Walsenburg, Colorado CCA

February 8, 2002 Even before the January opening of a new 480-bed state prison in Trinidad, Colo., and a 127-bed detention facility in Akron, Colo., the four private, for-profit prisons in the state had 724 empty beds. Corrections Corporation of America, which operates private prisons in Burlington, Walsenburg and Las Animas, Colo., had a total of 575 empty prison beds. Additionally, the private prison at Olney Springs, Colo., had 149 empty beds. CCA acknowledged it has lost revenue because of the vacant beds. Last January, the private prisons had nearly 1,900 empty beds after the state transferred inmates to its new 2,447-bed facility at Sterling, Colo. It is state policy to keep as many state prisoners as possible in state prisons, rather than private ones. (Corrections Professional)

August 2, 2001 An Oklahoma man who had been a Colorado prison guard was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for deliberately injuring a restrained inmate. Michael Cook of Fort Cobb worked at a prison in Walsenburg, Colo., operated by the Corrections Corporation of America. He pleaded guilty in April to charges of dropping the handcuffed inmate face-down from about knee-height onto the floor in 1998. At the sentencing in U.S. District Court, Cook, 31, said he was following orders

KANSAS

Reno County CCA

January 8, 2004 Former Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie and Hutchinson attorney Gerald Hertach won't pay $750,000 in restitution sought by the state, a senior judge ruled Tuesday morning. Instead, the case will be closed when the two have served their one-year jail sentences that end in January - Leslie on Saturday from the Saline County Jail and Hertach on Jan. 31 from the Rice County Jail. (Hutch News)

September 17, 2003 With prospects for a negotiated settlement dimming, a senior judge set a trial date for Reno County's civil lawsuit against the former private operators of its jail annex. Judge Michael Barbara set Oct. 29 as the start date in Reno County District Court for the county's bid to recover almost $750,000 in annex operations profits from MgtGp Inc., which operated the center for four years. Former Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie and Hutchinson attorney Gerald Hertach were partners in MgtGp. That alliance landed the two men in jail for a year on two counts of misdemeanor conflict of interest, for failing to disclose the contract. Both men apparently are going to serve their one-year terms without offering a court-ordered plan to repay the county, a condition of parole. In August, attorneys for the two men and Reno County said they were close to a negotiated settlement in the case. Barbara gave the two sides 10 days to reach an agreement, a time frame that more than passed before the judge took action late last week. Stan Hill, Reno County's counsel for the civil suit, offered no comment on the trial date Monday. Efforts Monday to contact Leslie's attorney, Mike Gillespie, and Hertach's attorney, Steve Joseph, were unsuccessful. Gillespie is handling the case from his new job with a Manhattan law firm, Seaton, Bell and Seaton. Leslie and Hertach formed the partnership in 1997 to operate MgtGp and the annex. The two men established dummy corporations in Nevada to route the annex profits back to their personal corporations in Kansas. Leslie and Hertach were convicted in October 2002 of two counts of misdemeanor conflict of interest, the result of a plea bargain from 21 original counts of bribery. Leslie's sentence expires Jan. 3, 2004; Hertach's 28 days later. (The Hutchinson News)

July 2, 2002 The bribery trial for former Sheriff Larry Leslie and his alleged business partners will remain in Reno County District Court, a judge ruled Tuesday. Leslie, Hertach and MgtGp each face 21 counts of bribery. The charges allege that Hertach paid Leslie almost $285,000 over three years in exchange for Leslie's recommendation that MgtGp run the county's jail annex. (The Hutchinson News)

Hutchinson Jail Annex Reno, Kansas MgtGp Inc.

January 10, 2003 Former Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie spent his first day as an inmate Friday, beginning his jail sentence for misdemeanor conflict of interest in the county jail annex scandal. Leslie and his business partner, Hutchinson attorney Gerald Hertach, were convicted in October of misdemeanor conflict of interest. The two men formed MgtGp Inc., a private company that ran the jail annex until late last year. Leslie, as an elected official, was required by Kansas law to divulge his "substantial interest" in MgtGp to Reno County commissioners. (The Hutchinson News)

December 20, 2002 It came down to that old line from the film "Jerry Maguire." "Show me the money." So when Larry Leslie and Gerald Hertach wouldn't - or couldn't - the result was a year in jail for their illegal partnership as MgtGp Inc., running Reno County's jail annex. The people wanting to see where Hertach and Leslie's share off about 570,000 in annex profits went were numerous. And the two who mattered the most - Senior Judge Michael Barbara and prosecutor John Bork - didn't get any answers Wednesday in Reno County District Court. "I wouldn't said it played the main role in my decision, but it played a role, of course," said Barbara, who sentenced the two men to jail terms for conflict of interest in the annex case. "The 285,000 your client received from the annex profits - what happened to that?" Barbara asked Steve Joseph, representing Hertach. "I don't know, your honor," Joseph replied. Both times the men and their attorneys offered no direct explanation, instead raising general claims of financial ruin. "Jerry doesn't have $750,000 or significant funds at all," his attorney said. Gillespie had little to say Wednesday about Leslie's future, only noting that the former sheriff is close to bankruptcy. Leslie isn't paying three creditors he owes a total of $46,000, the attorney said, and had $300 in monthly disposable income after he pays the rest. Leslie will voluntarily surrender his law enforcement certification, Gillespie said. And a case against Hertach's law license will be revived by the state's legal review board in Topeka, Joseph said, now that sentencing has been completed. (The Hutchinson News)

December 19, 2002 In a prepared statement, Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall on Wednesday defended her decision to accept a plea bargain in the Larry Leslie-Gerald Hertach bribery case. In the statement, issued by prosecutor John Bork, one of Stovall's assistants, the AG said the state's decision to accept two misdemeanor conflict-of-interest convictions "serves the interest of justice by ensuring a conviction and establishing restitution for the unlawful acts perpetrated by the defendants.... Stovall said the presumptive sentences in the original bribery cases filed against Leslie and Hertach would have been probation. However, Senior Judge Michael Barbara, angered by the lack of a clear plan to repay $750,000 in annex profits to Reno County, sentenced the two men Wednesday to a year in jail on each of the conflict-of-interest counts. The plea bargain came under local criticism as a slap on the two men's wrists. District Attorney Keith Schroeder, whose office played a role in uncovering the allegations, said he will refuse to refer cases to Stovall's office as a result of the light deal. (The Hutchinson News)

December 19, 2002 Larry Leslie and Gerald Hetach will begin the new year in jail, a senior judge ruled in Reno County District Court Wednesday afternoon. How long they have to stay depends on whether they can come up with their share of an estimated $750,000 in restitution to Reno county, money "cheated" from local taxpayers in the private and illegal operation of the county's jail annex, Judge Michael Barbara ruled. Leslie, 59, the former Reno County sheriff, and Hertach, 56, a Hutchinson attorney, were sentenced to a year in jail Wednesday - six months consecutively on each of two misdemeanor conflict-of-interest counts. Both men were moved out of Reno County for security concerns, Barbara said. The charges grew out of the two men's partnership in MgtGp Inc., a private firm that in 1997 obtained a contract to manage the jail annex - without divulging to the Reno county Commission that Leslie, then sheriff, was involved. A clearly angry Barbara rejected pleas from the defense for probation in both cases, instead taking issue with the two men's refusal to provide plans to repay almost $750,000 in profits from the annex operation. A year owed to the people of Reno County, Barbara said as he handed down the sentence. "Counsel wondered today what good it would do to send these men to jail," the judge said. "Well, a viable objective in the sentencing process is viable deterrents. "Counsel has agreed that deceit was involved in this case - political not criminal. But pure, deliberate greed was involved." (The Hutchinson News)

October 18, 2002 Four years of memories came flooding back this week in the Reno County Sheriff's Department. Secretaries to deputies were stopped cold with disbelief when former Sheriff Larry Leslie pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of misdemeanor conflict of interest for collecting $285,000 from a partnership operating the county's jail annex. Leslie had been charged with 21 counts of bribery. Leslie and Hutchinson attorney Gerald Hertach, partners in MgtGp Inc., each face up to a year plus restitution and fines up to $820,000 for their role in the partnership. "It's kind of made everyone relive the whole thing," Sheriff Randy Henderson said. "Kind of back to the old thing that we can do something wrong and get by with it because of who we are. The frustration with plea bargain, which likely will bring little or no jail time, was expressed by a couple of players in the Leslie story. "I don't think he got near what he deserved," said Sherri Owston, the sheriff's office manager. Owston was directed by Leslie to help him prepare invoices that were used to bill Hertach for almost $285,000 over the three years of their annex partnership. "I was not at all happy about their decision to plead it down to a misdemeanor," said Howard Shipley, a detective who made the first late-night foray into Leslie's office to copy documents about the partnership. "I think the original charge of bribery could have been proven. We should have gone to court and let the jury make a decision on that." "I am somewhat discouraged that the case did not go to trial in order for the whole truth to come out," said Capt. Dennis Radke, who heads the detective bureau. There's also a consensus that Leslie let his officers and employees down by taking part in the partnership. (The Hutchinson News)

October 18, 2002 The business partners in a controversial deal to operate Reno County's jail annex entered guilty pleas Monday to misdemeanor conflict of interest charges. The pleas by former Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie, Hutchinson attorney Gerald Hertach and the attorney's MgtGp Inc. short-circuited Monday's anticipated start of their trials on 21 bribery counts. The plea deal also includes a "joint or separate" agreement to pay Reno County $750,000 in restitution. The conviction falls under Kansas statue 75-4304 (b), which prohibits entering into any contract "where any local government officer or employee, acting in that capacity, is a signatory to or a participant in the making of the contract and is employed by or has a substantial interest in the person or business." (Hutch News.com)

June 03, 2001 Reno County commissioners filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Sheriff Larry Leslie and the private firm hired to run the county jail annex, seeking repayment of more than $500,000 in profits they claim the two have split since 1998. Commissioners also asked a judge to terminate the county's four-year, $2 million contract with MgtGp Inc., signed in January 2000. Leslie is charged with accepting more than $280,000 in bribes from MgtGp Inc. secretary Gerald Hertach in exchange for persuading commissioners to hire the company. Hertach is also named in the lawsuit. Leslie had an obligation to disclose any business relationship between himself and MtgGp Inc. when he recommended the contract, County Counselor Joe O'Sullivan said Wednesday. "The defendant's silence when they had the duty to speak constituted a fraud upon the plaintiffs," the suit alleges. Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall contends that Leslie accepted payments ranging from $4,000 to $15,625 between June 1998 and January 2001. The county's suit claims the alleged payments were routed through a series of Kansas and Nevada corporations, each of which is either owned or operated by Hertach or Leslie. The lawsuit alleges that Leslie and Hertach "negotiated and agreed to a proposal whereby Hertach would present, and Leslie would recommend, a management agreement to the plaintiff for the minimum security facility." (The Wichita Eagle)

May 19, 2001 Fellow law officers and a county commissioner said Tuesday they are shocked that Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie has been implicated in a bribery scheme that authorities say involves more than $280,000. Leslie, who was elected sheriff in 1992, was arrested Monday and charged with 34 counts of bribery. He's accused of accepting $284,875 from a Hutchinson lawyer and, in return, influencing county commissioners to hire MgtGp Inc., the private company that handles the daily operations of the annex, authorities said. Commissioner Francis "Shep" Schoepf said Leslie advised the commission in 1998 that entering into an agreement with MgtGp Inc. would save money. The alternative was to hire more county employees to run the new annex, he said. The county in January awarded MgtGp Inc. a new four-year contract worth $612,000 this year alone, according to the county. Schoepf said he "completely trusted" Leslie's judgement. "It seemed like he was giving us good advice," Schoepf said. "When I heard about the charges, I was absolutely floored. I have had so much faith in that guy." According to court records, Leslie is accused of accepting $284,875 in 34 payments from June 1998 to last January. The largest payment -- $15,625 -- was allegedly made on July 15, 1999, court records show. (The Wichita Eagle)

May 17, 2001 The private company at the center of the bribery case against Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie was incorporated just 13 days before the county awarded it a contract worth more than $1.5 million to run a jail annex in 1997, according to state records. But county officials said Wednesday they weren't concerned with the newness of the company because Leslie vouched for one of its owners, who had experience running a dormitory for nonviolent offenders. Leslie, 57, pleaded innocent to 34 counts of bribery at his first appearance before a district judge Wednesday. Hutchinson lawyer Gerald Hertach, treasurer and co-founder of MgtGp Inc., which operates the annex, also pleaded innocent to charges that he bribed the sheriff. The company also is named as a defendant. Leslie is accused of accepting more than $280,000 from Hertach from June 1998 to last January. Leslie, who is still on the job, earns $59,672 a year as sheriff. It's also a unique relationship, said Darrell Wilson, executive director of the Kansas Association of Sheriffs. He knows of no other county in the state that contracts with a private company to run part of its jail. MgtGp Inc. is still operating the annex, County Administrator Ed Williams said.

Kansas Department of Corrections

November 27, 2001 Citing a temporary shortage of prison beds, the Kansas Department of Corrections said Tuesday that it will send 100 inmates to a privately run institution in Colorado where they will remain until spring. The agreement with Corrections Corp. of America marks the first time that Kansas has sought facilities in other states to house some of its prisoners. Federal money can be used to pay 90 percent of the contract costs with the private firm. That money cannot be used to pay for space in public facilities such as county jails. (The Kansas City Star)

Leavenworth Prison Leavenworth, Kansas CCA

September 27, 2002 Keith Gabriel was intially incarcerated at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., where he was diagnosed as being HIV-positive. The Federal Bureau of Prisons began immediately to provide Gabriel with medical treatment. In 1988, he was transferred to another federal penitentiary. His medical jacket was transferred with him and he continued to receive appropriate treatment for his HIV condition. In 1990, he was transferred to a penitentiary run by the District of Columbia in Lorton. That facility was operated by CCA under contract with that district. When Gabriel was transferred to Lorton, his medical jacket was not transferred with him. The medical history that was sent did not explicitly state that he was HIV-positive. After he was moved to Lorton, Gabriel said he did not receive any further medical treatment until his HIV status was "rediscovered" in 1998. He alleged that as a result of his failure to receive treatment, he suffered a decline in his T-cell count. He also experienced the onset of premature dementia and depression. He also contended that when CCA and the District were alerted to his HIV status, both failed to search for and obtain his medical jacket. He also said CCA provided him with an improperly low dosage of one of the drugs he needed. Gabriel filed suit against the Bureau of Prisons and CCA for negligence and medical malpractice. The U.S. District Court, District of Columbia agreed with the bureau that BOP was not a state official acting under color of state law. The CCA then asked for dismissal, saying it was not a proper defendant because it wasn't a public entity. The company said it could not be held accountable in the same manner as a governmental organization. The CCA also said Gabriel had not filed his claim within the required two years.

August 14, 2000 A guard pleaded guilty to drug charges after he was caught delivering a half once of crack cocaine to an undercover officer. The guard admitted to smuggling contraband into the prison for inmates. (AP, August 14, 2000)

Prison Health Services Shawnee County, Kansas PHS

September 20, 2002 Shawnee County corrections director Betsy Gillespie said Thursday she was confident that jail medical and correctional staff members didn't make any errors causing the death of an inmate earlier this month. Roy Hardy III died Sept. 2 in the jail's custody. His family claims Hardy, who had a congenital heart defect, died because medical staff failed to provide him with his medication. Hardy-Smith declined to say whether the family plans a wrongful death suit against the jail, but any lawsuit likely would include Prison Health Services Inc., a Tennessee-based company specializing in correctional health care. The county entered a contract with the company in November 2001. The contract states PHS will cover court costs if inmates sue the county and the jail on health care issues. An almost complete turnover of medical staff ensued March 1, when PHS took over medical services. Only one nurse who previously worked for the county health agency remained. Daily dose Topekan Allen Stann was jailed for two days earlier this month for a traffic violation. Stann knew he had to do his time, but said he was upset because he didn't receive his medication, Celebrex, twice a day for arthritis. "It was like cruel and unusual punishment," he said. Stann did get Ibuprofen his first full morning at the jail and until his release. He said he went to the jail the week before serving his sentence to learn if he had to do anything to ensure he received his medication. "I even went in early the morning I checked in to make sure about it," he said. After his release, Stann said, he called the jail because he was concerned about other inmates. "I told them while I was in a lot of pain, it didn't kill me. But I said to them 'what if I had a serious illness and didn't get my medication. I could have died.' I said that to them and then found out about Mr. Hardy," he said. (Topeka Capitol Journal)

Reno County Jail Annex Reno, Kansas Misc

November 27, 2002 By signing off at the last minute on a plea bargain agreement in the Reno County Jail Annex case, Attorney General Carla Stovall agreed Oct. 7 to toss out 21 felony bribery charges against three criminal defendants accused of bilking taxpayers out of $570,000. Instead of putting the facts before a jury, the lame duck attorney general accepted guilty pleas to two misdemeanors apiece and endorsed potentially meaningless promises of restitution from former Sheriff Larry Leslie, Hutchinson attorney Gerald Hertach and MgtGp Inc. The outrageous decision not only deepened this newspaper's disappointment with Stovall's job performance as attorney general, it also set three dreary precedents that could have undesirable long-term consequences on public policy in the Sunflower State. Different laws The Stovall-approved plea agreement shows that county sheriffs in Kansas, particularly those who have friends in high places, have the latitude to operate under a different set of laws than other public officials. KBI Director Larry Welch received documents tying Leslie to the illegal payment scheme in the summer of 1999. Yet Welch disgraced his position by failing to initiate an investigation of Leslie, a long-time friend, until prompted a second time - 18 months, 19 payments and $140,250 later – by outgoing Reno County District Attorney Tim Chambers. The U.S. Attorney's Office of Kansas took a similar hands-off attitude toward an FBI investigation. Coincidentally, Welch's son, Lanny, worked there during that time as the office's top criminal prosecutor. Chilling effect. Most of all, Stovall's decision to cut a deal with defendants Leslie-Hertach-MgtGp Inc. will have a chilling effect on government whistleblowers in Kansas. Consider that employees at the Reno County Sheriff's Department expressed the greatest frustration with the plea bargain. Several employees uncovered the scheme and tried to prompt an outside investigation. "I don't think he got near what he deserved," said Sherri Owston, the sheriff's office manager. Former Sheriff Leslie directed Owston to help him prepare invoices to bill Hertach for supposed jail consulting services. (Hutchinson News)

MISSOURI

Correctional Medical Services St. Louis, Missouri

September 2, 2003 Virginia Terry was thankful when her daughter, a drug addict suffering from bipolar disorder, got locked up at the women's prison in Vandalia, Mo., for a forgery conviction. "I thought, at least she'd be safe," Terry recalls. That changed when Terry's daughter, Al'Deana Simmons of Camdenton, began complaining, in letters and phone calls home, about the type of health care she was getting behind bars. She said prison doctors changed her anti-depression medication. She cried about blinding headaches. And Terry will never forget what Simmons said in their phone conversation July 1, the day before she died of an apparent aneurysm. "She said her head was sizzling and that she was going blind," Terry recalls. "The prison doctor saw her for 10 minutes and said nothing was wrong." The case of Simmons, 33, is one of many being explored this summer by investigators with the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in Washington. Investigators have been to the prison three times and interviewed 127 inmates about the medical treatment provided by St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services. They also have met in St. Louis with inmates' relatives, including Terry. She provided them with her daughter's letters and medical records. CMS won its first Missouri contract in 1992 under then Gov. John Ashcroft, who now as U.S. attorney general heads up the Justice Department. Yet, in a move rarely seen by the Justice Department, Missouri's prison system has denied the investigators the access they want. The investigators have wanted to see the infirmary and talk to prisoners and staff at the prison, about 70 miles northwest of St. Louis. Prison officials wouldn't allow it, instead telling federal investigators they could talk to prisoners only in the visitation area during normal visiting hours. That kind of restriction to a prison setting is rare, happening only a handful of times in the Justice Department's 23 years of work using the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. The act was passed by Congress in 1980. It empowers the attorney general to investigate the conditions at these institutions and file lawsuits to remedy "a pattern or practice" of unlawful conditions. A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment. Tim Kniest, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said investigators weren't permitted to "walk around unescorted" because of safety concerns. Kniest said that, if the investigators make arrangements with the Missouri attorney general's office, they can have a tour. The investigators work with the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division. That section's job is to protect constitutional rights of people confined to institutions such as state-run nursing homes and prisons. $80 million a year Correctional Medical Services is the nation's largest prison health care provider. It has contracts to provide medical care for about 228,000 inmates and prisoners in 27 states. In Missouri, CMS' current five-year contract, renewed in late 2001, covers medical and mental health care for the 29,500 prisoners in Missouri's 21 prisons. The cost to the state is about $80 million a year. It is based on a fixed per-day price (now at $7.50) for each housed inmate. That cost pays for everything from Band-Aids and aspirin to inmates' prescriptions and catastrophic health care. There are about 1,700 female prisoners in the Vandalia prison. There are women prisoners in Chillicothe, but the federal investigators have not visited that prison. CMS has been the subject of controversy in recent years. A five-month investigation by the Post-Dispatch in 1998 found more than 20 cases nationwide in which prison and jail inmates died as a result of alleged negligence, indifference, understaffing, inadequate training or cost cutting by private health care companies. Many of the cases involved CMS. (STL Today)

November 8, 2001 Gregory Jennings, Jacqueline Reich, Lorenzo Ingram, Sr., Henry Simmons, Calvin Moore, Billy Roberts and Kathy S. Kearns didn't know each other in life, but they shared a common bond in death: All died in U.S. prisons, the victims not of the death penalty, or at the hands of fellow inmates or guards, but in the allegedly negligent care of a single provider of privatized health services. Correctional Medical Services (CMS) is a St. Louis, Missouri-based for-profit corporation that contracts to provide health care services to over 270,000 inmates at more than 330 prison sites in 29 states. A 1998 in-depth investigative report done by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, its hometown newspaper, shed light on the downside of prison care privatization. The Post-Dispatch's investigative team spent five months "visiting prisons and jails; gathering hundreds of police, court and medical records and other documents; and interviewing doctors, nurses, inmates, lawyers, scholars, prison and health experts and families of inmates who died behind bars." Published in September 1998, "Death, Neglect and the Bottom Line: Push to Cut Costs Poses Risks," found that while CMS successfully reduced the cost of health care to several states, there were "more than 20 cases in which inmates allegedly died as a result of negligence, indifference, understaffing, inadequate training or overzealous cost-cutting." At the ACLU web site, the civil liberties organization posts a late-January 2001 letter it sent to the Connecticut Department of Correction (CDOC) that claims CMS's health care services -- medical, mental health and dental care -- at the Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big Stone Gap, Virginia is woefully "inadequate." The ACLU writes: "The health care provided by Correctional Medical Services, the contract provider at [Wallens Ridge], was considered so grossly inadequate that [Virginia Department of Corrections] recently fined CMS nearly one million dollars. The Virginia State Auditor specifically found that CMS did not provide a dentist at [Wallens Ridge] for over three months, and never provided an optometrist. Medical privacy and confidentiality is non-existent at [Wallens Ridge]; as a matter of policy, prisoners are required to discuss their most private medical and mental health issues in the presence of security staff and other prisoners." In 1998, the Minnesota Department of Corrections contracted with CMS for health care services in its state's prisons. According to the Twin Cities Independent Media Center, the NAACP called a press conference in mid-October to publicize a lawsuit "over the death of Gregory Jennings, who died in Stillwater prison on April 6, 2001 because the medical staff were indifferent to his complaints of symptoms of diabetes." Should Calvin Moore, in custody for less than a month at the Kilby Correction Facility in Alabama, have died from being ignored while he lost fifty pounds and exhibited severe symptoms of mental illness, dehydration and starvation? Should Diane Nelson, a 46-year-old mother of three, have died because her request to receive her heart medicine prescribed by her doctor was refused? And what of Charles Guffey, who died of a perforated ulcer because nurses at the Tulsa County Adult Detention Center in Oklahoma refused to pay attention to his complaints of severe abdominal pain? If these folks were around today they'd have a lot to say about the human cost of the growing privatization of prison health care services. Hopefully, privatization will begin to receive the close scrutiny it deserves. That is the least we can do. The deaths of these men and women, while tragic, should not have been in vain. (AlterNet.org)

Kansas City, Missouri Wackenhut

June 3, 2002 A prisoner's respectful letter to a federal judge finally led to his release - more than two years after the judge had ordered him set free because his conviction had been overturned. Reynaldo Tovar-Valdivia, now 42, was arrested by Kansas City police in April 1998 and charged with possessing methamphetamines with intent to distribute. Tovar-Valdivia asked to serve his sentence in California, and was sent to Taft Correctional Institution in Taft, Calif. He appealed his conviction on grounds that he'd been searched illegally, and won. Consequently, U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs of Kansas City signed an order for Tovar-Valdivia's release in January 2000. But somehow, the release never happened, and Tovar-Valdivia remained behind bars. Terry Craig, executive assistant at the private prison, said Monday that he could not release any information on the case unless a written request was received. He wrote a letter in March of this year to Judge Sachs, including pages from the October 1999 ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which told the judge to order the prisoner's release. After Sachs received the letter, he issued a new order citing his previous release order, and Tovar-Valdivia was finally freed on April 4. (The Associated Press State and Local Wire)

Ray County

January 13, 2004 A man who escaped from a private jail in Ray County turned himself in early today after being missing for several hours. Officers said Frank Randal Lumley, 42, escaped about 4:20 a.m. from a private jail in Henrietta, Mo. Lumley attacked a security guard and stole the man's keys, said Ray County Sheriff Sam Clemens. (The Kansas City Star)

St. Louis Jails

August 15, 2003 If, as Mayor Francis Slay is considering, management of St. Louis jails goes private, city officials will shake hands with an industry the state of Missouri abandoned years ago. Frustrated over embarrassing miscues, Slay has assembled a committee to examine the city Corrections Department with an eye toward hiring private management for the Justice Center downtown and the City Workhouse on Hall Street. The action resulted from missteps over the past two years, most recently the mistaken release of three prisoners let go because jail workers did not know how to interpret paperwork. The options under consideration by Public Safety Director Sam Simon and a committee of 12 would keep municipal ownership of the buildings but possibly hire out their operation. The Corrections Department has 530 employees and a budget of about $23 million. Private jails and prisons claim to offer tight security for less money through the efficiency of private enterprise. But they have not been without controversy. Missouri withdrew state prisoners from a privately operated lockup in Texas years ago, after a training video in 1996 showed abuse of inmates housed there under a lease arrangement. The video, which showed Missouri prisoners getting bitten by dogs and shocked with electric prods, led to a $2.2 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit. Spokesman Tim Kniest of the Missouri Department of Corrections said Friday that use of a private prison was never more than a stopgap answer to overcrowding. Missouri legislators' enthusiasm for private prisons, never more than slight, declined as a result of the Texas incident, Kniest noted. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

NEBRASKA

Hall County Corrections Hall, Nebraska Opposition to private jails

June 4, 2003 At the same time Hall County is trying to decide whether a new county jail should be funded publicly or privately, Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp. President Monty Montgomery is working for a private prison firm -- the same firm he recommended to Hall County supervisors. "I have a debt of honor to them," Montgomery said of Corplan Corrections of Argyle, Texas. "I do it on my own time, and I don't do it on business time." Montgomery first introduced Corplan Corrections to the Hall County Board of Supervisors in 2001, after starting work as president of the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp. that July. That same year, he also arranged and accompanied four supervisors on a tour of a 1,097-bed jail Corplan worked on in Garza County, Texas, just southeast of Lubbock. Corplan worked on a similar but smaller 548-bed jail in Haskell, Texas, where Montgomery was then economic development director. Montgomery said it was that association with Corplan officials, a more than four-year effort, that led to his "debt of honor." Because Corplan worked with Haskell for no pay for four years before the community finally settled on and constructed the privately funded jail, Montgomery feels a need to return the commitment. "I'm helping friends of mine," Montgomery said of why he represents Corplan County supervisors most recently toured jails in Kansas and Iowa in pursuit of construction and operational ideas. However, the county is awaiting an attorney general's opinion on whether a private jail is even a legal option for the county. Besides pitching Corplan Corrections to Hall County, Montgomery has also represented the firm to Huron, S.D., which is considering a jail there. (The Independent)

March 12, 2003 A dozen Hall county corrections staff members listened on Tuesday as the spokesman of a national organization opposing private jails and prisons told the Hall County Board of Supervisors why such facilities pose a threat to the public, jail staff and inmates. "I think it hit the nail on the head, " Hall County corrections Cpl. Tom Hansen said of the presentation. "They are unsafe entity and are unsafe in your community," Brian Dawe, executive director of Corrections USA, told the board about private jails. In a passionate and well-rehearsed 20-minute presentation, Dawe cited studies from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service and academicians detailing that private prisons cost more and have more escapes, riots and assaults that publicly run jails. "Our concern is the operator -- are we government employees or private company employees?" Hansen told The Independent. "We're not about to jeopardize our homes and property." (The Independent)

Lincoln County, Nebraska Western Correction

1992 Sold on the economic development scam by WC, the county hired private equity company Juran & Moody to issue $ 3.5 million in tax-free bonds to build a spec prison. The town was sold on the idea that the profits from the prison would build new sewage plants and schools. It paid-out the bond money to construct the prison. The gates opened in 1994 and still sits empty. Bondholders were told they could have the facility back. They may get $ .10 on the dollar if they can find a buyer. (The Independent, London, June 25, 2000)

Private Prison Contracting Act

January 23, 2003 Nebraska counties aren't authorized to have a private contractor build or operate a private county jail, a legal opinion from the Nebraska attorney general said. Specifically, the Nov. 5, 2002, opinion interpreting the Private Prison Contracting Act said the act "does not authorize a county or other political subdivision to enter into a contract with a private prison contractor to construct or operate a correctional facility within or on behalf of such county or other political subdivision." That language was included in the act by its sponsor, state Sen. DiAnna Schimek of Lincoln, to specify that a private prison has to be done through the state and with the approval of the Department of Corrections, the opinion said. But state Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island, who requested the attorney general's opinion, said he doesn't think it should prohibit Hall County's pursuit of a private county jail -- for two reasons. "In my opinion, it's not going to be a problem for Hall County to proceed with where it's going," Aguilar said. Where Hall County is headed is receiving proposals from private contractors to build and/or operate a new county jail. (The Independent)

NEW MEXICO

Albuquerque Police Department Albuquerque, New Mexico Cornell

September 7, 2002 Two Fugitives still on the Loose. It has been more than a year since the drug trafficker Vicente Manuel Tijerina has seen the inside of an American lockup. On Friday, the former fugitive saw a federal judge in Albuquerque. Tijerina,31, was extradited this week to New Mexico after eight months in custody at a jail in Mexico City. U.S. Marshalls and Mexican federal judicial police recaptured Tijerina on Nov. 10, 2001, in Sonora state after he and two other inmates escaped from the Santa Fe County Detention Center on April 7, 2001. The escape was aided by then-guard Lawrence C. Candelaria, who is now serving a 366-day prison sentence for smuggling into the jail a cell phone, hacksaw blades, a hammer and a chisel. Candelaria worked for Houston-based Cornell Corrections Corp., which operated the jail at the time. Authorities are still looking for Luis Ramon Lopez, 42, and Rodolfo Ruiz-Godinez, 30. (Albuquerque Journal)

February 24, 2001 The city may sue the company that was transporting Byron Shane Chubbuck when he escaped to recover the $76,189 the police spent on recapturing him, Albuquerque City Councilor Tim Kline said Friday. The police spent $49,469 paying officers who would have otherwise been on duty elsewhere. It spent $20,956 on overtime, and another $5,764 for helicopter use during the search. Kline said the city deserves assurances from Cornell that it is examining its security procedures. "My bottom line is to ensure they take a look at security and do something about it, and this is the way you get their attention," he said. The Marshals Service said that the agency itself will transport prisoners in the future rather than contracting with a private firm. (Albuquerque Journal)

Cibola County CC Cibola, New Mexico CCA

February 29, 2004 Some families of inmates housed in the Cibola County Detention Center are upset at the fees being charged to prisoners. There is a $10 booking fee, a $5 release fee and various fees for medical costs. The Grants Police Department is upset about these fees as well, when they apply to city prisoners being booked at the county jail. "We're being charged a daily rate of $57 per inmate housed by the county and yet they still charge the inmates a fee as well," said Chief Marty Vigil. Cibola County Detention Center Administrator, John Gould sees it as part of doing business. "We figure it costs about $70-$75 a day per prisoner. And it's not like we charge them $15 a day. It's a one time administrative cost whether they're in jail for one day or 300 days." When asked if the daily cost of housing prisoners was $70, then why was the City only charged $57, Gould replied that it was to "give the City a break." Gould said, "why should citizens who haven't committed any crimes pay for those who commit them? These people think nothing of peddling drugs near our children's schools. They are not bothered by burglarizing an honest person's home and stealing their hard earned possessions. But, when the county chooses to establish a fee for being booked in the detention center, these people call out to the honest and hardworking citizens of Cibola County, their victims, because they do not think they should be made to pay for a small portion of their incarceration. They feel that the community they victimized owes them." Last fall, the commission voted to approve charging inmates these fees. (Cibola Beacon)

February 12, 2003 Cibola County residents and doctors are opposing the County Commission 's efforts to sell the county hospital. Acting County Manager David Ulibarri said Tuesday the possible sale of the hospital and construction of a county jail are not linked. He said gross receipts taxes have been dedicated to pay off the jail. The county currently contracts with a private company, Corrections Corporation of America , for prisoner space, but wants to build its own jail to slice the cost, Ulibarri said. The county built the current CCA-run jail about 1994, intending to house not only the 40 inmates the county averaged then, but also to house state prisoners for a fee. However, the Johnson administration later removed state prisoners from Cibola County . CCA then came in with an offer for the jail, which it expanded to house federal prisoners, Ulibarri said. In the years since, he said, the cost of housing county prisoners with CCA has risen along with the average number of county inmates - now about 80 a month. Inmate care now runs about $1.3 million a year, Ulibarri said. The county wants to build a jail because "we can find ways to cut our own costs, we can control our own destiny," he said. (AP)

July 5, 2002 A teacher at Cibola County Corrections Center has been charged with criminal sexual penetration for allegedly having sex with an inmate in a prison office. Ortega, who taught federal inmates at the privately run center was having sex with an inamte May 20 when the prison's chief of security walked in on the couple, court documents said. The prison houses foreign nationals from Mexico and south America who entered the country illegally and committed nonviolent crimes. The prison is operated by the Corrections Corporation of America. (The Associated Press)

December 14, 2001 A government watchdog group is satisfied with an agreement by judges in Cibola County to ensure future court hearings in the county are open to the public. Robert Johnson, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, wrote state District Judge Louis McDonald after the public was kept out of a hearing in the Cibola County Corrections Center in August. McDonald said it was never a matter of not wanting the public to attend the hearing, but rather an issue with the location of the hearing in the private prison. (AP)

August 3, 2001 An Albuquerque man charged with murder after being accused of running down a state police officer had initial court appearance Thursday out of public view behind the gates of a private prison. Cibola County Magistrate Jackie Fisher held the initial appearance before noon for Zacharia Craig, 19, at the Cibola County Corrections Center, where such proceedings have been held over the past year because of a crowded courtroom in Grants, six miles away. The appearances for Craig, his brother Aron Craig and other prisoners Thursday were closed. The prison says it requires 24 hours' notice to screen visitors for security reasons. News media who sought access learned about the hearing Thursday morning. The procedure was questioned by Albuquerque attorney Marty Esquivel, who handles open records and open meetings issues. "Regardless of where the courtroom activity takes place, there is traditionally a right of access to this type of criminal proceeding and it must be observed," he said. "Preventing access to judicial proceedings in jail raises a red flag for First Amendment concerns as well as issues regarding the defendant's right to a fair trial," Esquivel said. The magistrate court and the correctional center entered into an agreement about a year ago to hold initial appearances in the prison. Magistrate Eliseo Alcon of Grants said the pact came about because he became worried about security at his courtroom. Alcon said that if people want access to a particular hearing, they must notify the jail so a different place can be set up for that appearance. First appearance are the only proceedings held at the prison, Alcon and Don Russell, executive assistant to the warden, said. Arraignments - in which defendants enter pleas - are held in Grants, generally in district court for felonies. (AP)

April 25, 2001 The Cibola County Corrections Center in Milan remained under lockdown Tuesday as prison officials tried to determine the cause of an inmate protest that ended the night before with tear gas. Preliminary interviews with inmates at the privately run prison suggested they protested over food service or the price and availability of items at the prison commissary, said Don Russell, executive assistant tot he warden. Of the prisoner's 818 inmates, 766 are federal prisoners and the rest are in the custody of Cibola County, Russell said. The federal inmates all are illegal immigrants who have been convicted in the United States and are subject to deportation after they serve their prison terms, he said. Inmates at the same prison staged another nonviolent protest in December over food portions, menus and the price and selection of items at the commissary, Russell said. Inmates at the low-level security prison in Milan receive a diet containing 3,200 calories a day, Russell said. ( Journal Capitol Bureau)

April 24, 2001 An inmate protest at a privately-operated prison was a result of concern about food and, for some prisoners, taxes, authorities said. The protest, in which more than 600 inmates refused to leave the exercise yard and go inside the Cibola County Correctional Facility, lasted about 12 hours Monday. Inmates were unhappy with food served, and with having to pay gross-receipts taxes on items purchased in the prison's commissary, state police Capt. Glenn Thomas said. The jail, operated by Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America, houses mostly federal prisoners from out of state. (Koat/Daily News)

April 24, 2001 Prison officers interviewed inmates Tuesday a day after lobbing tear gas at them to end a 655-inmate protest in the institution's recreation yard, apparently over prison food. "Over the next few days, we will conduct an in-depth incident debriefing and follow up to determine the cause and prevent future incidents from occurring," said Steve Owen, director of marketing for Corrections Corporation of America, which owns and operates the Cibola County Correctional Center. Inmates spent 12 hours milling around the recreation yard after refusing to go to education classes or work assignments. The prison on Tuesday remained under lockdown, meaning prisoners are confined to their cells. The inmates, housed in Cibola County under a contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, are criminal aliens -- people who are not U.S. citizens who have been convicted of felonies in federal courts across the nation and who are subject to deportation proceeding once their sentences end, Owen said. A few inmates in the yard carried signs protesting racism. However, Don Russell, a spokesperson for the prison, said Monday the protest centered on complaints about prison food and the prison commissary. He refused to go into detail. Owen said Tuesday he could not confirm what the protest was about. (AP)

April 24, 2001 The standoff is finally over -- several hours after inmates refused to leave the recreation grounds at a private prison near Grants in New Mexico Monday night. Authorities finally got the situation under control around 9:30 P.M. local time after they were forced to throw tear gas into the recreation yard of the Cibola County Correctional Center Monday night in an effort to get the inmates back into the prison. Over 600 inmates had been in the yard since 8:00 A.M. Monday morning. (KOAT/Albuquerque)

April 24, 2001 Authorities fired tear gas Monday night to break up a daylong protest by about 700 inmates at a private prison. The prisoners were to be handcuffed, checked for weapons and returned to their cells, State Police Capt. Glenn Thomas said. That was expected to take several hours. "All day long, they were not complying with anything," Thomas said of the inmates at the Cibola County Correctional Center. "We finally had to do something." The inmates refused to leave the recreation yard about 8 a.m. to go to classes or work assignments, Steve Owen, director of marketing for Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America, said in a statement. (AP)

Downtown Jail Bernalillo, New Mexico Wackenhut

January 5, 2004 A former guard at the privately run Wackenhut jail downtown was sentenced to more than eight years in prison Thursday for trying to smuggle heroin into the lockup. The 97 months U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia gave David Higginbotham was the lower end of the sentence recommendation, which ranged up to 121 months. A federal jury convicted Higginbotham Aug. 7 of attempting to possess with intent to distribute heroin. The charge stemmed from an undercover sting in which an inmate arranged to have Higginbotham smuggle contraband to him. The contraband was to be given to Higginbotham by an undercover San Antonio police officer. At trial, Higginbotham claimed the officer forced him to accept the package, which had 150 grams, or a little more than 5 ounces, of brown sugar. According to testimony, Higginbotham refused to accept the package when he was told it was heroin. But the officer also gave Higginbotham $500, and he took the delivery. (My Sanatonio)

October 15, 2003 The county refused to put the jail lease out to bid. Instead, it negotiated a five-year deal after Cornell responded to a request for information. Although Gov. Bill Richardson expressed reservations about the no-bid process, Board of Finance Director Mark Valdes said the board did not have the authority to direct Bernalillo County to put the lease out for competitive bid. He cited changes made in state procurement law during the last legislative session. "The board does not have the authority to not approve the lease and direct the county to do competitive bids," Valdes said. Board members did not question the role of Cornell's hired consultants, Albuquerque attorney Edmund "Joe" Lang and former Democratic Party National Committeeman Art Trujillo. The two originally were hired to help Cornell get the lease on the Downtown jail. Lang was to be paid $2 a day per inmate and Trujillo 25 cents a day per inmate. They potentially stood to make more than $2 million off the deal combined. Cornell says those agreements are no longer in effect. The company says Lang's contract is now "dramatically different" and that Trujillo is no longer working on the project. (ABQ Journal)

October 13, 2003 A private jail operator that has been awarded a controversial no-bid contract to operate the old Bernalillo County Detention Center at one point agreed to pay two politically connected consultants big dollars to help secure the deal. Former state Sen. Edmund "Joe" Lang and former Santa Fe Mayor and Democratic Party figure Art Trujillo had the potential to receive nearly $2.5 million combined from Cornell Companies over a five-year period— an amount that would hinge on how many inmates were housed in the jail. Cornell says the agreements are no longer in effect. Lang, a Corrales Democrat and former Sandoval County commissioner, stood to earn the biggest payday. Cornell, in a memorandum of understanding dated April 15, 2002, agreed to pay Lang $2 a day per inmate for the "consulting work that you will perform in conjunction with Cornell's attempt to lease or purchase ... the Bernalillo County Jail (Downtown Jail facility)." Cornell had a similar agreement with Trujillo, a former Bernalillo County Democratic Party chairman who at the time was conducting what turned out to be a successful campaign for his party's nomination for state Land Commissioner. Trujillo, however, was only to be paid 25 cents a day per inmate— a potential payout of about $273,000 over five years. Trujillo has a history of friction with County Commission Chairman Tom Rutherford. Lang and Rutherford are longtime friends and colleagues. The memorandums to both Lang and Trujillo said payments would commence only after the "complete execution" of a valid contract between Cornell and the county. Payments would begin "after the first full quarter of a fully executed contract and be issued quarterly thereafter for the original term of the contract." Cornell estimated the capacity of the jail at 540 inmates after renovation. The county's estimate is about 600 inmates. Assuming the jail was full, that would translate into a potential fee of $1,080 to $1,200 a day for five years with a possible five-year renewal. Five years of operation with 600 inmates would have meant a payment in excess of $2.1 million to Lang. Those estimates are based on a jail operating at full capacity, 365 days a year. Paul Doucette, Cornell vice president for development and public affairs, said in a telephone interview Friday that both documents are out of date. "Neither is in effect today," he said. Doucette said Cornell's current agreement with Lang is "dramatically different" than the one outlined in the April 2002 memorandum. Doucette would not, however, discuss specifics. "We consider the details of that agreement proprietary," Doucette said. "We are still in a very competitive situation on this project, as the sending of these documents to the Journal illustrates. Someone is trying to manipulate the process." He said Lang is a "very valuable consultant who knows New Mexico very well." Doucette said, "We are no longer working with Art Trujillo on this project." Trujillo believes his original contract with Cornell is still valid but says he has been cut out of any negotiations between Cornell and the county. The contracts between Cornell and the consultants have not been discussed publicly in the talks leading up to county approval of the pact with Cornell. Cornell's contract with Bernalillo County to operate the jail still faces the hurdle of approval by the state Board of Finance, which balked at approving the pact earlier this month. Members of the Board of Finance, which is chaired by Gov. Bill Richardson, questioned how they could be sure the county was getting the best deal, since the contract never went out to bid. The board asked for more information and is scheduled to take up the contract again on Tuesday. Cornell negotiated a five-year lease with the county to renovate and house inmates at the now-vacant jail. The negotiations, including talks between Lang and then-County Manager Juan Vigil, were based on Cornell's reply to a Request for Information sent to private jail contractors. Under the contract approved on a 4-1 vote by the county commission in January, Cornell would pay the county about $1 million a year the first two years of operations with a gradual increase over the next three years. The company originally offered to pay the county $5 a day per inmate with a ceiling of $1 million a year. In addition, Cornell would spend roughly $5 million to renovate the old jail Downtown. The county sent out the request for information in 2001. It never issued a formal request for proposals that would state what the county wanted and how the proposals would be judged. Cornell's competitors and one county commissioner criticized that decision. All of the county commissioners contacted by the Journal said they were unaware of the terms of the consulting contracts. "I wouldn't know about that," Rutherford said. "I do know that he (Lang) did a lot of work on this." Commissioner Steve Gallegos said, "Wow. I've never been a lobbyist, so I don't know what they receive. I don't know if that's high. It doesn't sound right to me." Commissioner Michael Brasher, who has been critical of the process and was the sole vote against the lease for Cornell, questioned the arrangement. "I think we need to have full disclosure of situations like this. The entire deal has been very curious." Corporate spokesmen from Wackenhut Corrections Corporation and Corrections Corporation of America declined comment for this story. Commissioner Alan Armijo said he would like to see the (Cornell-Lang) agreement. "Without looking at it and knowing all the details, I don't know if it bothers me or not ...," he said. Commissioner Tim Cummins said, "Sounds like he's (Lang) a partner. Whatever arrangement they do is none of my business." Consultant agreements Doucette, Cornell's vice president for development and public affairs, confirmed that Lang currently has a contract with Cornell and that Cornell does enter into contingency agreements like the one obtained by the Journal. "Like everything else, we factored it into our costs," Doucette said. "Our proposal to lease and remodel the jail provides an outstanding value to the county." But he would not discuss specifics of the consultant agreements. Lang in a telephone interview said he wouldn't comment on his contract, also saying that it was "proprietary." Doucette confirmed that Trujillo did work for Cornell on the jail contract early in the process, although Lang said he was unaware of Trujillo's involvement in the lease. The body of the memos from Cornell to Lang and Trujillo are almost identical except for the amount to be paid. They have the same date and are signed by the same Cornell official. The memoranda state that they are good for six months and could be renewed. In a telephone interview, Trujillo said his contract is still valid, but no one the Journal interviewed in county government recalled Trujillo being involved. "I told them (Cornell) how to get this project done ... but Lang has cut me off totally," Trujillo said. Trujillo was defeated in November by Republican Patrick Lyons in the Land Commissioner race. Lang is registered as a legislative lobbyist for Cornell and said that work is separate from his work on the county jail lease. State law prohibits legislative lobbyists from working on a contingency fee like the one outlined in the memorandum of understanding. "I haven't talked to any legislators on Cornell's behalf," he said. There is no state prohibition on contingency fees for lobbying local governments on jails. Friendship is separate Lang and Rutherford acknowledge a longtime friendship. They attended high school together and served in the state Senate at the same time. They are both lobbyists and sometimes work for the same clients. Both said their friendship had nothing to do with the Downtown jail lease. Rutherford said he is also friends with the lobbyists who represent Cornell's competitors— Corrections Corporation of America and Wackenhut. Those two companies asked the commission to put out a request for proposals. "There is a small group of people who do lobbying, and they all know one another. I sat on the Senate committee that approved Ed Mahr (lobbyist for Corrections Corporation of America) as Corrections secretary back in the 1970s. I served in the Senate and on the commission with Les Houston (lobbyist for Wackenhut Inc.) for years," Rutherford said. "We're all friends," Lang said of his competing lobbyists. "We (Cornell) gave the only responsive price which the county asked for in its request," Lang said. "Nobody has ever said they could beat our price." Both men said the commissioner who pushed the jail privatization was Steve Gallegos, hoping to use the money generated by the lease to fund a psychiatric unit at the $90 million Metropolitan Detention Center on the West Side. "This is simply a mechanism to get the psychiatric unit built at the new jail," Lang said. That sentiment was echoed by Rutherford and Cummins, who said the building was essentially useless sitting empty. Court and police officials have suggested using part of the facility as a Downtown holding and booking facility— an idea rejected by the county. Gallegos said he is not a proponent of privatizing jails but believes the county had to come up with some way to build a psychiatric unit at the new jail. "I pushed it as a public facility, and I don't believe in privately run jails," Gallegos said. "It was really out of frustration that I said let's try the private sector." "I want that psych unit built," Gallegos said. "I know that inmates with mental health problems are abused in jail. I've had personal experience with family members with mental health problems and I know how important this unit is." "What it really came down to was Cornell put numbers up and the others didn't," Gallegos said. "Why didn't the others? Are they serious or not? "Later, the other guys come back and say we're playing an unfair game. But I think Cornell played it straight with us." Gallegos said, "The problem in this state is that everyone's connected. Les Houston worked for Wackenhut. I know Ed Mahr with CCA very well. He's a friend. I've known Tom Rutherford for years and years. I don't know Joe Lang that well." How it all started The county put out its request for information on renovating and privatizing the Downtown jail in October 2001. At that time, commissioners expected the jail to be empty by the following summer when the new West Side jail was supposed to open. The idea was criticized by the union representing officers at the jail and seemed to die. In January 2002, Gallegos began pushing the idea of the county running the Downtown jail as a facility to hold federal inmates. Any profits would go to building a psychiatric unit at the new jail. Negotiations with the U.S. Marshals Service hit a stumbling block when federal officials said they could not guarantee a fixed number of inmates because that would violate federal policy. In April 2002, Cornell inked separate memorandums of understanding with Lang and Trujillo to act as consultants on securing a lease or purchase of the Downtown jail. Talks between the county and the Marshals Service for federal funds to renovate the old jail broke down when the county failed to meet a key deadline for filing paperwork for federal renovation funds. In the fall of 2002, the commission resurrected its discussion of a private jail operation. The county had received general letters of interest from Wackenhut and Corrections Corporation of America. Cornell was more specific. It gave the county a quote of $5 a day per inmate, with a ceiling of $1 million a year. In January 2003, County Attorney Tito Chavez told commissioners they could negotiate a lease with Cornell because of its response. He advised that the county was not required to put out a Request for Proposals— citing a specific state law that allows local governments to negotiate jail agreements based on a simple request for information. At the end of November 2002, the commission authorized Vigil to negotiate with Cornell. The decision was unanimous. Then-Commissioner Les Houston, whose term expired in December, urged the county to put out a Request for Proposals but recused himself from voting because he represented Wackenhut. "We felt there was a time crunch which in hindsight, because of the delay in opening the new jail, wasn't valid," said Cummins, who was chairman at the time. "But at the time there was some feeling of urgency." In January 2003, the commission approved a lease with Cornell for the old jail. The lease was amended in June 2003, when Cornell agreed to pay for the renovations. There have been some technical changes in the lease after it was reviewed by the Board of Finance. Board members have asked the county for figures from similar types of jail deals. "Comparisons from jail to jail are difficult," Brasher said. "That's the argument for going out to a Request for Proposals. That's how you find out what the value of that jail Downtown really is." Rutherford said, "The Board of Finance is doing their duty to review this carefully." (ABQ Journal)

June 11, 2003 Bernalillo County commissioners on Tuesday approved plans for a private company to renovate the Downtown jail and house federal inmates there. The commission voted 4-1 in favor of revising its lease agreement with Houston-based Cornell Companies Inc. The earlier agreement had called for the federal government to pay for renovations. Under the new proposal, Cornell would pay for the renovations, which are expected to cost $5 million. The proposal still must go before the state Board of Finance. The approval came despite objections by Corrections Corporation of America, which said the county should allow other companies to compete for the jail. "Why not open it up and get the best deal you can?" asked Frank C. Salazar, an attorney for CCA. (ABQ Journal)

June 11, 2003 When Bernalillo County signed a contract with Cornell Cos. in January to lease the City-County Jail building, it was riding on the hope the federal government would come up with a big chunk of the nearly $4 million needed to renovate the lockup. That hope was a dim one, said the head of the U.S. Marshal's Service in Albuquerque. The county was counting on getting a Marshal's Service grant to repair the Downtown jail and meet a major condition of its contract with Cornell, a private corrections company, county Public Safety Director John Dantis said Thursday. However, the county missed its chance to receive a $3 million grant when the money was made available last year, said Gordon Eden, U.S. marshal for New Mexico. "There is no extra money now," he said. "It could be several years until the Marshal's Service will be able to provide them with money for renovations." Each year the Marshal's Service allocates grants to government agencies to upgrade jails to meet the agency's standards. Cornell would be contracting with government agencies to house federal prisoners in the jail. The grant appropriation has been steeply declining over the past three years, Eden said. The amount available nationwide was $35 million in fiscal year 2001, $20 million in 2002 and $5 million in 2003, he said. Now, the county and Cornell are in negotiations to figure out who will pay for the jail repairs. A Cornell spokesman said the Houston company is willing to pay for the renovation but declined to comment on what it expects in return. In June 2002, the county was made aware it would not receive the $3 million Marshal's Service grant because it had missed a May deadline to turn in paperwork, Eden said. Dantis said the county had asked for an extension before the deadline in order for the County Commission to approve grant changes made by the Marshal's Service, but it was denied. "When the Marshal's Service deemed the county unresponsive, they allocated that money to other government agencies who needed the money," Eden said. The county contract with Cornell in January states the county would "use its best efforts" to secure a Marshal's Service grant. "How can you obligate federal funds you don't have?" Eden said Thursday in reference to the contract. County officials said at that time they were planning to apply for the Marshal's Service grant again. In April, the county asked the Marshal's Service for funding, but it is not depending on that money, Dantis said. "We're looking at a number of options to fund the renovations," he said. Under the contract, the county is responsible for electrical, plumbing, security and roof repairs and several other categories of renovations to the building. The county has not looked into paying for the repairs using its own money, Dantis said, and referred inquiries to county financial officials. County Manager Juan Vigil was out of town Thursday, a spokeswoman for the county said, and could not be reached for comment. Under the terms of the contract, Cornell would pay $888,888 in rent during the first two years of the lease, with rent increasing to $1.2 million in the third year. The county planned to use the revenue from the Cornell lease to add a mental health facility to the new Metropolitan Detention Center, a 2,100-bed facility on the West Side that is now in the process of being filled with inmates from the county's three jails. Repairs to the Downtown jail cannot begin until the county moves all its inmates to the new lockup. The $86 million building became ready for occupancy two weeks ago, a year behind schedule. Cornell spokesman David Monroe said his company needs to wait until the old jail is vacant and the renovations are complete before it can house its inmates. The company doesn't have a scheduled move-in date for inmates, he said. "The county has taken a bit longer than we anticipated," Monroe said. "We want to do it as soon as possible but with the appropriate parameters." Cornell already has signed contracts with government agencies to house inmates in the Albuquerque jail, Monroe said. He declined to give any details on those contracts. Cornell's system includes about 70 detention facilities nationwide. County Commissioner Michael Brasher said the county might have to solicit companies that want to use the Downtown jail and could get it up and running. "If Cornell can't come up with the money," he said, "Maybe they (county officials) can find someone who can pay for the renovations." (Albuguerque Journal)

January 15, 2003 Bernalillo County commissioners approved a proposal to rent the Downtown jail to a private corrections company Tuesday — despite a potential snag over funding for renovations. Both the county and Houston-based Cornell Companies Inc. can terminate the lease agreement if funding for the jail renovations doesn't come through. As part of the proposal, federal inmates could end up at the Downtown jail. Commissioners directed county officials to try to work out agreements with the U.S. Marshals Service. Commission Chairman Tom Rutherford said the lease is important because it will put the Downtown jail to "beneficial use" after inmates there are moved to the new Metropolitan Detention Center. The moving date is uncertain. But Gorden Eden, U.S. marshal for the district of New Mexico, told the commission that federal money for the jail renovations isn't available now. He said he would work with the county to get funding but couldn't promise the money for renovations. (ABQ Journal)

January 14, 2003 Two former city councilors set to join the County Commission today will have a chance to make a historic decision — whether to rent the Downtown jail to a private corrections company. The proposed lease agreement would make the jail — for the first time — a privately run detention center. As part of the proposal, the county would try to work out an agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service to house federal inmates there. There are no plans to house city and county inmates there. The Downtown jail would be vacant after local inmates are moved to a new lockup on the West Mesa. Bernalillo County didn't seek formal bids from companies interested in the project. Instead, officials began negotiating with Cornell after issuing a request-for-information. (ABQ Journal)

November 27, 2002 Bernalillo County commissioners on Tuesday authorized further negotiations with a private company interested in running the Downtown jail as a holding center for federal inmates. The commission's 4-0 vote allows County Manager Juan Vigil to continue negotiating a lease agreement with Cornell Companies Inc. The county also will try to work out an agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service. Anthony Marquez, president of the jail employees' union, spoke against bringing in a private company. The country would have more oversight if it hired its own employees to run the Downtown jail, he said. Private companies "are there to make a buck," Marquez said. (ABQ journal)

October 9, 2001 Bernalillo County commissioners today are scheduled to consider taking the first step toward transforming the Downtown jail into a holding center for federal inmates. The proposal, sponsored by Commission Chairman Steve Gallegos, would authorize the county to submit an application to the U.S. Marshals Service to launch the program and remodel the jail to meet federal standards. Commissioner Les Houston said he is "philosophically opposed" to having Bernalillo County run a federal holding center. The county soon will be busy enough operating the 2,100-bed Metropolitan Detention Center under construction on the West Side, he said. Houston suggests the county either lease the old jail or sell it. "If we are going to operate a jail for profit ... then it should be operated by professionals, such as one of the national private operators," Houston said. But Gallegos, who opposes having a private company run the holding center, said Houston should excuse himself from discussion of the application. Houston is a registered lobbyist for Wackenhut Corrections Corporation. (Albuquerque Journal)

Gallup Detoxification Center Gallup, NM Na'Nizhoozhi Center Inc.

December 8, 2003 A county commissioner hopes the new Gallup-McKinley County Adult Detention Center will focus more on helping more inmates change their lives rather than just making money off their incarceration. Meanwhile, upper management of the private prison company, Management Training Center, who will soon be leaving Gallup for good, expressed their thoughts on working in Gallup and gave advice to the county jail staff. Jail administration went solely to the city and county at 5 p.m. Monday. McKinley County Commissioner Billy Moore, who is a member of the city/county Jail Authority Board, said the city and county government will make errors in the beginning in a trial- and-error system until they fully learn what they're doing. That's to be expected, Moore said. "We're going in with a new attitude and a fresh look. We hope we can do something positive for the jail," Moore said. Moore has no experience at running a jail, but he said he thinks the county has been missing out on the profit MTC obviously made. "They're making a profit, or they wouldn't be there," he said of the private company. Moore doesn't believe the private prison company's money came as much from out-of-state inmates because they were only a small percentage of the jail's overall population. But he said the board might have to look into taking on out-of-state prisoners if they start losing money. He doubts that will happen. "They have incentives to keep people in jail," Moore said of private companies like Management Training Center. "We have incentives to get them out and get them treatment. Especially in the cases of DWIs." (Gallup Independent)

April 3, 2002 A lawyer is suing Gallup's detoxification center, alleging it is illegally detaining people against their will and violating state laws. The lawsuit, filed by William Stripp of Ramah on behalf of Lewison Watchman, also contends the Gallup Police Department and the McKinley County Sheriff's Department put people in Na'Nizhoozhi Center Inc., known as NCI, when they should not be there. Stripp, in his filing Monday in state District Court, asked that the lawsuit be considered a class action. If approved, class action status would let those put in the center over the past few years become parties to the lawsuit and possibly get compensation if it is successful. The lawsuit wants anyone who was illegally detained to be compensated at a rate of $5,000 a day. NCI has said 18,000 individuals are picked up and placed in the center each year. Stripp said the rate was derived from the settlement of a lawsuit Watchman filed against the city last year after being placed in NCI for four days against his will. He settled the lawsuit for $20,000. "The police should be enforcing the laws against false imprisonment," Stripp said. NCI officials said they could not comment because the lawsuit is pending. The lawsuit contends NCI does not have proper certification from the state to operate as a health center and that the city and county are violating the law by allowing the center to hold people there against their will. Stripp said he plans to seek an injunction prohibiting police from taking people to the center until NCI proves to the court that it has the proper licenses and certifications. Gallup Police Chief Daniel Kneale said he visited the center last week to check its certification and found it had the proper certification to detain people who had alcohol or drug problems. The lawsuit also alleges the center habitually puts more people in a room than allowed by state law, that staff members at times threatened people placed there or "touched or applied force to plaintiffs in a rude, insolent or angry manner," and that people were put together in locked rooms with no privacy. The lawsuit also contends police officers and sheriff's deputies turned over people to NCI without adequately investigating whether the center was authorized to hold people as a licensed "health care facility." Some of those picked up don't meet the requirement of having their mental or physical functioning substantially impaired as a result of alcohol, the lawsuit alleges. (Albuquerque Journal)

Grants Women's Correctional Facility Grants, New Mexico CCA

December 5, 2002 Tana Morris, a 30-year-old inmate at the Women's Correctional Facility in Grants, filed a civil complaint in state district court on Monday against the Department of Corrections and Bill Snodgrass, the warden of the Grants facility, seeking compensation for her current and future health problems she claims are the result of constant exposure to secondhand smoke in the prison. "I have never even smoked even one cigarette in my life, and this 24-hour exposure to secondhand smoke is of grave concern to me ...," Morris states in her complaint. "I have young children who deserve to have a healthy mother. At this point, my health is rapidly deteriorating due to my living conditions, and the idea of being healthy is looking to be out of my reach." Department of Corrections spokesman Gerges Scott said the Grants facility has its own smoking policy because it is operated privately by Corrections Corporation of America, but a telephone operator at the Grants facility said the jail follows the state's guidelines. State Sen. Joseph Carraro, R-Albuquerque, said the department's policy allowing prisoners to smoke was a lawsuit waiting to happen. Carraro authored a failed bill this past legislative session that would have banned smoking in prisons. He claimed the state is already paying millions of dollars a year in health care for prisoners and might be liable for inmate health problems that are the result of first- or secondhand smoke. (Santa Fe New Mexican.com)

Guadalupe County CF Santa Rosa, New Mexico Wackenhut

August 21, 2003 Angela Vigil was stunned when officials at the Guadalupe County Correctional Facility told her she tested positive for heroin traces on her hand at a recent visit to her son here. "I've only even seen heroin once," said Vigil, a special education teacher at Highland High in Albuquerque who said she was humiliated by prison officials who denied her the time with her son. Vigil wasn't alone; many visitors to the prison here have tested positive for drug traces and been denied an inmate visit since a detection machine was installed in May, Warden Mo Bravo said. Officials say the machine— a recommendation of a panel that looked at how Wackenhut Corrections Corp. handled a deadly 1999 riot here— hasn't been without problems. But they say they've fixed it. "There was a very big issue," Bravo said. During the first month the machine was at the prison, about 20 of 50 visitors tested positive and were denied visits, Bravo said. The machine swipes a visitor's hand for trace amounts of drugs, measured in parts per million. Casual contact with drug users can leave drug traces on a nonuser's body, said Ed Brown, director of Wackenhut's Western Region Office. So many positive tests prompted officials at the prison in July to lower the allowable threshold for granting a visit, Bravo said. With the new thresholds, which vary by drug type, roughly one to two visitors a day may be denied, Bravo said. He also said that with the machine in place, fewer inmates test positive for drug use while incarcerated. Vigil, angered by her experience at the prison, had planned to describe her situation to lawmakers at a meeting of the Corrections Oversight and Justice Committee as it met Wednesday evening. While Vigil— who denies she had contact with heroin— said she was treated rudely, Bravo said he couldn't comment on her case. The machine, worth about $60,000, was one of several improvements the company made after an independent inquiry into the riot and its aftermath, which left officer Ralph Garcia dead and sent some inmates to a supermaximum facility in Wallens Ridge, Va. Wackenhut president Wayne Calabrese told lawmakers the company has spent more than $3 million in Santa Rosa and Hobbs, where it operates the Lea County Correctional Facility. The improvements include better security camera systems, enhanced fences and ceilings as well as programs to keep inmates busy and teach them skills. The company also sought— and won— from the state Legislature this year a wage increase for its corrections officers. Entry-level officers now make $9.64 an hour instead of $9, Calabrese said. (ABQ Journal)

June 8, 2002 The former assistant warden at a privately run prison here has pleaded guilty to two felony charges in connection with the abuse of some inmates. Raymond O'Rourke appeared before U.S. District Judge M. Christina Armijo on Thursday. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to a count of deprivation of rights under color of law and obstruction of justice by witness tampering. O'Rourke was accused of ordering two lieutenants to assault former inmates Tommy McManaway and David Gonzales in August 1998 at the Lincoln County Correctional Facility. He then orchestrated a cover-up of the incidents, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The two guards, Judson McPeters and Thomas Doyle, have pleaded guilty to similar charges. They have not been sentenced. The prison is operated by Florida-based Wackenhut. (The Associated Press)

October 2000 An advisory letter from the state attorney general's office finds the state Corrections Department exceeded its authority by contracting with Wackenhut to give a retroactive per diem pay adjustment. (Santa Fe New Mexican, Oct.7, 2000)

September 1, 1999 There was a riot involving 290 inmates. A correctional officer was stabbed "numerous" times by up to 9 different inmates. The riot was in response to efforts to lock down the institution following the stabbing of an inmate.

August 12, 1999 An inmate was murdered with a laundry bag filled with rocks as he watched television.

Juvenile Justice Rehabilitation Center Las Cruces, New Mexico Southwest Key Inc.

June 7, 2003 The state will not leave the Juvenile Justice Rehabilitation Center under private management, despite pleas of local youth advocates, a high-ranking official said. The Children, Youth and Families Department last month announced that it would resume public management of the 48-bed juvenile jail when the contract of Florida-based Associated Marine Institutes expires June 30. That decision upset several area state legislators and youth advocates, who argue that CYFD hasn't shown it can do a better job providing rehabilitative and educational services to incarcerated youth than AMI. (ABQ Journal)

December 18, 2002 The Children, Youth and Families Department on Tuesday ended its contract with Southwest Key Programs Inc. to manage the troubled state juvenile rehabilitation center west of the city. Starting on Monday, management of the 48-bed facility will be turned over to a new private contractor, Florida-based Associated Marine Institute, or AMI, which currently operates another state juvenile detention center, Camp Sierra Blanca, near Lincoln. CYFD spokesman Romaine Serna said the groundwork for the decision to end Southwest Key's contract with the state was laid by a series of complaints raised by southern New Mexico legislators over the past year. Those concerns — including a lack of vocational training and recreational programs, a high rate of inmates prescribed psychotropic drugs, gang activity in the facility, staff misconduct and a high rate of staff turnover — were investigated by the Legislative Finance Committee and resulted in a corrective action play for Southwest Key in September. Then late on Dec. 4, two teens, who were not bedded down for the night, attacked and beat a 25-year-old guard at the facility. The guard suffered skull fractures and other injuries, and the pair of teens smashed windows in a failed escape attempt. "It (the incident) brought the whole operation into question, and at that point we decided it was in everyone's best interest to end that contractual relationship," Serna said. (ABQ Journal)

December 14, 2002 The contract with a private company that operates the Juvenile Justice Rehabilitation Center for the state here could soon be terminated, a state senator said. The 48-bed jail is operated by Southwest Key Program Inc., a Texas-based nonprofit company, under a $2.4 million annual contract with the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department. "It's my understanding that the state is in the process of terminating the contract," state Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, said Thursday. Rawson said the state is considering terminating the contract as a result of an investigation and the failure of Southwest Key to meet deadlines that had been set by state officials. (ABQ Journal)

December 13, 2002 A private contractor that operates the Juvenile Justice Rehabilitation Center for the state has laid off 13 employees. The action follows last week's destructive rampage by two inmates who were accused of beating a caregiver and smashing windows in an attempt to escape. The 48-bed jail is operated by Southwest Key Program Inc., a Texas-based nonprofit company, under a $2.4 million annual contract with the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department. State officials and lawmakers held hearings earlier this year in response to complaints about conditions at the facility ranging from inmate and staff assaults to drug abuse. (ABQ Journal)

September 26, 2002 Legislators greeted with skepticism a report on problems at the state's juvenile rehabilitation facility in Las Cruces. Deborah Hartz, secretary of the Children, Youth and Families Department, told lawmakers that the agency's investigation found that many of the complaints concerning the juvenile lockup had been exaggerated, were already corrected or were in the process of being fixed. "Most of the allegations were found not to be true," Hartz said. "Is the facility perfect? No." Lawmakers asked for an investigation after receiving a litany of complaints ranging from drug trafficking to staff members being involved in gang activity. The center is managed by a Texas firm under a contract to CYFD. "I'm still concerned that it was strictly an inhouse investigation," Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, said after Hartz made her report. "At $139-a-day per resident, I'm concerned that they're not getting what they need and society is not getting what it needs," Papen said. Parts of the facility are still under construction. Exercise areas, for example, are limited. Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, said, "I think we need to note the difference between the allegations and the findings. Sometimes, the truth is in between them." Rawson said he thought progress was being made and hoped it would continue. Hartz attributed complaints to "general start up problems" at the year-old lockup. The investigation found that illegal drug use was not rampant, according to Hartz, and, in the two confirmed cases, the drugs were traced back to inmate families and not staff members. The report also found that problems with safety and education issues were being addressed. Hartz said the investigation was conducted by top officials at the agency and went beyond what the committee requested. Hartz acknowledged that one resident was improperly restrained earlier this year. "The staff members involved were fired and the case was referred to the State Police," Hartz said. A more recent allegation of sexual contact between a staff member and juvenile resident is under investigation. Hartz said the incident was properly handled by center officials. The rehabilitation center, which houses 48 juvenile offenders, is managed by Southwest Key Inc., a Texas nonprofit organization, under a $2.4 million contract. (ABQ journal)

September 26, 2002 Legislators greeted with skepticism a report on problems at the state's juvenile rehabilitation facility in Las Cruces. Deborah Hartz, secretary of the Children, Youth and Families Department, told lawmakers that the agency's investigation found that many of the complaints concerning the juvenile lockup had been exaggerated, were already corrected or were in the process of being fixed. "Most of the allegations were found not to be true," Hartz said. "Is the facility perfect? No." Lawmakers asked for an investigation after receiving a litany of complaints ranging from drug trafficking to staff members being involved in gang activity. The center is managed by a Texas firm under a contract to CYFD. "I'm still concerned that it was strictly an inhouse investigation," Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, said after Hartz made her report. "At $139-a-day per resident, I'm concerned that they're not getting what they need and society is not getting what it needs," Papen said. Parts of the facility are still under construction. Exercise areas, for example, are limited. Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, said, "I think we need to note the difference between the allegations and the findings. Sometimes, the truth is in between them." Rawson said he thought progress was being made and hoped it would continue. Hartz attributed complaints to "general start up problems" at the year-old lockup. The investigation found that illegal drug use was not rampant, according to Hartz, and, in the two confirmed cases, the drugs were traced back to inmate families and not staff members. The report also found that problems with safety and education issues were being addressed. Hartz said the investigation was conducted by top officials at the agency and went beyond what the committee requested. Hartz acknowledged that one resident was improperly restrained earlier this year. "The staff members involved were fired and the case was referred to the State Police," Hartz said. A more recent allegation of sexual contact between a staff member and juvenile resident is under investigation. Hartz said the incident was properly handled by center officials. The rehabilitation center, which houses 48 juvenile offenders, is managed by Southwest Key Inc., a Texas nonprofit organization, under a $2.4 million contract. (ABQ journal)

Lea County CF Hobbs, New Mexico Wackenhut

July 22, 2003 The state Supreme Court on Monday affirmed a prison inmate's first-degree murder conviction for the death of a fellow prisoner at the Lea County Correctional Facility. The high court rejected Paul Payne's arguments on appeal that his constitutional rights were violated and there was not enough evidence to support his convictions. Payne was convicted in the June 17, 1999, death of Richard Garcia at the private prison in Hobbs, operated by Wackenhut Corrections Corp. Garcia was in an isolation cell when a guard opened the door to it, allowing Payne and another inmate - who were working as porters outside their cells - to enter. Garcia was stabbed more than 40 times. (AP)

May 4, 2003 A Lea County Detention Center inmate who stood guard outside a cell while another inmate was killed was convicted of murder Thursday. A court translator informed Juan Mendez that he was found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Mendez is one of six inmates charged in the Jan. 13, 1999, stabbing death of Robert Ortega. Authorities said Ortega was stabbed more than 70 times.

November 18, 2002 Richardson announced Thursday that Santa Fe lawyer Mark Donatelli and Joe Williams, warden of the private prison in Hobbs, will co-chair Richardson's Corrections Transition Team, charged with identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and "major threats" to the department. Williams was a former warden of the state medium-security prison in Los Lunas until the late 1990s, when he was hired by the Florida-based Wackenhut Corp., which operates a 1,200-bed private prison in Hobbs. During his campaign, Richardson frequently said he did not want to spend money to build new prison cells, often adding variations of the sound bite, "I want to invest in people, not prisons." Richardson never took a stand on whether the state should continue using private companies to operate prisons - though he said more than once that he had toured Wackenhut's Hobbs facility and was favorably impressed. Donatelli said that one of the first things the state needs to do is re-evaluate the effectiveness of private prisons. "There's no credible evidence that private prisons save money," he said. "The budget keeps going up." (Santa Fe New Mexican)

November 13, 2002 A Hobbs prison guard who helped beat up two handcuffed inmates on the orders of an associate warden was sentenced Tuesday to four years probation. While Senior U.S. District Judge John Edwards Conway did not sentence ex-lieutenant Thomas Doyle McCoy to prison, as suggested by one of the inmates, he did take up a suggestion that McCoy make a videotape to help dissuade other law officers from using excessive force. McCoy pleaded guilty in March to two counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice. He admitted that he and fellow lieutenant Judson McPeters beat inmates Tommy McMannaway and David Gonzales during seperate incidents in 1998. Conway said McCoy had to be as "stupid as they come." "I can't understand why when an assistant warden asks you to beat up somebody, why you don't say, "That's not my job," Conway told McCoy. McPeters pleaded guilty in February to two counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice and is to be sentenced today in Las Cruces. He has said he participated in the beatings. The government recommended McPeters and McCoy get probation because they cooperated with an FBI-based Wackenhut Corrections Corp. McCoy and McPeters said they were ordered to beat up prisoners by then-associate warden Raymond O'Rourke and told to cover up the incident. O'Rourke pleaded guilty in June to one count of deprivation of an inmate's civil rights and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison and fined $25,000. Former prison guard Gary Butler was sentenced Thursday to 37 months in prison and fined $7,500 for helping beat up inmate Eric Duran in 1998 and covering it up. Wackenhut, meanwhile has settled lawsuits brought by Duran and McMannaway. Lawyer Mark Donatelli, who pushed for an investigation of the prison and represented McMannaway and Duran, said the settlements are confidential. (Journal Staff)

November 11, 2002 Bernalillo County officials have launched talks with private companies about the possibility of them operating the Downtown jail to house federal or state inmates. Bernalillo County has built a new 2,100-bed Metropolitan Detention Center on the West Mesa. The main Downtown jail will be vacated after inmates are moved to the new lockup, probably later this month and in December. During a city-county Government Commission meeting Tuesday, jail employees union President Anthony Marquez spoke against turning the Downtown jail over to a private company. "Let's not try to make a buck off of it," he said. (Desertnews.com)

July 18, 2002 An inmate accused of acting as a lookout while another prisoner was killed has been charged with murder. Juan Mendez, a former inmate at the private Lea County Correctional Facility, was arraigned Tuesday on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with evidence. Bond was set at $250,000. Mendez, 33, is the fifth person indicted in connection with the Jan. 13, 1999 stabbing death of Robert Ortega, who was attacked in his cell at the Hobbs prison, owned and operated by Florida-based Wackenhut Corrections Corp. (The Associated Press State and Local Wire)

June 21, 2002 A prison inmate has been sentenced to life plus nine years for the murder of a fellow prisoner who was stabbed to death in his cell - the victim of 50 wounds. Paul Payne, 28, was sentenced after being convicted Monday of murdering Richard Garcia in June 1999 at the privately run Lea County Correctional Facility. According to trial testimony, the killers left Garcia's cell yelling "white power!" and raising their fists. A guard was removed from his job after an inquiry determined he had allowed Payne and co-defendant John Price into Garcia's cell, Assistant District Attorney Melissa Honigmann said. The Lea County facility is operated by Florida-based Wackenhut Corrections Corp. (The Associated Press State and Local Wire)

April 12, 2002 Two ex-guards from a privately run Hobbs prison were convicted Friday of civil rights violations in the 1998 beating of an inmate and of conspiring with a third guard to cover it up. Lt. Matias Serrata, Lt. William Fuller and Kendall Lipscomb of Wackenhut Corrections Corp. were all found guilty of obstructing justice with the cover-up and of conspiring to obstruct justice. Serrata and Fuller also were convicted of violating the civil rights of inmate Eric Duran, who was kicked several times in the head. A fourth guard, Gary Butler, who had pleaded guilty earlier to civil rights and conspiracy charges, testified that he had hit himself in the face at the suggestion of Fuller, then went to Hobbs police with a story that the inmate had attacked him. "Those who we trust to enforce the law have one of the most difficult and important of all jobs," U.S. Attorney David Iglesias said in a statement released Friday. "When anyone in such a position violates the rights of others, they not only injure the individual but they also injure the vast majority of law enforcement officers who perform their duties with honor." Serrata had said the incident happened within 30 or 40 seconds while a riot was going on in an adjoining dining area. The Lea County Correctional Facility, which holds up to 1,200 inmates, is run Wackenhut. (AP)

March 31, 2002 The same day Hobbs prison inmate Eric Duran was rushed to a hospital emergency room after losing consciousness, then-guard Gary Butler walked into a Hobbs police station with bruises to his face and filed a report accusing the prisoner of battering him. Nearly two years later, Butler admitted that he punched himself in the face to try to justify an altercation with Duran, who was kicked unconscious. Butler, 28, also told federal authorities that he and other guards tried to cover up Duran's beating, concocting a story that Duran hit himself on the floor, a wall and a windowsill while being restrained. On Tuesday, a two-week trial begins in Roswell for former prison lieutenants William Fuller, 37, and Matias Serrata Jr., 29, and former officer Kendall Lipscomb, 25, who face federal charges in connection with the Dec. 21, 1998, incident with Duran. Butler is expected to testify against them. Some unnamed guards who witnessed the incident also are expected to testify for the Justice Department's Office of Civil Rights, court records say. Butler pleaded guilty in August 2001 to one count each of deprivation of rights under color of law and conspiracy to commit a felony. As part of a plea deal, Butler agreed to cooperate and truthfully tell investigators about the incident. With his deal, Butler became one of a handful of guards who admitted heavy-handedness at the Lea County Correctional Facility, which holds up to 1,200 state inmates under contract with Florida-based Wackenhut Corrections Corp. The Duran incident is one of three reported inmate beatings in 1998 that left guards facing criminal charges. They were investigated by state and local police as well as the FBI. "Gary Butler has agreed with everything that Eric has said," Donatelli said. "Eric's account was corroborated by numerous staff there. It's not just the word of an inmate seeking damages from Wackenhut. It's also the word of people who worked for Wackenhut." The Justice Department lawyers said Duran's assault followed an incident when Duran refused to sit at his assigned seat in the prison dining hall and was involved in an argument with Lipscomb and another guard. Duran was taken to "P-15 hallway," where he "verbally disrespected" Fuller, the brief said. The brief said Fuller yelled at Duran to face a wall, put his hands on the wall and made unspecified threats. According to the brief: Duran was ordered to put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed, but only gave one hand because he was afraid of being beaten. He asked that the guards videotape the incident, but the guards refused. Duran finally gave both hands to be handcuffed, and when he did, Fuller and Butler allegedly slammed him to the floor. The brief said Duran didn't resist. "As Duran lay face down on the floor, surrounded by officers and handcuffed behind his back, Lt. Fuller stood up, stepped to Duran's upper body and delivered a forceful kick to the inmate's head," the trial brief said. Butler also allegedly kicked Duran in the head. "Fuller and Butler alternated kicking Duran, as the inmate's head 'flopped' back and forth from one side to the other," the trial brief said. (Albuquerque Journal)

March 13, 2002 Another former guard at the privately run prison in Hobbs has pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the 1998 beatings of two inmates and subsequent cover-ups. Former lieutenant Thomas Doyle McCoy entered guilty pleas Tuesday in federal court in Albuquerque to two counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count. The charges were filed by the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division following an investigation of the Lea County Correctional Facility by the FBI. As part of a plea bargain, McCoy admitted he participated in the beatings of inmates David Gonzales and Tommy McManaway, who were assaulted separately in August 1998. The beatings, court records say, were ordered by former high-ranking officials at the prison, which is run by Florida-based Wackenhut Corrections Corp. Prison warden Joe Williams has said the administration changed hands in 1999, that none of the people involved in the incidents works there any longer and that his guards treat inmates with respect. Attorney Mark Donatelli, who represents McManaway in a suit against the prison, said "we appreciate the willingness of Mr. McCoy to accept responsibility for his actions. "More importantly, we believe the investigation and prosecution by the Justice Department will send a message to other corrections officers that will help prevent other inmates from being victimized like Tommy was." McCoy's plea follows that of former lieutenant Judson McPeters, who pleaded guilty Feb. 20 to two counts of obstruction of justice which stemmed from the beatings of Gonzales and McManaway. According to McCoy's plea agreement, McCoy and McPeters slammed Gonzales to the ground, where an officer handcuffed him. McCoy "then kicked the restrained inmate and twisted his ankle until it popped, while other officers also assaulted the inmate, although there was no legitimate penological reason for the use of force," the plea agreement said. The plea deal also said McCoy kicked McManaway in the testicles while the inmate was lying face down, fully restrained, on the shower room floor. Another lieutenant kicked McManaway in the side. The document said guards and supervisors got together to concoct false stories. For instance, they said the inmates lunged at or tried to strike guards, requiring the use of force. The reports minimized the guards' use of force. (Albuquerque Journal)

February 25, 2002 The head of the privately run prison in Hobbs said the acts of a few former guards or officials accused of battering inmates in 1998 do not reflect the philosophy of the lockup. Joe Williams, warden of the Lea County Correctional Facility, said last week that he and his staff have worked hard to "turn this place around." Williams and many of his staff are former corrections officers or wardens of lockups run by the state Department of Corrections. The Hobbs prison is run by Florida-based Wackenhut Corrections Corp. and houses up to 1,200 inmates under a contract with the state. Williams made the remarks the day after a former lieutenant at the prison admitted in court in Albuquerque that he and other prison guards participated in the August 1998 beatings of two inmates and subsequent cover-ups at the request of a former associate warden. The guard pleaded guilty to two federal counts of obstruction of justice. A lawyer who fights for inmate rights said after Wednesday's hearing that a similar incident at the prison in December 1998 — in which four former guards allegedly beat an inmate and covered it up — shows a pattern of abuse there at the time. The FBI investigated the incidents and charges were filed by the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, which alleges that inmates were falsely blamed at both times by the guards for instigating incidents that required use of force. The use of force was excessive and unjustified, according to the Justice Department. The four ex-guards are to go on trial in April on charges including conspiracy and violation of civil rights. (ABQ Journal)

February 21, 2002 A former corrections officer at the privately run prison in Hobbs has confirmed that he and other guards beat inmates and tried to cover up the incidents at the request of an assistant warden in 1998. As part of a plea deal, Judson McPeters of Hobbs, a former lieutenant at the Lea County Correctional Facility, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two federal charges of obstruction of justice — one week after the Department of Justice formally charged him. The charges stem from an investigation of the Wackenhut Corrections Corp. prison — which houses up to 1,200 state inmates under contract with New Mexico — by the FBI and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. McPeters, 35, faces a maximum of five years in prison on each count. With the plea deal, he avoided charges of violating civil rights, which carry stiffer penalties, his lawyer said. Prosecutors would not say Wednesday whether more prison guards or officials would be charged. Four former guards at the Hobbs prison are to go on trial in April on federal charges alleging that they beat and kicked inmate Eric Duran in December 1998 and covered it up. McPeters — in court — named an assistant warden who allegedly ordered him and other guards to beat inmates. A prosecutor said the two cases are not related and involve different people. But Mark Donatelli, an attorney who represents Duran and one of the inmates reportedly beaten by McPeters, Tommy McManaway, said the two cases show a pattern of abuse, at least in the late 1990s. Duran and McManaway have pending federal lawsuits against officials or guards with the state, Lea County and Wackenhut. Donatelli said he believed the two investigations represent the first criminal prosecutions under federal civil rights law in state history. "This was not an isolated incident," said Donatelli, a longtime inmates' advocate. "It's part of the same pattern of physical abuse of prisoners that was taking place for months at the facility." In court documents, Justice Department trial lawyers Bobbi Bernstein and Alli Jernow alleged that McPeters was part of a conspiracy. Bernstein read an account in court, which McPeters admitted was true, that said the beatings occurred Aug. 11, 1998, and Aug. 13, 1998. The cover-up attempts went on through Aug. 31, 1998, according to the account. Bernstein said Gonzalez and McManaway were beaten at separate times, including while they were handcuffed. They were kicked about the body and McManaway was kicked "two times in the testicles" by another guard, according to the account. Bernstein said a supervisor who ordered Gonzalez's beating was present while the inmate was being struck. She did not name the supervisor, but she said in the account that McPeters, other guards and supervisors later met to concoct false stories to give if they were ever questioned. "It raises some serious questions about the policy that (Wackenhut) apparently, at least in the past, participated in, condoned or encouraged — unlawful activities," lawyer Crutchfield said. "I mean, you shouldn't have this type of stuff going on with an organization of that size." (ABQ Journal)

December 18, 2001 An inmate at a private prison at Hobbs is alleging his civil rights were violated when he was repeatedly kicked in the head three years ago in a beating that resulted in the indictments of four former guards. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court in Santa Fe against Wackenhut Corp., which runs the Lea County Correctional Facility; Wackenhut officials; Lea County; and the state correctional officers, including Corrections Secretary Rob Perry. The lawsuit alleges Wackenhut officials engaged in widespread violations of prisoners' civil rights and that Perry and other state corrections officials were aware of beatings and other uses of excess force, but took no meaningful steps to stop them. A federal indictment in May accused the four former guards of beating and kicking inmate Eric Duran while he was shackled on the floor, then trying to cover it up. Former guard Gary Butler of Hobbs and former prison Lt. William Fuller of Floresville, Texas, were accused of kicking Duran repeatedly in the head Dec. 21, 1998. Former Lt. Matias Serrata Jr. of Beeville, Texas, was accused of doing nothing to stop the attack, while former guard Kendall Lipscomb was accused of false testimony. Butler also was accused of beating himself up so he could falsely blame Duran and justify the attack, the U.S. attorney's office said when the indictments were released. (AP)

August 3, 2001 An inmate charged with first-degree murder in the death of another prisoner at the private Lea County Correctional Center pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as a jury was being impaneled for his trial. Last month, Ortega's family sued prison officials over his death. The civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court in Albuquerque alleged state prison officials and Wackenhut Corrections Corp., the Florida-based company that operates the Lea County prison, knowingly created dangerous conditions that led to Ortega's death. (AP)

July 17, 2001 The wife and three children of an inmate who was stabbed to death inside a private prison in Hobbs more than two years ago are suing prison officials over his killing. Carla Ortega claims in a federal civil rights lawsuit that state prison officials and Wackenhut Corrections Corp., a Florida-based company that owns and operates the Lea County Correctional Facility, knowingly created dangerous conditions that led to the death of her husband, Robert Ortega. Robert Ortega, 38, was stabbed to death inside his cell with a home-made knife on Jan. 13, 1999 two days after he was transferred from the Torrance County Detention Facility to the Hobbs prison, according to the lawsuit. The suit further alleges that state and Wackenhut prison officials knew Ortega's life was threatened by members of a prison gang, but they failed to protect him. Also last month, the family of another inmate, Richard Garcia, filed a similar lawsuit against Wackenhut and other state prison officials. Garcia, 47, was in an isolation cell June 17, 1999, when a guard opened the door to his cell in administrative segregation, allegedly allowing two inmates to enter and stab him 50 times in the back, chest, head, face and arms, officials said at the time. (Albuquerque Journal)

June 19, 2001 The family of an Albuquerque man who was killed two years ago inside a privately run prison in southern New Mexico has filed a lawsuit against state officials and the company in charge of the lockup. Richard Garcia's relatives claim prison officials knowingly created dangerous conditions that led to his death. Garcia, 47, was in an isolation cell in June 1999 when a guard opened the door, allegedly allowing two inmates to enter and stab Garcia 50 times. Inmates Paul Payne, 27, and John Price, 29, were charged with capital murder in Garcia's death. (AP)

May 21, 2001 The defendants may be former guards, but the latest case of private-prison atrocity should put the whole notion of mercenary corrections in the dock. Four guys in the hire of Wackenhut Corrections Corp. face federal indictments in the beating and kicking of a Hobbs inmate. For good measure, they're also charged with trying to cover up their brutality. What neither corrections secretary, Rob Perry nor Senator Manny Aragon (two of the masterminds behind New Mexico's foray into prisons for profit) would admit is this: Even if Wackenhut and other prison companies weren't committing dangerous, sometimes deadly, errors, they make their money squeezing a profit margin out of warehoused human beings. By their very nature, private prisons create a demand for convicts. That demand can skew criminal-justice proceedings -- against defendants, who, under the American system are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Handing off prison-running responsibility to the for-profit sector has had predictable results. The governor, his corrections secretary and the New Mexico Legislature must it back. ( The Santa Fe New Mexican)

May 19, 2001 A Bernalillo man who works in state prisons is suing Wackenhut Corrections Corp. over injuries he suffered during a 1999 riot at the private prison in Hobbs. Lawrence Jaramillio, 32, works for the state Correction Department and was a member of the Penitentiary of New Mexico Security Threat Group Unit in 1999. Jaramillo was sent to the Lea County Correctional Facility in April 1999 for a routine investigation of groups or gangs within the prison. Jaramillo is more like a police detective rather than a jail guard. "At the time of his work visit on April 6, 1999, (Jaramillo) and other Penitentiary of New Mexico personnel were assaulted and battered by rioting inmates...," the lawsuit says in part. The lawsuit alleges the riot was caused by Wackenhut's negligence. (ABQ Journal)

May 18, 2001 Four former employees of Wackenhut Corrections Corp. have been charged with crimes in connection with a Dec. 21, 1998, incident at a privately run prison in Hobbs. Two have been charged with using excessive force against an inmate and then covering up the incident, according to indictments returned Thursday by a federal grand jury here. The charges stem from the incident at the 1,200-bed Lea County Correctional Facility, run by Wackenhut, in which a guard and a supervisory lieutenant allegedly assaulted inmate Eric Duran and kicked the inmate repeatedly in the head. Later, the corrections officers and two other employees met in a conference room and allegedly agreed on a common cover story that the inmate struck one of the guards twice in the face with his fist and tried to bite the guard. Then, according to an allegedly fabricated story, a struggle with the guards followed and Duran fell and hit the back of his head on a window sill. (Albuquerque Journal)

April 18, 2001 A Native American is protesting a new corrections policy that does not allow ceremonies, sweat lodges or smoking. A 36-year-old state-penitentiary inmate has been on a hunger strike for more than two weeks to protest prison policies he believes deprive American Indians of religious liberties. Corrections Department spokesperson Gerges Scott said both the sweat-lodge ban and the no-smoking policy are justified in the North Facility because the inmates there are all "disruptive or difficult to manage." COPA board member Tilda Sosaya said Tuesday Chavez has been classified as a Discipline problem because of his role as a "jailhouse lawyer." Scott denied this. "I believe the reason that he is (at the North) is that he was involved in a disturbance by Native American inmates in April 1999 at the Hobbs facility." About 150 inmates participated in the April 6, 1999, riot at the Hobbs facility, which is operated by the private Wackenhut Corp. The uprising was led by Native American inmates who claimed their religious rights weren't being honored. Their complaints included the fact that the prison was charging sweat-lodge participants for firewood used in the ceremony. (The Santa Fe New Mexican)

February 17, 2001 Nine American Indian prisoners are claiming illegal interference with their religious practices in a lawsuit filed against New Mexico corrections officials. Some of the inmates, admit being involved in an April 1999 melee that followed similar complaints over religious freedom at the privately run Lea County Correctional facility in Hobbs. The prisoners, who were allege racial discrimination, are asking for a jury trail and punitive damages in excess of $400 million to prevent corrections officials from practicing similar alleged constitutional violations. The men allege that after they formed a self-help group in the Hobbs prison in 1998, Warden Joseph Williams began to dismantle the programs and activities they had established. They were allowed to participate in sweat lodge ceremonies, but problems followed, "including outright refusal to provide firewood," the lawsuit states. The inmates claim they were forced to use chemically treated wood with toxins that could cause serious medical problems. The men allege in the lawsuits that their religious ceremonies were interrupted or stopped on several occasions, and some of their religious instruments, such as a ceremonial drum and eagle and other feathers, were confiscated. the inmates' complaints fell on deaf ears, according to the lawsuit. "Each defendant either ignored the complaints or denied the requested relief so that the abuses and racial harassment continued unabated," it states. On April 5, 1999, one of their sacred religious drums was confiscated, and inmates claim it was desecrated. "This action was furtherance in a long list of abuses and racially discriminatory actions by defendant Wackenhut," the lawsuit states. The next day, a disturbance broke out in the dinning hall and spread to a corridor. Corrections officials said the riot appeared to have been started by several Indian inmates upset over religious freedom issues. (Journal Northern Bureau)

December 14, 2000 It's going to cost New Mexico taxpayers more to house inmates at the privately run prison in Lea County. Perry told the Legislative Finance Committee that the new contract with Florida-based Wackenhut Corrections Corp. calls for an increase from $49.88 a day to $53 a day - 5.7 percent. The additional cost to the state would be about $1.2 million per year. It would be Wackenhut's second boost in per diem in a year. In March, some legislators blasted Perry for previous increase 5 percent per diem for Wackenhut at both its prisons (Santa Fe New Mexican, Dec. 14, 2000)

October 2000 An advisory letter from the state attorney general's office finds the state Corrections Department exceeded its authority by contracting with Wackenhut to give a retroactive per diem pay adjustment. (Santa Fe New Mexican, Oct.7, 2000)

June 18, 1999 An inmate was found stabbed to death in his cell. Two rival gang members were suspected of the crime. This is the third fatal stabbing at the facility.

April 6, 1999 A group of 150 inmates rioted at this facility, producing minor injuries to 13 staff members. The incident started in the dining hall, but it spread to other pars of the facility. At issue, in part, were religious demands of Native American inmates

January 13, 1999 Inmate death An inmate was found stabbed to death at the prison. WCC said the stabbing appeared to be gang related. This is the eighth stabbing and second stabbing death since the prison opened 6 months prior to this event.

Lincoln County Detention Center Carrizozo, New Mexico Correctional Systems Inc

March 12, 2002 A weekend without candy bars sparked a mini-riot at the Lincoln County Detention Center that lasted less than a half-hour. Prisoners in one of the jail's dormitory units tried to light their mattresses on fire, plugged up their toilets and threw things at guards who tried to settle them down, according to Lincoln County Manager Tom Stewart. The reason for the uprising: A woman who sells the prisoners chips, candy and other snacks did not show up over the weekend. "They didn't get their candy bars," Stewart said. "They didn't get their snacks." The jail in Carrizozo, which is less than two years old and is managed by Correctional Systems Inc., was in the process of switching from a local vendor for inmate snacks to a larger out-of-state company, Stewart said. He said the local vendor, who comes to the jail and takes orders for snacks and then returns to deliver them, stopped coming. That left inmates with no alternatives to jail food, and that made them mad, he said. (ABQ Journal)

McKinley County Detention Center/Adult Facility Gallup/McKinley, New Mexico MTC (formerly CSC)

September 4, 2003 McKinley County is terminating its contract with the Utah-based company that has been operating the county jail, a facility plagued by problems. Four inmates escaped from the jail, run by Management & Training Corp., on July 4, after being left unsupervised in a recreation yard. All four were later captured or surrendered, but investigators said the escapees had a three-hour head start because guards at the jail did not miss them until a head count later that day. MTC also operates the Santa Fe County jail and that facility too has had problems. Warden Cody Graham, who formerly headed the Santa Fe County jail, was fired a week after the escape. In Santa Fe, a nine-member state audit team found the jail needed to improve inmate classification, grievance procedures, discipline, records and inmate programs. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

July 11, 2003 The McKinley County jail's warden and the lone corrections officer who was left in charge of 80 inmates during a Fourth of July jailbreak have been fired. Management & Training Corporation, which manages the McKinley County Adult Detention Center on a contract, took the action after a series of security failures on the Independence Day holiday allowed four inmates, including three suspected in killings, to escape. (ABQ Journal)

July 9, 2003 An investigation into the Fourth of July jailbreak at the McKinley County Adult Detention Center in Gallup has concluded that mistakes in all areas of security allowed two accused killers and two other inmates to escape. Inadequate staffing because of the Independence Day holiday also led to a failure to take a head count, which gave the escaped inmates a three-hour head start, the investigation found. Manuel Vasquez, previously charged with child abuse resulting in death, was arrested several hours after the break when he sought treatment for cuts and a fractured ankle at a Gallup hospital. Robert Kiro, awaiting trial for killing a Gallup police officer in a raid on Kiro's trailer home in 2001, was arrested in Chambers, Ariz., several hours later. Two of the four escaped prisoners remained free Tuesday. Velasquez, Kiro, another accused killer and a fourth inmate being held for shooting at a house, escaped when they were left unsupervised with about a dozen other inmates for an hour in the jail's recreation area. "The facility was understaffed for one thing," said Dee Dee Gonzales, a McKinley County Sheriffs Department investigator who was charged with looking into the escape. "They let people off for the holiday." Jails count on three things to keep inmates within their walls: supervision, security cameras and fences. The investigation found failures in all three areas. Gonzales said her report will be sent to McKinley County officials and to the Management and Training Corp., which runs the jail on a contract. Warden Cody Graham did not return telephone calls Tuesday. Gonzales said one corrections officer was on duty Tuesday in a four-pod unit that held about 80 prisoners. A second officer would usually be on duty but had been given the day off because of the holiday, Gonzales said. Additionally, a security camera failed to cover a spot in the recreation area where the inmates escaped from. And two sections of fence were not joined, allowing the escapees to reach the parking lot. Kiro and the other inmates were let into the recreation area about 9 a.m. Friday and left there while the officer on duty returned to the other inmates, Gonzales said. Some of the inmates apparently hoisted Kiro and the others onto their shoulders and allowed them to climb toward a wire mesh cover. The mesh is in sections and the sections were not attached, which allowed the inmates to pull two pieces apart and squeeze through, Gonzales said. Once on the roof, they crawled over razor wire by draping it with bed sheets and climbed down to a lower roof and then onto the ground. Police believe they were met by a car and drove away from the jail about 9:30 a.m. They were not discovered missing until about 2 p.m. because the officer did not do head counts, Gonzales said. Gonzales said disciplinary action would be up to the warden or Management and Training Corp. officials. (ABQ Journal)

July 7, 2003 Two of four inmates who escaped the McKinley County jail Friday remained at large Saturday evening, as an internal investigation continued into how the escape was allowed to occur. Robert Kiro, 34, was taken into custody without resistance at 10:15 p.m. Friday at the Chieftain Motel in Chambers, Ariz., 13 hours after the Gallup jailbreak, Gallup police Capt. Bobby Silva said. Kiro was charged with killing a Gallup policeman two years ago. "Gallup will immediately begin the proceedings to bring (Kiro) back," Silva said. Others who police said escaped Friday morning were Eric Leyba, 18, accused of beating a Gallup man to death in March 2002; Alejandro Balderama, 23, charged with shooting at a dwelling; and Manuel Vasquez, 32, who suffered a fractured right heel and an arm laceration in his jump to freedom. The escapees jumped three floors from the jail's roof-top recreation area during an exercise period, which began at 9 a.m. Vasquez hitched a ride to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries. Hospital officials dissatisfied with his explanation summoned police who then learned of the escape, McKinley County Deputy Sheriff Ron Williams said. That was more than three hours after the jailbreak, he said. Vasquez was arrested at the hospital Friday afternoon. Leyba and Balderama remained at large Saturday. Williams said the delay in reporting the escape left police and sheriff's officers "totally disgusted, and it's disheartening." Warden Cody Graham, who runs the facility for Management Training Corp., a private jail operator contracted by McKinley County, said, "What happened (Friday) is unfortunate. We are looking into it, and whatever corrective measures need to be taken will be taken. Whatever security enhancements we need to do we will do." Graham said that at any one time, 30 to 40 inmates can be placed into the recreation area, and they can stay in there for up to an hour. They are counted when they are placed there and they are supposed to be counted as they come back in, he said. Asked if that recount occurred, he said, "we're still trying to find that out." The recreation area should have been monitored, Graham said. "They were not on that day physically supervised by guards, but there are two cameras up there that are supposed to be monitored," he said. (ABQ Journal)

July 7, 2003 Law enforcement officials are investigating why an escape from a privately run county jail went unreported until one of the four fugitives, injured jumping from the jail roof, showed up at a hospital a few hours later. Two of the inmates, including one charged with murder, were still on the run this morning. "We in law enforcement are totally disgusted, and it's disheartening," said McKinley County Sheriff's Deputy Ron Williams. The four escaped by leaping three floors from the jail's rooftop exercise enclosure during an exercise period that began about 9 a.m. Friday, authorities said. Law enforcement officials found out about the escape more than three hours later when one of the inmates, Manuel Vasquez, 32, hitched a ride to a hospital, where doctors became suspicious of his explanation for his fractured heel and cut arm and called police, Williams said. Another inmate was captured late Friday. Robert Kiro, 34, who scheduled to face trial Aug. 11 in connection with the killing of a Gallup police officer, was arrested at a motel in Chambers, Ariz., Gallup police Capt. Bobby Silva said. "There obviously was human error," said jail warden Cody Graham, who runs the facility for Management Training Corp., a private jail operator under contract with McKinley County. "I need to determine what exactly did not take place when it comes to our procedures," he said. Graham said inmates Eric Leyba, 18, and Alejandro Balderama, 23, were still missing this morning. Leyba is charged with beating a Gallup man to death in 2002. Balderama was being held on charges of shooting at a dwelling. Gallup is about 120 miles northwest of Albuquerque. (AP)

May 1, 2003 A man who was let go as warden in Santa Fe County returned Wednesday a warden for the McKinley County Adult Detention Center. Cody Graham had been warden in Gallup when Ogden, Utah-based Management and Training Corp. took over the operation of the jail in January 2001. He was transferred to Santa Fe later that year. Both the McKinley County jail and the Santa Fe County jail are run by MTC. Santa Fe County officials told the company about inmates' complaints of being denied toilet paper, clothing and medical care. An advisory committee on the jail said MTC did not provide enough case managers, had a high turnover in staff and needed to improve medical staffing. (AP)

May 19, 2002 The McKinley County jail was locked down Sunday after disgruntled inmates set a mattress on fire, jail officers reported. Eleven inmates locked themselves in a section of the jail where the fire started, but the incident was quickly quelled, said Sandy Aragon, director of communications at the Gallup-McKinley County 911 center. The inmates came out and the fire was extinguished, Aragon said. The jail is run by a private company, Management Training Corp. (Albuquerque Journal)

November 26, 1999 On Friday, November 26, five inmates escaped from the county jail operated by Correctional Services Corp. This brings the total to nine the number of inmates who have escaped from the prison in the last three months. CSC’s vice president blamed the escapes on the facility claiming it is structurally unsound. The inmates climbed through a skylight. CSC recently lost the contract to run this prison. (Albuquerque Journal, 11/26/99)

September, 1999 Four inmates escaped from the private jail in New Mexico operated by Correctional Services Corp. The sheriff’s office was not notified of the escape until an hour and 15 minutes has passed. They crawled through an air vent. Two were jailed on parole violation and burglary charges. The other two escapees were in jail awaiting trial on murder, aggravated battery and kidnapping charges. (Albuquerque Journal, 9/6-8/99)

New Mexico Department of Corrections

September 9, 2003 A flight from Virginia is set to arrive back in New Mexico late next week. But its homecoming welcome will include shotguns, shackles and prison vans. The New Mexico Corrections Department said Monday it plans to return all but one of what it has labeled troublemaker inmates from Virginia's super-maximum-security Wallens Ridge State Prison. The return will end a controversial four-year stint in which problem prisoners were transferred and housed in the lockup nearly 2,000 miles away. The arrival of the 16 prisoners back in New Mexico is tentatively set for Sept. 19, state corrections spokeswoman Tia Bland said. "These inmates are (those) that have gang ties, primarily. They're instigators. They start trouble," Bland said. "We're ready for them." Bland said the return of the inmates is favored by Gov. Bill Richardson, who formed a series of teams earlier this year that looked at ways of cutting costs across state government. Bland said bringing the prisoners home is projected to save the state $671,000 over the next five years. Bland said New Mexico pays $64 a day to house inmates at Wallens Ridge. It costs about $12 a day more to house prisoners at the Penitentiary of New Mexico outside of Santa Fe— this state's version of a "super max" where the troublemakers will be sent. However, when things such as transporting the prisoners from Virginia to New Mexico for court dates are eliminated, savings will be achieved. The prisoners' security classifications also could be lowered over time, requiring less expense in keeping them locked up. Former corrections secretary Rob Perry began shuffling inmates to Wallens Ridge just days after a deadly 1999 prison riot near Santa Rosa. But Perry's replacement, Joe R. Williams, said Monday the New Mexico system can handle its own problem prisoners. "At the beginning, it served its purposes," Williams said of the transfers. But "we're capable of running our own system. I don't see any cause for alarm or any potential disruption because they're here." New Mexico sent 109 suspected prison rioters to Wallens Ridge after the Aug. 31, 1999, riot at the privately run Guadalupe County Correctional Facility near Santa Rosa. Guard Ralph Garcia was killed in the uprising, and his alleged killers are now being prosecuted. (ABQ Journal)

January 1, 2003 Santa Fe - Gov. -elect Bill Richardson filled out his cabinet Tuesday, appointing a veteran prison warden to run the Corrections Department and a longtime television journalist as head of the Labor Department. Joe Williams, warden at a privately operated prison in Hobbs, was named corrections secretary. Williams has been warden since 1999 of the Lea County Correctional Facility, which is owned and operated by Wackenhut Corrections Corp. Richardson said he wanted Williams, "someone with the experience in both the public and private systems, to study privatization of the corrections system and to give me his best advice on how best to proceed long-term in corretions. (Sante Fe New Mexican)

November 25, 2002 The secretary of the state Corrections Department had ordered his staff not to give any information to the transition team of Gov.-elect Bill Richardson because at least two members of the team are suing the department. The memo from Secretary Jim Burleson prompted Richardson spokesman to accuse Burleson of putting up "roadblocks" to the transition process. "A potential issue had arisen involving the newly appointed Corrections Transition Team," Burleson's memo said. "As such it is at this point that I must initiate a legal analysis of potential conflicts." Santa Fe lawyer Mark Donatelli, who co-chairs the transition team responsible for evaluating the CP, represents six inmates suing the department over "cognitive restructuring," a controversial lock-down program for problem inmates. One of his team members is Lawrence Barreras, a former prison warden who was fired by Johnson's administration in 1997. Barreras' lawsuit against the state was thrown out by a district judge. The state court of appeals upheld that decision in September. Barreras who more recently was warden at Santa Fe County jail - told AP in September he would appeal. (Santa Fe NewMexican.com)

October 7, 2000 The corrections Department exceeded its authority in giving a private prison company a retroactive pay raise for jailing New Mexico prisoners. Assistant Attorney General, Zachary Shandler said in an advisory letter to the Legislative Finance Committee, "The Corrections Department has contractual authority to provide only for prospective payment adjustments. It does not have the authority to provide for retroactive payment adjustments."

New Mexico Legislature

May 13, 2003 Gov. Bill Richardson collected $549,333 in contributions from December through early May, including money raised to help pay for his inauguration. Attorney General Patricia Madrid, a Democrat, reported contributions of $15,614, expenditures of $43,890, and a balance of $67,862. The largest contributions included $2,000 from Wackenhut Corrections and $2,000 from Qwest's political-action committee. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

April 18, 2003 Gov. Bill Richardson's office has identified dozens of government contracts that could be reduced or eliminated to save New Mexico about $21 million. About $15 million of that amount is state money, while nearly $6 million is federal. The contract actions will range from canceling a $2 million private prison contract to getting rid of a $30,000-a-year rented copy machine at the Department of Finance, Richardson said Thursday. The money expected to be saved this year is just part of the $90 million the governor has said he wants to save as part of finding more money for the state's $4 billion budget. "I asked my Cabinet secretaries to scrutinize every penny we are spending to make sure taxpayers are getting their money's worth," Richardson said. Examples of savings identified by Richardson include a canceled contract with Management and Training Corporation to house 140 state prisoners in McKinley County. Those prisoners will instead be housed in state facilities around New Mexico, Corrections Department Secretary Joe Williams said. Including that contract, the department is expected to save $3.1 million. (ABQ Journal)

April 10, 2003 Gov. Bill Richardson earlier this week signed a bill that cuts more than four years off the amount of time corrections officers must work before they're eligible to retire, putting them on par with State Police officers The change also is expected to serve as a hiring incentive that will help fill the corrections officer ranks at the state level. The state Corrections Department hasn't been at full strength for decades. But it doesn't apply to workers at private prisons, where more than 40 percent of the state's 6,100-plus inmates are now housed. The new plan won't take effect until July 2004, after corrections officers vote on it, said John LaBombard, director of labor relations for state corrections. La Bombard said Wednesday he's already getting many calls from private-prison workers inquiring about jobs. (ABQ Journal)

January 2, 2003 Gov. Bill Richardson's inauguration is estimated to cost about $420,000. However, taxpayers won't be picking up the tab. Donations from corporations and sales of tickets to inaugural balls will cover the expenses. Among those donors were Wackenhut Corrections Corp., which owns and operates prisons that are used by the state. (ABQ Journal)

January 7, 2002 Gov. Gary Johnson is asking the Legislature to spend $20 million next year to expand state prisons to avoid inmate overcrowding in the future. The governor, in his budget proposals to the Legislature, proposes spending $ 13.3 million next year for a 400-bed expansion at a state prison at Las Cruces and $6.7 million for a 250-bed expansion of a minimum security prison at Roswell. The money is part of the governor's recommendations for $256 million in capital improvements in the budget year that begins in July. Corrections Secretary Rob Perry said Monday the Corrections Department also has recommended a 300-bed expansion of a privately operated prison to provide more space for medium security inmates. No state monies are needed initially to pay for the construction at the private prison, but the state would cover the costs through an increase in future payments for leasing cells for inmates in the facility. (AP)

June 29, 2001 "Godbey is a dead man!" Harsh words for a Republican state House of Representatives member to pen about a GOP colleague. Harsh enough that Rep. Ron Godbey, R-Aluquerque, was given a State Police escort at the Capitol after Rep. Dan Foley, R-Roswell, passed the "dead man" threat note to House Minority Whip Earlene Roberts, R-Lovington. For his part, Foley said he was merely making a political observation about Godbey when he wrote the note. Godbey tried unsuccessfully to unseat State Republican Party chairman John Dendahl publicly backed liberalizing New Mexico drug laws. Godbey is a staunch opponent of liberal drug laws. "To know that my party is involved in drugs and gambling is driving me crazy," said Roberts. If Godbey wasn't threatened with actual death, he was threatened with political execution. Are the issues of the leaders becoming more important than the issues of the members in the Republican Party in New Mexico? After all, Republican national committeeman Mickey Barnett is a lobbyist for a casino-operating Indian tribe and a private prison operator and he was a lead lobbyist for liberal drug laws during the last legislative session. (Albuquerque Journal)

New Mexico Supreme Court

April 22, 2004 The state Supreme Court has ruled prosecutors can seek the death penalty for the killing of a guard in a privately operated prison. The state Supreme Court issued the ruling in the case of three inmates accused of killing Guadalupe County Correctional Facility guard Ralph Garcia during a 1999 uprising. (AP)

Roswell Correctional Center Roswell, New Mexico Cornell

September 7, 2002 The state Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court was right to throw out a lawsuit filed by Lawrence Barreras, who went directly to court rather than appeal his firing to the state Personnel Board. Classified state employees who claim their rights under the state personnel law were violated must go to the board, the court said in an opinion Thursday. Barreras was warden at the Penitentiary of New Mexico when Gov. Gary Johnson took office in 1995 He contends his opposition to Johnson's plans to privatize prisons led to his reassignment to the Roswell Correctional Center in March 1995, then to his termination two years later. Barreras works for a private prison firm, Cornell Companies, as a senior warden, overseeing the Valencia County Detention Center and the company's development in New Mexico. He supervised the Santa Fe County jail when Cornell had the contract to operate it. Barreras said the objections he voiced within the Corrections Department dealt not so much with the concept of private prisons as with Johnson's plans for privatizing New Mexico's system. In August 1996, Johnson fired Corrections Secretary Karl Sannicks and Deputy Secretary Herb Maschner, and asked other top administrators to resign. Sannicks and Maschner had openly questioned the potential cost savings from private prisons. Eventually, the Johnson administration contracted with private prisons in Hobbs and Santa Rosa to house inmates. (Santa fe New Mexican.com)

San Miguel County Jail San Miguel, New Mexico CSI

April 15, 2004 San Miguel County officials have decided not to renew their contract with Correctional Systems Inc. to operate the county jail. County commissioners voted Tuesday to invoke a clause in the contract that gives the San Diego-based company 90 days notice that the contract will not be renewed. CSI has run the jail for the past two years. Commission Chairman LeRoy H. Garcia said economics were the primary reason for Tuesday's decision. "They've done a good job. I have no complaints," he said of CSI. "It's just they're nickel-and-diming us." He estimated the county could save $400,000 annually if it resumes operations of the lockup. (AP)

August 21, 2003 San Miguel County jail officials are investigating an attempted escape that occurred Tuesday night. Jail warden Chuck Ala said Wednesday that the number of inmates involved in the attempt was still under investigation. No inmates escaped from the facility when the attempted break was foiled around 10:30 p.m., he said. No other details of the failed escape attempt were available from Ala on Wednesday. Four inmates escaped in June 2002 while the jail was operated by the county; those inmates were eventually caught. California-based Correctional Systems Inc. began operating the 160-bed facility in July 2002. CSI was recently granted a one-year extension of its contract and is scheduled to be paid $142,000 a month— or $1.7 million for 12 months. CSI has recently come under fire by inmate rights advocates who say they have gathered reports of poor treatment of inmates at the jail. Ala has denied the claims. Under CSI management, county officials hoped the operation would pay for itself by housing inmates from other jurisdictions but fell short of that goal during the past fiscal year. The county ended up paying $700,000 out of its general fund to make up for the shortfall. (ABQ Journal)

August 14, 2003 The San Miguel County Commission on Tuesday approved a one-year extension of a contract with a private operator for the county's jail. Activists who have pointed out complaints about inmate treatment at the facility decried the move. "Unfortunately they went this route because there's a can of worms being opened and I'm hoping they can eat worms," said Lorenzo Flores, a member of the Concerned Citizens Committee of Las Vegas, N.M. The county ended up paying $700,000 from the county's general fund to make up a shortfall in jail revenues last fiscal year. The county paid CSI a total of $1.8 million to operate the jail for the past fiscal year, but had expected nearly $1.3 million in revenue would come from housing inmates from other jurisdictions. The shortfall occurred when the number of out-of-county inmates came in lower than expected. Duran said he's been working on complaints from inmates who allege they were not given insulin or were given medication by nonlicensed personnel. (ABQ Journal)

July 24, 2003 San Miguel County Jail inmates and their families are complaining about unsanitary conditions and treatment that leads to violence, said a long-time activist for inmates' civil rights. "It's like opening a can of horribles," said Dwight Duran, whose name became part of a 19-year federal consent decree enforcing greater rights for inmates in New Mexico. An official with the privately run jail and county officials disputed Duran's assessment. Duran has been visiting Las Vegas, N.M., in the past few weeks at the behest of local activist Lorenzo Flores. Duran said Tuesday that complaints he's fielded from former inmates and their families include a description of a "cruel game" played by jail officers. Each week, the officers distribute two rolls of toilet paper per cell block by throwing the rolls up in the air and yelling "Thunderdome!" Duran said. The inmates have to fight for the paper, which is then used as barter. "People fight over it ... The lack of paper leads to all kinds of illness," said Duran. Chuck Ala, warden of the jail that is run by Correctional Systems Inc., said jail officers distribute the toilet paper to each cell block once a week, but not in the way Duran described. "They hand it out," Ala said. Duran is president of the Committee on Prison Accountability, which is part of the Center for Justice, an organization based in Albuquerque. He plans to hold a town hall meeting on the CSI operation because of the number of complaints he's received, Duran said. Flores, who said he experienced filthy conditions and other problems after he was jailed several weeks ago for unpaid traffic warrants and a drunken driving charge, wants San Miguel County to end its dealings with CSI. "It's being run like a warehouse — jails are supposed to be people, not buildings and bars — and we oppose any more cooperation with the county," said Flores, who represents the Las Vegas Concerned Citizens Committee. Flores said he stayed in a holding cell with only a drain for inmates to relieve themselves. Warden Ala said those in the holding cell are escorted to restrooms. Flores also questioned whether CSI should continue operating the jail, which can house 140 inmates, because of a revenue loss last year due to fewer than expected inmates from outside jurisdictions. CSI began operating the jail in July 2002, but the county's one-year contract with the San Diego-based company has been under review by state officials for several months, said County Manager Les Montoya. County officials recently asked for a one-year contract extension. The county commissioners have not voted to approve the extension because they're waiting for approval from the state agencies, Montoya said. Montoya and San Miguel County Commission Chairman LeRoy Garcia said they're satisfied with the conditions at the jail and CSI's management. Garcia said that on his monthly tours of the jail, the conditions are clean and inmates say they are treated well. Otherwise, the jail isn't supposed to be overly pleasant, Garcia said. "Jail is a place where you're incarcerated when you do something wrong," he said. Montoya said he and county commissioners have heard complaints from inmates' family members. "Some of those complaints have been about unsanitary conditions and unnecessary use of force" and those have been passed along to CSI, Montoya said. The county paid CSI $1.8 million to operate the jail in the past fiscal year, Montoya said, with an expectation that nearly $1.3 million in revenue would come from housing inmates from other jurisdictions. However, that estimate fell short by $700,000, Montoya said. The money was paid out of the general fund, Montoya said. The one-year contract extension calls for payments of $142,000 a month — about $1.7 million for the year — plus payments of $25 per day for every inmate beyond a housing level of 130 inmates, Montoya said. (ABQ Jopurnal)

Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center Santa Fe, New Mexico MTC (Formerly Cornell)

January 30, 2004 Santa Fe County has taken charge of its own juvenile-detention program, launching a county Corrections Department that could signal a shift in philosophy for dealing with young law-breakers. Cornell Companies had run the youth lockup for about five years before turning over operations to the county early Thursday morning. The company said this summer it would not seek to renew its contract because high overhead and a low population made it unprofitable. After only one company bid on the new contract, the County Commission voted to have county workers operate the facility instead of farming out the work to the private sector. (The New Mexican)

January 25, 2004 Fumes from fresh paint and floor wax overpowered the smell of cigarette smoke inside the Santa Fe County jail this weekend as inmate work crews prepared for inspection. A team of auditors will be at the jail Monday to check for compliance with corrections-industry standards. But it could be several months before the private jail operator, Management and Training Corp., learns if the facility has passed muster. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

December 19, 2003 After a 20-year hiatus, Santa Fe County will take over its juvenile detention center at an annual cost of $4.2 million. On Tuesday, the Santa Fe County Commission by a unanimous vote approved a measure to allow Sheriff Greg Solano to oversee the jail. The move puts an end to the county's practice of hiring a private firm to operate the facility. As part of the cost to take over the jail Jan. 29, the county plans to partner with Bernalillo County, which will consult and give direction on how to operate the facility at a cost of $100,000. Bernalillo County also assists Valencia County with its facility, said County Manager Gerald Gonzalez. "This is to help the youth of Santa Fe County and the regional area," Commissioner Mike D. Anaya said. "It's our responsibility as the county to operate this facility." The county chose to take over the jail because the county's current contractor, Cornell Companies Inc., will stop running the facility on Jan. 28. The company is ending a three-year relationship with the county because of money. Cornell officials claim the company has lost money because the facility has not been full. Cornell also did not want to renew its contract because the county was seeking to increase the rent. (ABQ Journal)

November 19, 2003 Guards at the Santa Fe County jail say they found an inmate with black-tar heroin inside the jail Monday afternoon. Albert Ponce, 28, who is from southern New Mexico, has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, according to undersheriff Robert Garcia. Police reports indicate a guard at the jail saw Ponce and another inmate walk out of a janitor's closet at the jail Monday afternoon. Another guard reportedly patted both inmates down and found a small sheet of folded paper with the heroin inside it taped to Ponce's body under his jail-issue clothing. It was too early to know how the heroin found its way into the jail, Garcia said, but drugs inside the facility are not uncommon. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

November 15, 2003 Santa Fe County has a little more than two months to find a new company to operate its juvenile detention center. Earlier this month, the county opened up its process to find a company to replace Cornell Companies Inc. The firm notified the county it will terminate its contract at the end of January. Greg Parrish, county correctional service manager, said the county is in the process of taking bids from companies interested in operating the facility. Companies interested in running the jail need to submit a plan to the county by 3 p.m. Dec. 9. "We are under a time crunch," Parrish said. "We need to move forward very quickly and get a new operator on board." Cornell's decision to terminate its contract with the county happened two years after the Texas-based company stopped operating county's adult jail. Cornell notified the county in August that it would terminate its contract to run the juvenile jail. The company has run the youth facility for three years. Cornell is terminating its contract— to the surprise of county officials— because the company is losing money, said Paul Doucette, Cornell vice president. The bottom line is also why Cornell in August 2001 decided to no longer operate the county's adult jail. Doucette said the 670-bed facility never operated at capacity and Cornell exited a three-year contract for the adult jail at an overall loss. In the past two years, Doucette said Cornell has experienced similar results with operating the 57-bed juvenile center. "The population at the facility has not been full," Doucette said. "The rent was going to be so high next year that it was going to be tough to sustain the programs we offer at the jail." Before Cornell decided to end its contract, the company attempted to negotiate a new contract with the county with the hopes of getting a better deal on the rent, he said. Doucette said the county was unwilling to negotiate a lower lease agreement and that led to the decision to terminate the contract. Doucette would not reveal the price the company was trying to negotiate. The county pays a daily rate to Cornell for each youth, but the contract requires Cornell to pay $25,000 in rent each month and waive the daily fee for 8.25 beds per month. (ABQ Journal)

November 15, 2003 Nine months after the U.S. Department of Justice found health-care deficiencies at Santa Fe County'ss jail, problems remain. The department still won't allow the jail to house federal prisoners, whose removal earlier this year cut off a source of revenue for the 682-bed adult-detention center south of the city. Officials say solving the jail's medical-care problems will likely call for a greater investment from the county government, which already has felt a drag on its budget, and more cooperation from community health-care providers. The company that provides health services is not performing routine exams for prisoners locked up in the county-owned, privately-operated jail, and in many cases, inmates are being cared for by emergency medical technicians, who have less training than nurses, officials say. Inmates have complained about medical care more than any other issue since the Justice Department found problems in the jail's medical-screening and treatment procedures. "The question I have to ask myself is 'Are the inmates getting adequate care?' " said Stephen Spencer, a member of a county committee charged with inspecting jail operations. Physicians Network Associates, hired to provide medical services at the jail, says there are major hurdles to the kind of care the county wants at the facility. Some of the difficulties reflect the area's health problems in general: Among the most burdensome is stabilizing substance abusers held at the jail for lack of a more appropriate treatment area. Physicians Network, which subcontracts with jail operator Management and Training Corp., has medical wards within prisons and jails in Texas, Arizona, Florida and New Mexico. But company vice president Jean Brock says the Santa Fe jail is its worst and most complex site. Physicians Network admits staff turnover has been a problem in the unit, but president Vernon Farthing said he can't keep help at the jail despite offering an hourly wage that is $7 to $10 more than he pays equally qualified nurses in a Lubbock jail. Santa Fe County officials have been talking about improving the jail since 2001, when the federal Justice Department first announced it was launching an investigation of civil-right violations there. Even though the agency likely got involved because of problems with the former operator, Cornell Companies, by the time it audited the jail a year later, MTC was in charge. Another year passed before the Justice Department issued its March report calling for millions of dollars in security, medical and staff investments. Soon, the department is expected to file a lawsuit alleging civil-rights violations and a settlement agreement that will dismiss accusations and spell out how the county will ensure proper inmate care. (Santa Fe New Mexican.com)

September 6, 2003 Two years ago, two former guards at the Santa Fe County jail placed a handcuffed Tony Sanchez in now-convicted killer Ivan Lara-Sanchez's cell. The guards placed the two in a cell together despite their knowledge that they were enemies, according to a lawsuit filed by Sanchez on Wednesday. "Lara-Sanchez immediately attacked and brutally beat Tony Sanchez, inflicting serious, permanent injuries," reads the suit. The two former guards who placed Sanchez in Lara-Sanchez's cell knew that Sanchez's jail classification form listed Lara-Sanchez as Sanchez's "sworn enemy," according to the suit. Attorney Mark Donatelli, who represents Sanchez, said Friday that, before the Sept. 6, 2001, beating, a rumor had already spread around the jail that Sanchez had informed on Lara-Sanchez. At the time, Lara-Sanchez was in jail awaiting trial for the strangling and beheading of Kathleen "Kat" Lopez in her Don Diego home. Police had arrested Lara-Sanchez after getting a tip on his whereabouts from a confidential informant, according to police. Lara-Sanchez was later convicted of Lopez's murder and is serving a life sentence. The purpose of the classification form signed by Sanchez when he was admitted to the jail "was to alert all employees that Lara-Sanchez posed a threat to Tony Sanchez and that they should be separated at all times," reads the suit. The former jail operator, Cornell Corrections, is listed as a defendant in the suit, in addition to the two guards. Santa Fe County is also listed as a defendant. Donatelli said Sanchez was placed in Lara-Sanchez's cell after Sanchez had a disagreement with former guard Dominic Baca over where Sanchez should be placed. Baca is no longer employed at the Santa Fe County jail, according to a jail official. "Tony said Dominic Baca did it intentionally," Donatelli said. As a result of his beating, Sanchez suffered "lacerations to his eye and face, injuries to his head, neck, upper back, lower back, hand and wrist, and was found to be in 'severe' pain," the lawsuit states. Sanchez continues to suffer from the injuries, including a herniated lumbar disc, leg and back pain, vision problems and headaches, according to the suit. Baca could not be reached for comment Friday. A spokesman for Cornell Corrections could not confirm whether Baca was still employed by Cornell. Cornell spokesman Paul Doucette said he does not believe an inmate would be placed into a cell with another inmate while one was in handcuffs. "As a matter of policy, that would just never happen," Doucette said. The Utah-based Management and Training Corp. took over operations at the privately run jail in October 2001, after Santa Fe County decided not to renew its contract with Cornell. Under Cornell, the facility experienced a series of problems, including a death by heroin overdose, a minor disturbance among inmates, and lawsuits alleging that male and female inmates were allowed to intermingle and that a jail employee sexually abused an inmate. Donatelli said that, as far as he knows, Baca was not disciplined for placing Sanchez in Lara-Sanchez's cell. At the time of the attack, Sanchez was in jail on a probation violation, Donatelli said. In February 2002, Lara-Sanchez attacked Sanchez in Santa Fe District Judge Stephen Pfeffer's courtroom, spitting at Sanchez before he was restrained by Santa Fe police detectives who had escorted him to court. Sanchez was in court for a sentencing on two counts of burglary, aggravated burglary and escape from jail. Donatelli said Sanchez is out of jail and has turned his life around since his conviction. (ABQ Journal)

September 2, 2003 Santa Fe County’s private prison operator has 30 days to come up with a corrective-action plan to address issues raised in a recent audit by the state Department of Corrections, the department announced Friday. Corrections Secretary Joe Williams said workers who inspected the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center two weeks ago found that Management and Training Corp. has made strides in improving security at the jail since the state threatened to remove its inmates from the facility earlier this summer. But Williams wants the Utah-based operator to work harder at complying with contractual obligations regarding programs and services, he said in a written statement Friday. Williams said the jail needs to improve its classification and grievance procedures, discipline, record-keeping and inmate programs such as education and recreation. The state contracts with Santa Fe County to jail 142 medium-security Department of Corrections inmates for a daily fee of $55.30 per inmate. The department also has inmates in three other privately run jails in the state. Santa Fe County’s facility rated poorly in a security audit performed in July, when inspectors found problems with tool inventory, key control and booking procedures. The more recent audit showed improvement in these areas but identified other problems at the jail. Department spokeswoman Tia Bland said the county is not providing all the educational services it agreed to provide. For example, she said state inmates are supposed to have an employment-readiness program called SOAR, or Success for Offenders After Release, but MTC has not instituted one. The facility also has not provided enough slots for vocational computer training or compiled the proper progress reports for its adult basic-education program, Bland said. (The New Mexican)

August 27, 2003 More than 50 Santa Fe County workers demonstrated in front of the County Commission Tuesday asking for more than a 1.5 percent increase in wages and benefits. Finding additional funds to offer more than a 1.5 percent increase, which would cost the county about $234,000, may be a challenge because of the county's current situation with the Santa Fe County Detention Center, Commissioner Mike D. Anaya said. Because it is handling fewer inmates than anticipated and because county inmate expenses have exceeded budget projections, the county increased its spending at the detention center in this year's budget from $5.3 million to $7 million. The expenditure accounted for half of the county's total budget increase of $3.4 million. (ABQ Journal)

August 21, 2003 Rising costs at the Santa Fe County Detention Center took a large chunk out of the county's budget and are now affecting the county's next contract with its union employees. Talks between negotiators for Santa Fe County and union officials representing 250 county employees have broken down because of differences over raises and benefits. Late Tuesday night, county employees who are members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1782 overwhelmingly rejected the county's latest offer of a three-year contract that would give employees a 1.5 percent raise the first year, said Robert Chavez, the union's chief negotiator. Chavez said the offer is well below the national pay-raise average. "The union employees want to be made a priority," Chavez said. "They are the ones who get the job done for the county. This has been hard on them. Morale is very low." Helen Quintana, the county's chief negotiator, said the offer is fair. She said the county right now is strapped for cash because of jail costs and employees were given salary increases and lump sum bonuses in January. Quintana said the county's offer that was rejected is the best it can do because of its current situation at the jail. "Right now, we are at impasse until we get the help of a mediator," Quintana said. "Until we know what our costs are going to be at the jail, it's difficult to make more of a commitment in our offer." As the county retains a mediator, Chavez said he is organizing union members to speak out on the issue during the County Commission's meeting Tuesday. Because of a loss in inmate revenue while county inmate populations have exceeded budget projections, the county has increased its spending at the jail in this year's budget from $5.3 million to $7 million. The expenditure accounted for half of the county's total budget increase of $3.4 million. The jail is no longer housing U.S. Marshals Service inmates, a loss of $960,000 annually, and the county's inmate population has averaged 365 per day instead of the targeted population of 330 per day. The county pays its private contractor, Management & Training Corp., $40 per inmate per day. (ABQ Journal)

August 14, 2003 The family of Tyson Johnson, in a federal lawsuit filed Monday, claim that instead of tending to his psychiatric care during a 17-day stay in the Santa Fe County jail, staff there neglected and even taunted him to end his life. The 26-page document, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Fe on behalf of Johnson's mother and his two young children, details the 27-year-old man's last days, during which he repeatedly pleaded for help. The lawsuit claims those cries fell on deaf ears. Johnson ended up hanging himself the morning of Jan. 13 with a "suicide proof" blanket inside a padded cell, despite being placed on a suicide watch. "Instead of giving him medical help, they put him in a cell, which was a death trap," said Jeffrey Haas, who is representing Johnson's family, along with Mariel Nanasi. Defendants in the lawsuit include Santa Fe County; its private jail contractor, Management & Training Corp.; and Physicians Network Association, which provides health care at the county Adult Detention Center off N.M. 14. "This is serious in the sense of a callous disrespect for his life," Nanasi said of the case. "They didn't do anything, and they let him die. There were multiple times they could have intervened. (ABQ Journal)

August 5, 2003 A former inmate at the Santa Fe County jail has filed a lawsuit claiming he was subjected to "cruel and unusual punishment" when he was forced to breathe the secondhand smoke of other prisoners' cigarettes. The county jail's former manager, Cornell Corrections, is named as a defendant in the suit. A spokesman for Cornell said Monday he could not comment directly on the lawsuit because he hasn't seen it. Ethan E. Roberts, who filed the suit last week in Santa Fe District Court, claims that because of his exposure to environmental tobacco smoke as an inmate at the county jail, "he has now lost a major portion of his lung capacity and can be expected to become fully disabled." According to the lawsuit, inmates at the Santa Fe County jail, "smoke cigarettes in their cells and living areas in an unrestricted manner." Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said in a recent interview that he would like the county to change the jail's smoking policy and make it a smoke-free facility, both for inmates and guards. Solano said that in addition to cutting down on the health risk to inmates and employees, adopting a no-smoking policy also might cut down on the amount of illegal drugs that is brought into the facility, because inmates will instead focus on trying to smuggle in cigarettes. Solano could not be reached for comment on Roberts' lawsuit Monday, but he has said that the County Commission would ultimately need to approve any smoking ban at the jail. Roberts, now an inmate at a federal penitentiary in Big Spring, Texas, was housed at the Santa Fe County jail from April 16, 1999, to June 8, 2000, according to the lawsuit. An official at the Federal Correctional Institution in Big Spring could not be reached for comment Monday to explain why Roberts is in prison. Roberts says in his lawsuit that four days after his arrival at the Santa Fe jail, he has placed in a 10-by-8-foot cell with a prisoner who smoked about 15 cigarettes a day. Subsequent bunkmates included inmates who smoked a pack a day; three packs a day; and 12 to 15 days, respectively, according to the suit. Roberts claims in the suit he had not smoked cigarettes for over seven years prior to being admitted at the Santa Fe County jail. After about 75 days of exposure to high levels of secondhand smoke, Roberts started smoking one to five cigarettes a day to "ward off the withdrawal symptoms," according to the lawsuit. When Roberts complained to medical staff at the facility about medical problems he suffered due to the secondhand smoke, they were indifferent, according to the suit. (ABQ Journal)

July 27, 2003 Jail guards or civilians who help bring illegal narcotics into the Santa Fe County jail might wind up spending time there as inmates. And inmates who bring drugs in will be caught and face a longer list of criminal charges. That's the message Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano hopes to send after he announced that 12 defendants either face or will face criminal charges as a result of an ongoing six-month investigation into drug smuggling into the Santa Fe County jail by a task force headed by Lt. Marco Lucero. Six defendants have already been arrested and charged in connection with the operations, including one former jail guard. The former guard, Gilbert Perea, 21, is charged with one count of bringing contraband into a place of imprisonment. The undercover investigation will continue in the weeks and months to come, Solano said. "We get reports on a weekly basis of drugs being in the jail," Solano said. The ease with which inmates in the jail can obtain drugs led Lucero to compare it to a candy store. "The drugs on the inside are just outrageous ... the availability," Lucero said. Solano said that the continuing investigation "is just the beginning" and will "target everybody," including jail guards, inmates and civilians. Other names released by Solano on Thursday in connection with the sting operation are Manuel Gabaldon, 19, and Joseph Martinez, 18, who are charged with leaving a balloon of heroin, a balloon of psilocybin mushrooms and 8 grams of high-grade marijuana near a picnic table on jail grounds earlier this month. Carolina Lovato, 19, was arrested and charged with a count of trying to bring contraband into the jail after a February incident, when she was intercepted at the McDonald's at Cerrillos Road and Don Diego Avenue. She was caught with two balloons of heroin, which she later said were intended for an inmate at the jail, according to the probable cause statement for her arrest. Perea was arrested in May, after a sheriff's deputy obtained information that Perea would be attempting to bring contraband into the facility. Perea was searched when he came in for work after the deputy got the tip. "He immediately stood up reaching into his pants," reads the probable cause statement. The deputy found a condom containing marijuana, heroin and cocaine inside Perea's pants. Perea later told deputies that he received about $100 cash for bringing in the drugs, according to the statement. "He then began to converse about his personal, financial problems and how he was in debt to the Wal-Mart department store in Las Vegas, New Mexico," reads the statement. In addition to the civilians trying to bring drugs to the jail, six inmates have been charged or have charges pending as a result of the investigation. An inmate at the jail who was arrested, Isaac Valencia, 21, was nabbed during a search after he returned from a medical furlough in May with nine balloons filled with marijuana hidden in his rectum. A confidential informant tipped off authorities that Valencia would be bringing drugs into the jail. Solano said proper searches of inmates for drugs when they return from the outside on work-release programs or furloughs is a major issue when it comes to stopping the flow of illegal narcotics into the jail. Inmates are supposed to be strip-searched after returning from work-release programs, but Solano said that when he came in as sheriff in January, that was not always the practice. "I have to rely on (jail employees) to do their jobs," but, "I'm going to be monitoring them," Solano said. Solano said he is making stopping drugs from entering the jail a major priority, and he even has his own set of keys to the jail so he can monitor the facility unannounced. Investigative methods used by the sheriff's department as part of the operation included monitoring inmate telephone calls, surveillance, the recruitment of confidential sources and undercover operations. The investigation, which included members of the Region III Narcotics Task Force, was initiated in February, well before a July announcement by state Corrections Secretary Joe R. Williams that the jail's contractor, the Utah-based Management and Training Corp., had 30 days to clean up security problems found at the jail. If the company doesn't fix the problems, Williams said he may move to terminate a $2.8 million contract to house state inmates, 144 as of his July 11 announcement. Solano said Thursday that initially, no jail officials were told about the investigation into drugs at the jail, and later, only the warden and a single MTC investigator were told, so as to keep word from getting out among guards who might be interested in smuggling in contraband. Lucero said he considers the operation a success thus far and added that he believes it has made it more difficult for inmates to get illegal drugs. Lucero added that some of the methods for obtaining information on who was bringing drugs in the jail are "untraditional," but he refused to elaborate. "It's something that hasn't been done in quite a while," he said. (ABQ Journal)

July 22, 2003 Friends and families of inmates at the Santa Fe County Detention Center were kept from visiting the prisoners Sunday because the jail was short of guards. Warden Steve Hargett said visitors weren't allowed at the jail because two correctional officers unexpectedly had to take an inmate to the hospital. One guard had already called in sick when the medical emergency occurred, which left too few guards to supervise visits, he said. Visits resumed Monday. Hargett, who works for contracted jail-operator Management and Training Corp., said he hopes the continual short-staffing problems at the jail are almost over. Saturday and Sunday are typically the busiest visiting days at the center, which is why Hargett said he'll be working this week to adjust schedules and make sure extra guards are on duty on weekends. MTC has had trouble keeping the jail adequately staffed. The concern was raised in a report issued this spring by the federal Department of Justice. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

July 12, 2003 New Mexico Corrections Secretary Joe R. Williams left little room for doubt: Santa Fe County, and by extension its private jail contractor, has 30 days to clean up security problems at the county's adult detention center. Otherwise, Williams said, he may move to terminate a $2.8 million contract to house state inmates, 144 as of Friday, at the county jail. A crew of 10 state inspectors descended unannounced Wednesday on the county lockup, operated by Management & Training Corp., on N.M. 14 south of Santa Fe. "I was not pleased with what we found," Williams said at a press conference at the state corrections office Friday. None of the problems posed an imminent threat to anyone's safety, he said. The state security audit came four months after a critical report from the U.S. Department of Justice that detailed overall problems at the jail, including inmate medical care. County Sheriff Greg Solano has said he's been working with DOJ to remedy those problems short of litigation. He expressed as much or more displeasure Friday than Williams. "I met yesterday with the vice president of MTC, Al Murphy, as well as the warden, Steve Hargett, and I laid down the law," Solano said. "We will take care of these issues, we will take care of them within this 30-day period... " (ABQ Journal)

July 11, 2003 More bad news arrived Wednesday at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center, where a surprise state inspection discovered "serious security issues," according to the state Corrections Department. County Sheriff Greg Solano and Corrections Department spokeswoman Tia Bland declined Thursday to specify the problems found in the unannounced audit. Corrections Secretary Joe R. Williams and Solano plan to address the media today, Bland said. She said the security issues involved did not present immediate threats to the health or safety of any inmates. A July 4 escape from the McKinley County Detention Center prompted state interest in security there and at the Santa Fe County jail. The state contracts with both counties to house state prisoners, 144 in Santa Fe County, Bland said. Bland would not comment on whether the state inmates would be moved out of the county facility. A private contractor, Utah-based Management & Training Corp., has operated the jail on N.M. 14 south of Santa Fe since fall 2002. MTC also manages the McKinley County facility. "A few options are on the table, but with our inmates there we have to have an active role," Bland said Thursday by phone. "We need to figure out a way to work with Santa Fe County and have them fix what those problems are, or look at other options." The county jail has been a persistent headache for not only the sheriff's office but the county commissioners. The U.S. Department of Justice in March released a critical report of conditions there, citing 51 changes that should be made. The U.S. Marshals Service, which also contracted to lodge inmates at the county jail, pulled its prisoners along with release of that report. Reports of poor medical attention, drug overdoses and sexual assaults of female inmates have plagued the facility, which until last year was run by Cornell Corrections. Talk of the county resuming operation of the jail itself has cropped up at the County Commission and at the sheriff's office recently. (ABQ Journal)

July 9, 2003 If anyone thought private prisons would go away after Gary Johnson left the governor's office, they're in for a disappointment. "Private prisons will remain a part of the state-prison landscape," said Corrections Secretary Joe Williams, who previously worked for the Florida-based Wackenhut Corporation as warden of the prison in Hobbs. The state also houses 140 inmates at the controversial Santa Fe County jail, which since 2001 has been operated by a Utah-based private company called Management and Training Corp. MTC took over the jail contract from Cornell Companies Inc. Williams told the Legislative Finance Committee last month that more inmates might have to move into the Santa Fe and Torrance County jails due to overcrowding at state prisons. Williams acknowledges the Santa Fe facility is a jail designed for short-term inmates, not a prison designed for convicts serving longer sentences. He sees the jail as a "holding center" to house new inmates temporarily until they are assigned to a long-term facility. But the roster of state inmates at the Santa Fe jail includes some longtime inmates. Those close to the end of their sentences probably will stay in the jail, Williams said. State inmates in the jail have complained about inadequate medical treatment and education programs and staff shortages, which they say create an unsafe environment. Inmates at the Santa Fe jail have to pay as much as 30 percent more for mail-order canteen items -- food products, personal-hygiene supplies and personal property such as radios -- than do inmates at state prisons, some say. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

July 2, 2003 The adoptive parents of a former Santa Fe County jail inmate who died there at age 19 of a drug overdose in July, 2001, have sued the jail's former private manager, the county and others associated with the facility. Santiago Martinez of Chimayó was admitted to the jail around September 2000, on charges of heroin trafficking, drug paraphernalia possession and other charges, according to the suit. Martinez "had a very serious substance abuse problem or substance abuse addiction" at the time he was placed in the jail's custody, the suit says. The lawsuit alleges that Cornell Corrections, Santa Fe County and former County Sheriff Ray Sisneros, among other defendants, did not conduct appropriate medical screening for Martinez to identify and treat Martinez's drug problem. All of the defendants contacted by the Journal, including a spokesman at Cornell Corrections, Santa Fe County Attorney Stephen Ross and Sisneros, declined to comment Tuesday. "How can I comment on something I haven't seen?" Sisneros said. He said that under terms of a county contract with former jail manager Cornell, the firm agreed to handle tort claims filed against the jail while under its management. The county chose not to renew its contract with Cornell when it expired in 2001. The jail is now managed by another private contractor — Management & Training Corp. At the time of Martinez's death, he was in the administrative segregation unit, which "is supposed to be the most secure and protected environment" in the jail, the suit states. Inmates there are confined to their cells 23 hours a day, and are supposed to be monitored and scrutinized for possession of controlled substances, according to the suit. The defendants named in the suit, "allowed the administrative segregation unit at the detention center to be understaffed for its functions and its responsibilities." Shortly after Martinez's death, former Sheriff Sisneros said in an interview that investigators believed Martinez was given heroin and a syringe while he was out of jail for a court appearance before his death. The suit alleges Martinez died of a morphine overdose. Martinez had a court appearance the day before he was found dead, according to the suit. The suit says Martinez was not properly searched before re-entering the jail after the court hearing. Sisneros said during the 2001 interview that investigators believed Martinez hid his drugs in a body cavity. The lawsuit alleges Cornell, the county and Sisneros "allowed a dangerous, and unsafe and unhealthy condition to exist on the physical premises" of the jail. Martinez did not have the "proper forms, procedures, and information" to "obtain access to substance abuse programs or treatment" while he was in the segregation unit, the suit states. Steven Farber, the attorney for Martinez's family, said Tuesday that drugs need to be kept away from people in the jail who have serious substance abuse problems. "If you're not treating people, it's clear that if it's (drugs) available, they'll attempt to get it," Farber said. (ABQ Journal)

July 2, 2003 A Santa Fe woman's Tuesday morning escape from a work crew comprised of female jail inmates emphasizes the need for identifying inmates at risk of flight and not allowing them to participate in the program, the Santa Fe County sheriff said. Linda Lucero, 54, escaped at around 9:30 a.m. from a county work crew cleaning the roadway in the area of St. Francis Drive and Sawmill Avenue, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said. She was captured around 1:15 p.m. the same day, Solano added. On Monday, Santa Fe District Judge Michael Vigil had sentenced Lucero to three years in prison for failure to comply with the conditions of her release on a prior conviction on counts of fraud, forgery and conspiracy. "At that point, she really should not have been on the work crew," Solano said. Jail officials on Tuesday were not aware that Lucero had been sentenced to prison, Solano said. She apparently did not tell anyone at the jail, he added. Lucero's attorney, Stephen Aarons, said Tuesday that Vigil had given her the option of being sentenced to a 90-day drug treatment facility, but she began to argue with the judge, saying she didn't want to go to a treatment facility. "I told her to shut up," Aarons said. Vigil complied with Lucero's wish to avoid drug treatment, sentencing her to three years in a women's prison. Lucero then proceeded to cause a loud disturbance in the courtroom, Aarons said. "She was literally dragged out of court writhing and screaming, feet first," Aarons said. Solano said that earlier this year, the jail implemented a work crew program for female inmates. Lucero qualified for the program and was placed on the list, but in the future, there will be a procedure for taking inmates' names off the approved work crew list if they are subsequently given prison sentences, he said. The jail only recently implemented a work crew program for female inmates because of a Department of Justice report that said the jail needed to create more work opportunities for women, Solano said. Lucero was convicted in 2002 of fraud of more than $250, conspiracy and forgery. As part of her plea agreement, she also admitted to a previous bank fraud conviction, according to court records. As part of her plea, Lucero agreed to pay restitution for two forged checks and 27 worthless checks. Lucero's probation was revoked, and she was arrested and held without bond after a November 2002 incident, when she failed to comply with the conditions of her release and absconded from electronic monitoring, according to court records. (ABQ Journal)

June 22, 2003 More changes at the Santa Fe County jail — where a new warden has been in place since April — are on the way, said Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano, who has taken a leading role in county oversight of the privately run jail. The changes are slated in the wake of a scathing March report by U.S. Department of Justice investigators, who were harshly critical of jail conditions, including medical care for inmates. The DOJ's requested changes in how the jail is run include staffing increases that would result in an additional $750,000 in jail operations costs, Solano said. Officials with the DOJ in Washington, D.C., could not be reached for comment Thursday. Solano said he's not sure if it's a coincidence that the sheriff's department's new office complex is located directly across from the county jail off N.M. 14 but that being so close helps him keep watch over the facility. "I'm glad it was done that way," Solano said of the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department's moving into its new location in a $4.1 million public safety complex last year. "I can just walk across the street and go in and monitor the jail." Solano said he makes frequent visits to the jail to make sure things are running smoothly. Solano also said that since January, there have been more "shakedowns" of jail employees and jail visitors to crack down on contraband. "I really take an ownership in the jail," Solano said. Solano said that if problems at the jail cannot be fixed under MTC's management, he would not recommend that another private company manage the jail and that it should instead be back in the hands of the county. But, Solano added, "We're still giving MTC the benefit of the doubt and allowing them to show that they can run it, and run it well." Prior to MTC's management of the jail, it was managed by another private company, Cornell Corrections. The county chose not to renew its contract with Cornell in 2001. During the first fiscal year under MTC, the county lost around $800,000 on operations at the jail, the county announced at the end of 2002. (ABQ Journal)

June 18, 2003 A 39-year-old jail guard has been placed on paid administrative leave after an inmate alleged Saturday he sexually assaulted her. The guard hasn't been charged with a crime, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said. The investigation will probably take a long time, Solano said. The inmate told police the guard touched her intimately Friday. She also said the guard sexually assaulted her outside the jail, Solano said Monday. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

June 17, 2003 An inmate at the Santa Fe County jail told police she was sexually assaulted by a male jail guard at the facility last week. The woman alleged Saturday that the guard touched her intimately on more than one occasion, including Friday, at the jail, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said. The woman's charges follow a damaging report about the jail by the U.S. Department of Justice this spring that preceded the firing of the jail's warden and his second in command. The federal report accused jail managers of violating the constitutional rights of inmates. The Sheriff's Department will investigate the inmate's rape allegations, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Maj. Ron Madrid said. The guard has not been charged with a crime. After reporting the assault Saturday, the inmate was seen by a nurse at St. Vincent Hospital this weekend, Solano said. (ABQ Journal)

June 11, 2003 The City of Santa Fe will pay Santa Fe County more money to house its prisoners under an agreement approved by the County Commission on Tuesday. The new agreement resolves a conflict that has brewed between the city and county since August 2001, when the last contract lapsed. Between then and now, officials could not agree on the conditions to house inmates at the Santa Fe County Detention Center, said county jail monitor Greg Parrish. Under the new contract, the city will pay the county $65 a day for each inmate arrested by city police. The county jail houses inmates from 16 different jurisdictions, some that pay a set daily rate and some that have individual payment contracts. Currently, those counties, cities and pueblos that have a contract with Santa Fe County pay rates of between $49 and $82 per day for each inmate, but Parrish said all the contracts need to be renegotiated to match the costs Santa Fe County is incurring. The county has to pay the jail's private operator, Management and Training Corp., about $40 per day per inmate, he said. "The contract with the City of Santa Fe should be the model for the other contract negotiations," Parrish said. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

June 4, 2003 With the troubled Santa Fe County detention center receiving the only increase in county funds this year, county officials were forced to get creative in order to hire additional staff. Despite every county department making budget cuts because of the upcoming, tight fiscal year, the commission funded about $300,000 worth of new positions through additional cuts and reallocating existing funds. The county plans to increase spending only at the detention center off N.M. 14. The jail fund is increasing from $5.3 million to $6.6 million. The detention center is losing revenue because federal inmates have been pulled out of the center while the number of county inmates has risen, Lucero said. The U.S. Marshals Service pulled its inmates from the facility after a Justice of Department report released in March questioned the medical services inmates are being provided at the jail. That move cost the county an estimated $960,000. County officials said they're working to correct the problems with its private contractor, Management & Training Corp., highlighted in the report. (ABQ Journal)

May 24, 2003 While the new warden of the Santa Fe County jail is getting acquainted with the facility, the former warden is back in familiar territory as head of the prison in McKinley County. Management and Training Corp., the company that runs both facilities, placed then-Warden Cody Graham on administrative leave from the Santa Fe jail this spring. The action came just three weeks after the Department of Justice issued a report that criticized many facets of the jail's operation. The same day Graham was placed on administrative leave, MTC appointed vice president Al Murphy as interim warden at the jail. Steve Hargett was named permanent warden in mid-April replacing Graham. In March, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department looked into allegations that Graham was involved in a pyramid scheme, charges that Solano said were not accurate. "What he was involved in was some kind of home-business opportunity, like a get-rich-quick thing. Even though it operated somewhat like a pyramid scheme, it did not seem to meet the statute requirements for a criminal charge of a pyramid scheme," he said. Several jail employees complained that Graham tried to talk them into investing in the business, Solano said. The sheriff's department informed MTC of the investigation, and they acted on it as a personnel issue, he said. The warden even used the jail once to hold a membership meeting for investors, she said. Graham had worked at the McKinley County Correctional Facility for about two years before coming to Santa Fe, and Stuart said that county's commissioners asked the company to bring him back. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

May 22, 2003 Because many of the problems at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center are linked to staffing issues, the new warden is looking to fill his ranks immediately by holding a job fair next week. Starting pay for a corrections officer is $10.50 an hour and although the job is demanding. The jail is authorized by the county to have a security staff of 108 people, but there are a dozen vacancies and five corrections officers are away on military leave. That means jail workers now pull 12-hour shifts and are often asked to work overtime. Many corrections officers who work at the Santa Fe facility live in Las Vegas of Mora and ride buses to work each day. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

May 26, 2003 Santa Fe County officials say rising cost at the county jail, low investment returns and slow economic growth are putting a squeeze on the county budget for 2004. Interim finance director Susan Lucero said she thinks the county's budget crunch is a reflection of the national scene but compounded by local factors such as the jail and water-supply problems. County officials met with federal officials last week to settle what improvements are needed at the jail. This spring, the department issued a report that recommended changes in nearly every area of jail operations, from booking to meals and mental-health programs. The federal report has caused financial trouble for the jail. A few weeks after the report was released, the U.S. Marshals Service pulled about 100 inmates from the facility. The agency paid a high daily rate to the county for caring for its inmates, so loss of the federal prisoners substantially affected the jail's bottom line, Lucero said. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

May 22, 2003 Santa Fe County officials are meeting this week with attorneys from the Department of Justice to discuss conditions at the county jail and determine a course of action that could cost as much as $2 million in additional annual jail-operation costs. The federal department issued a report this spring that was highly critical of the jail and recommended 53 actions to improve conditions it said violate constitutional rights of inmates. The Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center has been operated for the county under contract since 2001 by a Utah-based private company called Management and Training Corp. After the scathing justice-department report, MTC fired Warden Cody Graham and his second-in-command-, Major Greg. Company officials and subcontractors such as Physcians Network Associates of Texas, which provides medical services for the jail, have worked with the county to craft a response to the justice-department report. They began negotiations Tuesday, Hargett said. While the exact terms of the agreement are still in negotiation, Gonzalez said the county could end up spending an additional $500,000 to $2 million on top of the $6 million it already spends on the jail each year. Among the justice department's criticisms of the county jail: Inmates did not receive adequate physical or mental-health screening on admittance to the jail or appropriate care and supervision during their stay. The facility did not have clean and sanitary conditions including adequate laundry and bedding. Inmates did not have lawful access tot he courts or for redress of grievances within the facility. Inmates and staff were not ready for an emergency fire evacuation, and there was not enough fire extinguishers. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

April 22, 2003 Santa Fe County officials decided to "take the high road" at the county jail and fix problems pointed out by recent Department of Justice reports rather than dispute them. A three-page written statement on the jail issued Monday by County Manager Gerald González says county officials might decide to revisit some issues in the future. Most of the disputed issues concern the medical portion of the investigation, González said. For example, the doctor who investigated the jail's medical services said the jail should always use name-brand drugs instead of cheaper, generic drugs, González said. "It's beyond my expertise," González said, but even doctors might argue over whether it is always necessary to use name-brand drugs. González's statement comes after four Justice Department consultants visited the jail last May and investigated the quality of medical, mental health and security services at the jail. One consultant also studied the way jail officials treated women inmates. Their reports, which alleged human rights violations in the jail's medical services, became available in March. The findings lead jail officials to fire the warden and his second in command. Since then, county officials have discussed taking over the jail contract from Management and Training Corp., the Utah-based company that runs the jail. González said Sheriff Greg Solano and county jail monitor Greg Parrish have been in daily contact with MTC officials to try to fix problems at the jail. Solano and Parrish also have inspected the jail to make sure MTC officials are fixing the problems, González said. He said county officials would continue to look at taking over the jail contract, which expires in October 2004. Carl Stuart, head of communications for MTC, said the company has already fixed many of the problems mentioned in the Justice Department reports. The federal department issued MTC a list of 53 measures the company needed to fix, and 38 of them had to do with medical or mental-health issues. González said county and MTC officials plan to meet with Justice Department officials again in May to discuss the company's progress. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

April 22, 2003 The Santa Fe County Detention Center has another interim warden in place as county officials attempted to avoid a Department of Justice lawsuit over a scathing report the federal agency released last month regarding conditions at the jail. As Steve Hargett starts his 90-day interim period, the veteran corrections officer looks forward to working with the county to address the issues raised in the 34-page Justice Department report. Those issues include questionable medical care and other inadequate services provided by private contractor Management & Training Corp. U.S. Attorney General could file suit against the county and Management & Training Corp. as early as Friday to force the county to correct identified problems. Since the report became public, the county demanded Management & Training Corp. respond point-by-point to the report and indicate what corrective measures had been taken or were being taken to deal with the complaints. (ABQ Journal)

April 17, 2003 Armed with a recent Department of Justice report that is critical of the medical care provided to inmates at the Santa Fe County Detention Center, Suzan Garcia continues to seek answers in the January 2002 suicide death of her son, an inmate at the facility. Since January, Garcia has been trying to get MTC to release documents and specific information about the suicide as part of a probate case to deal with Johnson's estate. The family has hired attorneys Jeffrey Haas and Mariel Nanasi to handle the matter as well as a looming civil suit. Along with settling Johnson's estate, the lawyers are using the probate case to gather information for the lawsuit. Garcia said that throughout her son's incarceration, she tried to get the private contractor, Management & Training Corp., which runs the county jail, to get her son psychiatric help. She said she made repeated calls to the warden; the only call she ever received from jail administration was to tell her Johnson was dead. The Albuquerque woman also said her 27-year-old son showed signs he was suicidal by slashing his wrists and throat two days before he was found dead. She also contends corrections officers beat him, sprayed him with pepper spray and taunted him instead of getting him help after the incident. Leading up to March, not much information had surfaced about Johnson's death until the DOJ released its report March 6 of its investigation of the jail. In the report, federal investigators are harshly critical of the medical care provided inmates there and conclude certain conditions violate inmates' constitutional rights. Because of the report, county officials are exploring whether to take over the facility when its contract ends with MTC next year. On Wednesday, the lawyers filed a motion with Santa Fe District Judge Barbara J. Vigil to compel MTC to produce Johnson's jail records, reports and materials regarding his death, including photographs, surveillance videos and supervisors' logs. The lawyers claim Johnson wasn't transferred to a hospital for psychiatric help because of cost. (ABQ Journal)

April 17, 2003 The mother of a man who hanged himself at the Santa Fe County jail last year plans to sue the company that runs the jail because she feels her son's death was preventable. Suzan Garcia of Albuquerque said she called Management and Training Corp. officials almost every day during Tyson Johnson's 17-day stay at the jail to try to get him mental-health help. "I knew every day he needed help," Garcia said. "He needed someone to talk to, but there was no one to talk to." Despite her pleas, Johnson's two suicide attempts in the jail and repeated statements that he was going to kill himself, jail officials did not get Johnson the help he needed, Garcia said. Instead, inmates who were near Johnson when he died contacted Garcia and told her that jail guards taunted Johnson, saying things like, "Is that the best you can do?" after he unsuccessfully tried to kill himself by cutting his wrists. Garcia said jail officials didn't let her speak with the warden until after Johnson died. When the warden got on the phone, he told her Johnson had died that morning, she said. "I knew in my heart something was wrong that morning," Garcia said. Johnson died Jan. 13, 2002. Johnson, 27 at the time of his death, lived in Albuquerque, Garcia said. He worked part time at a gas station and also sold paintings and woodcarvings he created. He left behind two children, Akira, 5, and Colorado, 7. Police arrested Johnson in Santa Fe after a domestic incident and charged him with four felonies, Garcia said. His bail was in the neighborhood of $200,000, and he could not afford to get out of jail. Jeff Haas, a lawyer from El Prado who is representing Johnson's family with fellow El Prado lawyer Mariel Nanasi, said Department of Justice reports support the family's contention that jail officials could have prevented Johnson's suicide. Four Department of Justice experts visited the jail last May to investigate medical, mental health and security issues. One expert also studied how jail officials treated female inmates. The reports on security and mental-health issues talk about Johnson's death and say he was on a 15-minute suicide watch, but the log ended at 6:15 a.m. the day he killed himself. Guards discovered Johnson at 9:40 a.m., the reports say. Johnson hanged himself with a ripped-up blanket, Nanasi said. He attached it to a fixture near the ceiling of his cell. Haas said the reports are significant because Johnson's family members and the state medical examiner's office both have had trouble getting a copy of the log from MTC. Medical-examiner officials were unavailable Wednesday afternoon for comment on the case. Family members have not sued the company yet, Haas said, but tried to subpoena documents from the company in March. So far, the attempt has been unsuccessful. The state District Court in Santa Fe is handling Johnson's estate because the probate judge had a conflict, Haas said, and the family subpoenaed the documents through that case. Haas and Nanasi said that although they plan on filing a civil rights case against MTC on behalf of Garcia within the next two years, they are waiting to receive more information before they do so. Carl Stuart, head of communications for MTC, said the company does not comment on potential litigation. Stuart said all he can say is that company officials are reviewing paperwork connected to the case. Garcia and Cezily Moreno, Johnson's sister, both said the jail warden told them he had checked the log and it was up to date at the time of Johnson's death. Garcia said she does not remember the warden's name. The warden at the time was Cody Graham, whom MTC officials fired from the facility about a month ago after reports of civil-rights violations at the jail. The Department of Justice reports say Johnson died after receiving inadequate mental-health intervention at the jail. An MTC document responding to problems pointed out in the Justice Department reports says the company has since stopped using Johnson's cell to house suicidal inmates. The federal reports said the cell was dangerous because guards could not easily see inside from outside the cell and because it had a fixture and a grate to which inmates could tie a noose. A year 2000 report from the Center on Institutions and Alternatives and the Justice Department's National Institute of Corrections states that jail suicide rates are nine times higher than the rate for the general population. Jail suicides occur at a rate of 107 per 100,000 inmates, the report states. Most jail-suicide victims are young, white, single, first-time, nonviolent offenders, the report says. The victims often have a substance-abuse history and hang themselves with bed clothing in isolated jail housing within the first 24 hours of arrest, the report says. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

April 14, 2003 A federal Department of Justice report on mental-health issues at the Santa Fe County jail says officials need to vastly improve mental-health treatment and suicide prevention measures at the jail. Dennis F. Koson, a Florida psychiatrist and expert on inmate mental-health issues, wrote the report for the DOJ as a part of a larger investigation into how the facility is run. The report states that one inmate with a history of mental illness didn't receive his medication for five days, and after 10 days at the jail he cut his wrists. While the man was on suicide watch, guards discovered the man had cut his wrists with a razor blade after blood started running out from under his cell door, the report states. The report says the man used the razor blade after officers apparently failed to properly search the inmate. At the time Koson visited the jail, the facility did not have an on-site psychiatrist, and inmates relied on a counselor or a nurse-practitioner to prescribe psychotropic medications, the report states. "This staffing pattern is grossly inadequate for the mental-health needs of this facility," Koson wrote. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

April 14, 2003 The Department of Justice gave officials working for the company that manages the Santa Fe County jail a list of 53 practices they needed to change. Four consultants visited the jail for the DOJ last May and investigated the jail's medical services, mental-health services, security procedures and treatment of women inmates. The summary report was particularly critical of the jail's medical facilities - saying inadequate treatment amounted to civil-rights violations - but the summary report and detailed reports from the consultants pointed out other problems as well. A report on security said some jail guards were expected to watch more than 120 prisoners at a time and recommended more guards. Stuart said the company has also made great strides increasing those numbers, although he did not have exact figures. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

April 11, 2003 A female inmate at the Santa Fe County jail says there’s one annoyance she hasn’t escaped in jail - cleaning up after men. Loretta Ortega, 35, of Santa Fe, an inmate for more than three months, said jail administrators have moved her twice, both times into dirty sections of the jail previously inhabited by male inmates. And both times, Ortega and other women inmates have had to clean up after the men. “I have stated on my grievance forms that we are inmates, not Merry Maids,” she said. Ortega said when she entered the jail in January she was in a section that had been inhabited by women inmates for a while. It was nice and clean, she said. But a few weeks later, jail administrators moved the women into another section - one where men had lived - and the women cleaned it and painted the walls, Ortega said. “It was very nasty,” Ortega said. “They had urinated on the walls and lit fires.” On Wednesday, jail administrators moved the women back to the two sections they had occupied when Ortega first entered the jail, and Ortega feared another mess. Carl Stuart, communications director for Management and Training Corp., the company that runs the jail, confirmed the women inmates have moved twice, but only to better accommodate space at the jail. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

April 5, 2003 A recent report by U.S. Department of Justice investigators is harshly critical of the medical care provided to prisoners at the Santa Fe County jail, concluding that "certain conditions at the Detention Center violate the constitutional rights of inmates." The report contends inadequate care cost a diabetic inmate his sight and that other prisoners failed to get adequate care for head trauma, pregnancy and mental problems leading to suicide. "We have made tremendous improvements," said Jean Brock, senior vice president of Lubbock, Texas,-based Physicians Network Association. Brock said her company had only been on the job at the Santa Fe County jail a couple of months when the DOJ team visited. Another company, Correctional Medical Services, previously had the contract for medical care. "It's a completely different facility now," Brock said. A spokesman for Management and Training Corp., the private company that runs the jail and subcontracts with PNA for medical care, said MTC couldn't comment on the specifics of the DOJ report "because it may become a point of litigation." Carl Stuart of MTC did say that "management practices by the previous operator" of the jail Cornell Companies of Texas, which was replaced as county's jail operator in the fall of 2001 "prompted the investigation." The report provided several examples where specific but unnamed inmates encountered health care problems. A diabetic patient who lost his vision had to go six weeks before he was sent to an ophthalmologist, who immediately referred him to a retina surgeon, the DOJ found. The inmate had to wait nearly another two weeks before the jail took him to the surgeon, who asked for permission to operate immediately. "Nonetheless, the inmate did not receive the surgery for another 10 days," the report says. "Although this inmate's blindness could have been prevented had he received appropriate care, the delay in treatment caused him to lose his vision permanently. Some of the other case histories in the report include: * An inmate who reported a history of head trauma at intake and who displayed numerous symptoms, including bowel dysfunction, difficulty balancing and weakness to his left side, wasn't sent to the emergency room for nine days. "This denial of treatment resulted in the worsening of the inmate's condition," the report says. * An inmate who committed suicide by hanging himself with a strip of blanket in January 2002 after threatening or trying several times to kill himself wasn't adequately observed on a suicide watch. * An inmate went eight months without receiving an adequate assessment for glaucoma, despite repeated requests. "If this inmate has glaucoma, he may become blind unless he receives treatment," the report said. * A mammogram was ordered for an inmate who reported lumps in her breasts and armpit in October 2001, but the mammogram still hadn't taken place when the DOJ team went to the jail seven months later. The report also blasts the jail on other issues, including fire prevention, sanitation and hygiene. The report says that some inmates went as long as three weeks after entering the jail without being given underwear. DOJ also found that the county was not providing inmates with sufficient access to legal assistance or a law library, and that the grievance system for inmates was inadequate. County correctional services manager Gregory Parrish said the county and jail managers have been working on correcting the deficiencies since last May. "We are continuing to do that to make sure health care at the jail is up to the standard the county expects," Parrish said. He said DOJ representatives met with jail managers last week and "we gave them a document explaining all the corrective actions" taken so far. The county announced in May that DOJ was investigating at the jail after a number of sexual assault and drug violation allegations had surfaced in the previous year. The report said DOJ didn't find an "ongoing pattern or practice of sexual misconduct" at the jail, but did say the reporting and investigative systems for such matters was flawed. The county is addressing the concerns raised in the report with MTC officials, County Commissioner Jack Sullivan said. "It's now on our front burner," he said. "I was quite surprised when I read the report." Commissioners said most of the problems raised in the report have been addressed by MTC. Sullivan also said the commission is looking into whether the county needs "to provide additional money for medical personnel or whether it is poor performance on (MTC's) part." Sullivan said the report is not enough justification for the county to take over the jail but supports examining the issue. (Albuquerque Tribune)

March 26, 2003 Mounting problems at the Santa Fe County jail, including the dismissal this week of its top two officers, prompted County Commissioner Paul Duran to suggest re-examining the jail operating contract Tuesday. Management & Training Corp., the private Utah-based jail contractor, placed Warden Cody Graham and Maj. Greg Lee on paid administrative leave Monday based on county concerns about the treatment of female inmates. County Attorney Steve Kopelman wrote MTC Feb. 17 of female inmates' complaints they were denied adequate medical attention, clothing and items of hygiene. County correctional service manager Gregory Parrish called Graham's and Lee's removal "a positive move by MTC in addressing the issues we are concerned about." Nonetheless, the commission Tuesday heard more bad news about the detention center, which lead Duran to suggest the county itself resume the jail operation. The three-year contract with MTC expires Sept. 30, 2004. "Even if we break even, it's worthwhile," he said. The County Commission moved $740,000 out of a $3 million general-fund surplus Tuesday to cover jail cost overruns and also received the annual Correction Advisory Committee report. "The report is frightening," Commissioner Harry Montoya said. The seven-member advisory committee reported MTC is not providing enough case managers to deal with inmates and needs to improve inmate visitation and medical staffing. The committee is also troubled by correctional staff turnover. "The evidence is building that the county should take over the facility," said committee member Mitch Buszek. MTC spokesman Carl Stuart said Graham and Lee will not be returning to Santa Fe but could land jobs at other company facilities. In February, Kopelman wrote MTC that female inmates in January had complained they were not given adequate personal hygiene items, toilet paper, clothing or medical attention. The women also indicated they were given one set of detention uniforms but not the required two sets of underclothing and socks, the letter states. The women complained to their case managers but nothing was done and they were threatened with lockdown for complaining, the letter states. MTC sent two high-ranking officials from its Centerville, Utah, corporate office — Al Murphy, vice president of correction operations, and Jay Bodman, correction operations manager — to operate the 672-bed jail on N.M. 14 south of Santa Fe while replacements are sought, Stuart said. For the fiscal year ending June 30, the county budgeted $4.7 million for jail operations, based on an average county inmate population of 330 per day at $40 per inmate. But the inmate population has averaged about 365 per day, resulting in $640,000 in additional costs, said county finance director Katherine Miller. The county also has lost about $100,000 in revenue because other agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service, failed to send enough inmates to keep the jail full, Miller said. The turnover issue cited in the advisory committee report troubles county officials most; it calls into question the amount of training the corrections officers have. "We don't want to have employees who are interested in making a living for a short amount of time," Duran said. At a county-run facility, corrections officers would receive county wages and benefits and would have opportunities to move to other county departments, including the Sheriff's Department, Duran said. Sheriff Greg Solano said he needs time to study whether the county should take over the jail. But he's encouraged by the changes MTC has made, he said. (ABQ Journal)

March 26, 2003 Santa Fe County advisory committee report says the county's jails need better visitation facilities, more medical staff and a reduction in staff turnover, among other improvements. Steve Marvin, vice chairman of the Corrections Advisory Committee delivered the committee's annual report Tuesday to the County Commission. Marvin said the adult jail, run by Management and Training Corp. of Utah, needs to hire more inmate case managers. MTC has only three case managers, Marvin said, and each one handles 150 inmates. Cornell Companies Inc., the company that ran the jail before MTC took it over in October 2001, had twice as many case managers, he said. Marvin said the committee also suggests the company provide more space for visits. The committee's report says MTC officials have suggested remedying the situation by providing video visitation, but the committee is against that because research shows that recidivism is reduced by frequent in-person visits with relatives. The report also says the adult jail needs more nurses and should have a physician visit the jail two days a week instead of one. MTC spokesman Carl Stuart said MTC is bound by the county's contract stipulations, and if the county wants changes, officials should ask for them. "They are the final bosses," Stuart said. "We serve them." The committee said the juvenile jail's disciplinary approach might be too confrontational for juveniles, and committee members would like more information. Cornell runs the juvenile facility. The report also says the juvenile facility has no attending physician since the U.S. military called Dr. Michael Patterson to duty. The report recommended the jail find a replacement doctor. The committee also said in the report that both the adult and juvenile facilities should reduce staff turnover. Cornell officials said they had not heard of the suggestions until Tuesday and wanted to examine them further before commenting. Marvin said MTC has already fixed some problems at the jail. For example, MTC former phone contract only allowed four calls to the same number each day, Marvin said. The contract usually wasn't a problem, Marvin said, except when inmates wanted to call their lawyers at the Public Defenders Office. MTC has remedied the problem, he said. The committee also suggests the community establish a bail fund for use by inmates who can't afford even a low bail amount, Marvin said. He knew of one inmate who spent nearly nine months in jail because he couldn't afford to post $250 bail. Overall, the committee concluded the jails are working well, Marvin said. "I don't think you have anything to be ashamed of," he told commissioners. The commission established the committee about a year ago because of concerns the county's privately run jails needed community oversight. This was the committee's first report. (The New Mexican)

March 26, 2003 The company that manages the Santa Fe County jail removed the warden and his second in command this week because of complaints about unsanitary conditions County commissioners, meanwhile, said Tuesday that they are seriously considering taking over direct management of the 670-bed jail south of Santa Fe. Jail monitor Greg Parrish said the county wrote to Management and Training Corp. officials in February about inmates' complaints that they were denied basic needs such as toilet paper, clothing and medical care. Female inmates complained they were given only one uniform. When it was dirty, they either had to wash it themselves or wait until they were given another uniform, the letter says. When Parrish asked jail officials about the problem, they said there weren't enough clothes to go around, the county states in a letter to the management company. Parrish then asked jail officials to order more clothing, which they did. Jail officials threatened to lock down female inmates when they complained, the letter states. "These concerns did not just occur overnight," County Attorney Steven Kopelman wrote in the letter. "Rather, the problem evidences a deterioration of services over a period of time." The company removed Cody Graham, who had been warden since MTC took over the jail contract from Cornell Companies Inc. in October 2001, and Major Greg Lee, who was second in command at the facility. The company replaced Graham with Al Murphy, MTC vice president in charge of corrections, as interim warden. The company replaced Lee with Jay Bodman, a jail major. Parrish said the company hopes to name permanent replacements in about a month. MTC spokesman Carl Stuart said the company has placed Graham and Lee on paid administrative leave, and they will not return to the Santa Fe jail. Stuart said the company has not decided what Graham or Lee's future will be with MTC. Graham came to Santa Fe from Gallup , where he ran the 300-bed McKinley County Adult Detention Center for MTC. He came with about 20 years of corrections experience and had worked for MTC for about two years. Regarding sanitary conditions at the jail, Stuart said MTC takes pride in the quality of conditions at the company's facilities. In response to recent changes and a report from the county's Corrections Advisory Committee that suggested other changes at the jail, county officials at Tuesday's County Commission meeting talked seriously about taking over management of the jail. "I think it's something we need to pursue vigorously," County Commissioner Paul Duran said. County Manager Gerald González said he would research what it would take to manage the jail and make a presentation to the County Commission . County Finance Director Katherine Miller said there would be financial pros and cons if the county took over jail operations for the first time since the mid 1980s. Private management companies have to pay a gross-receipts tax and also have corporate overhead, Miller said, and those are expenses the county would not face. However, MTC does not provide employees with certain benefits, such as retirement pay, Miller said. Since the county would provide retirement, that would drive up the county's costs. "There are a lot of pros to both sides," Miller said. "It's a matter of looking at our current ability to run it ourselves." The county has about 480 employees, Miller said, but if it took over the jail, the county would add 130 employees to the payroll. Miller said it would take time for county officials to make the decision. Duran said he thinks the county would get more professional applicants if the county took over operations and provided benefits. Human-rights violations also would decrease under county management, he said. "Even if we broke even," Duran said, "it would be worth it." (The New Mexican)

February 26, 2003 Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said some inmates, if they can't make bail, end up spending as many as 400 days in jail because of Santa Fe's backlogged courts. The county pays between $50 and $60 each day an inmate is in the jail, Solano said, and with 300 county inmates, that amount adds up. Solano said he looked at a list of county inmates recently and determined about 40 of them had spent too much time in jail. Solano said the jail already hires case managers to help inmates, but the case managers work for the jail contractor, Management and Training Corp., not the county. Since the case managers work for MTC, they do not have the same goals as the county, Solano said. MTC is a for-profit company. (Santa Fe New Mixican.com)

February 5, 2003 Santa Fe city police are asking the City Council for an extra $355,000 to pay the rising cost of housing inmates at the Santa Fe County jail. Santa Fe Police Chief Beverly Lennen said that cost is higher than was anticipated for the current fiscal year. The reason? City inmates are being sentenced to longer jail time. (ABQ Journal)

December 29, 2002 A woman who became a hostage of bank robber Byron Shane Chubbuck after he escaped from a prison transport van in December 2000 is suing over the incident. Stephanie Angus alleges in the complaint that Cornell Corrections of Texas Inc., then the operator of the Santa Fe County Detention Center, and the Santa Fe County Commission violated her civil rights by allowing Chubbuck to escape. The lawsuit was filed in Bernalillo County District Court on Dec. 19. Chubbuck, who had obtained a handcuff key from a fellow inmate, used it to free his handcuffs, waist chains and leg shackles, then kicked out a steel-barred window grate about 4:45 p.m. Dec 21, at Second and Montaño NW, according to earlier reports. After his escape, he jumped fences in a nearby neighborhood and got Angus, in a maroon Bronco, telling her that he needed help. The lawsuit says Chubbuck forced Angus to "transport him via surface streets of Albuquerque for over two hours," when he allowed her to be released. She drove him to Coors and Alameda and dropped him off at a Wendy's restaurant. Cornell and Santa Fe County negligently breached their duty to the public by failing to protect it against dangerous individuals such as Chubbuck, the suit says. Chubbuck's escape has also spawned another lawsuit. A family caught in the line of fire during Chubbuck's eventual recapture Feb. 7, 2001, filed suit in federal court in May 2002 against Cornell and the city of Albuquerque. Francisco and Sara Holguin were asleep in their home on Anaheim NE that night when city police rammed with their vehicle a car Chubbuck was in, shot out the tires and shot at Chubbuck. A bullet tore through the family trailer, inches from their heads, according to that lawsuit, which is pending. (Albuquerque Journal)

December 29, 2002 The city's share of inmates spending time in the Santa Fe County Detention Center is escalating, and city officials worry their current budget won't bear the load. The city was billed for 605 inmate "days" at the jail for September 2001, while 1,522 inmate days were attributed to the city's jurisdiction in September of this year, according to Santa Fe Police Deputy Chief Beverly Lennen. The city hasn't paid any money this fiscal year to the jail, which is owned by the county and run by private contractor Management & Training Corp., because county and city officials are negotiating a daily rate for city inmates. (Albuquerque Journal)

December 24, 2002 Operations at the Santa Fe County Detention Center lost close to $1 million in the past fiscal year and the county is on pace to lose more money in the upcoming year. Because of an increase in inmate population and a loss in jail revenue, the county budget for jail operations ended $800,000 in the red between June 30, 2001, and July 1, 2002. "We don't control the expenditures of the jail, because we can't control the population of the jail," said county finance director Katherine Miller. "We have had better years. The deficit is significant." Miller said the county lost revenue in spring 2001 when the U.S. Marshals Service pulled its inmates from the county jail after the former jail contractor, Cornell Cos., became the target of an investigation by the county sheriff. As a result, the county turned to another company to manage the 670-bed facility, but not before the U.S. Marshals Service, which pays the county $65 per inmate per day, decreased its inmate population at the jail from 120 to as few as 65. (Albuquerque Journal) December 5, 2002 On Tuesday, the County Commission declined to vote on reviving an independent housing authority or implementing a program designed to transport inmates stranded at the Santa Fe County Detention Center. The five-member board tabled the two issues until February to allow newly elected commissioners Harry Montoya and Mike D. Anaya and Sheriff Greg Solano to participate in the debate. The commission also decided to allow Solano to find a solution to the problem of people walking along the highway once they are released from the detention center, which is located off N.M. 14 two miles south of Interstate 25. "Either way we look at it, it will cost us money," Duran said. "They are not dogs. You can't take them out there and drop them off." The commission wants to stop released inmates from walking from the remote facility because N.M. 14 is a two-lane, narrow highway with traffic that travels at high speed. Sullivan said he is concerned that someone released from the jail will be hit by a vehicle. (ABQ Journal)

December 4, 2002 The Santa Fe County Commission on Tuesday failed to agree on a plan for reducing the number of released jail inmates who walk along N.M. 14 after they are freed from the Santa Fe County Detention Center. But sheriff-elect Greg Solano said he and the jail's operators have come up with an idea to partly address the problem: give former inmates some of their own money back in cash, so they can pay for their own rides into town. Currently, those who had money when they were locked up get their money back in the form of a check. The jail is operated under contract by Management and Training Corp. of Utah. County corrections manager Greg Parrish estimated that about three of the 35 to 40 inmates released daily have no one to pick them up and either no way to get home or no home to go to. The jail is several miles south of town, and the closest bus stop is more than 4 miles away at the Santa Fe Premium Outlet stores. Solano said part of the problem is that inmates are released without any cash, even if they brought a wallet full of it with them into the jail. The current policy leaves some released inmates stranded on a lonely stretch of road, Solano noted at Tuesday's commission meeting. "What can you do with a check in the middle of Route 14?" he asked. Commissioner Jack Sullivan said the released inmates also represent a public-perception problem. "There are two things the public sees about (a jail). Breakouts and people walking along the road." (The New Mexican)

October 26, 2002 Santa Fe County's profitable deal with the state Department of Corrections to house state inmates at the county jail has left a neighboring county out in the cold. Santa Fe jail officials have notified Bernalillo County that their inmates must be out of the Santa Fe jail by the end of the month, said Harry Tipton, Bernalillo County jail director. Tipton said along with the Santa Fe jail, Bernalillo County inmates have been transferred to jails in Valencia and McKinley counties. It has cost the Bernalillo County about $400,000 to house inmates in other counties, he said. Currently, Bernalillo County officials are discussing transferring more inmates to McKinley County, he said. The Bernalillo inmates have to leave the Santa Fe month, said Gregory Parrish, director of county correctional services. The county and the state reached a three-year agreement to house at least 135 inmates at the jail. The deal will generate about $460,000 a year for Santa Fe County. (ABQ Journal.com)

October 10, 2002 Santa Fe County stepped forward Tuesday to help the New Mexico Department of Corrections alleviate a a shortage of beds for inmates across the state. Starting Oct. 21, the Santa Fe County Detention Center will house New Mexico Department of Corrections inmates, which will provide the county with a steady stream of revenue. State inmates will ultimately account for a quarter of the detention center capacity, said Gregory Parrish, director of county correctional services. To house the state inmates the county will pay MTC, the private company that runs the center, $43.30 per inmate, an increase of $3 over what the county already pays per inmate. The additional cost will cover medical services and programs mandated by the state for the inmates, Parrish said. The balance will go to the county, expected to be about $460,000 a year, he said. That will be used to pay off the debt to construct the detention center and also be used to improve and maintain the facility, he said. With the inmates at the center, the state will also require MTC to provide enough guard personnel within the cellblock, said County Attorney Steven Kopelman. (ABQ Journal)

October 10, 2002 The state's medium-security prisons are overcrowded by about 400 male inmates, some of whom are being housed in day rooms, New Mexico Corrections Secretary James Burleson said Wednesday. Most of the overcrowding is at the medium-security, minimum-security and minimum-restrict prisons at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas, Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Grants, Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Las Cruces and the Penitentiary of New Mexico near Santa Fe. Santa Fe lawyer Mark Donatelli on Wednesday blamed the overcrowding on the department's failure to implement alternative sentencing laws already on the books. The corrections department, he said, is going to waste taxpayer money by moving nonviolent inmates into county jails and private prisons. Lawrence Trujillo, a Legislative Finance Committee prison analyst, said that not implementing the reintegration program, locking up more offenders for technical parole violations and sending more petty criminals to prison have contributed to inmate overcrowding. Trujillo said the private prisons in Hobbs and Santa Rosa, which have contracts with the state, are filled to capacity with state and other inmates. At present, the Torrance County Correctional Facility, another private prison, is housing more than 200 of the state's medium-security inmates to relieve overcrowding. Trujillo said the Torrance County private prison is planning eventually to replace state inmates with federal inmates because the federal government pays $79 per inmate per day, while the state pays $53 per inmate per day. (ABQ Journal)

September 26, 2002 With a little more than a month before the upcoming election, different philosophies are starting to emerge among the candidates seeking the offices of Santa Fe County sheriff and magistrate judge. On Wednesday night, Democratic nominee Greg Solano and Republican Roy Dennis expressed their views on how to operate the sheriff's department. Issues Solano and Dennis disagree on include the operation of the county jail and ways to attract and keep deputies. With the county jail operated by a private company, the 38-year-old Solano said it is time the county rethinks its position. The former Santa Fe police officer said the jail staff lacks proper training because of constant turnover. He said he is also worried about drugs being brought into the facility. "We need to take a look at taking it back," Solano said. (ABQ journal)

August 31, 2002 Santa Fe County could lose up to $300,000 under an amended contract to run the Santa Fe County Youth Development Program, but county officials say the risk is worth it to keep Cornell Companies Inc. on board. County Finance Director Katherine Miller said the number of juveniles at the facility has decreased from an average of about 100 a day last year to about 70 a day this year, making the jail less profitable. Cornell officials told county officials they weren't making enough money and wouldn't renew the contract in October unless the county renegotiated, Miller said. Under a contract amendment approved by the County Commission on Tuesday, the county will decrease the amount of money it charges Cornell to lease the facility. In return, Cornell will house 81/4 inmates for free every day and will only charge the county $100 a day for every inmate over that number, Miller said. The difference works out to $300,000 in Cornell's favor, Miller said, but there is a chance the county will be able to recoup that money. The agreement also includes a provision that says the county will receive 25 percent of all the money Cornell receives in excess of $4.2 million a year, Miller said. In March, Cornell laid off 14 employees because the inmate population was down 40 percent, Miller said. (Privateer News)

August 26, 2002 More than 140 inmates at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center were placed on lockdown following an alleged assault of a correctional by two inmates Sunday afternoon. Correctional Officer Felipe Romero was taken to St.Vincent Hospital after he was kicked and punched by two federal inmates about 1:15 p.m. Parrish said the lockdonw, which confined inmates to their cells, would stay in place until jail officials met with representatives of Management Training Corporation, which has been hired by the county to operate the center. "We will meet with the contractor (this) morning to determine what corrective actions need to be taken," Parrish said. (Journal North)

May 17, 2002 A family caught in the line of fire when Albuquerque police shot and wounded bank robber and federal fugitive Byron Shane Chubbuck last year is suing the city over the ordeal and a private corrections company for not watching him more closely. Lawyer Dennis Montoya filed the suit in federal court May 6, alleging city police were negligent and that they violated the civil rights of Francisco and Sara Holguin and their children by endangering them when they recaptured Chubbuck on Feb. 7, 2001. Chubbuck — dubbed "Robin the Hood" by the FBI for proclaiming the loot he took in heists in 1998 and 1999 would go to the poor — had been on the lam following his escape from a prisoner transport van in Albuquerque on Dec. 21, 2000. After a manhunt, the robber was tracked to a mobile home near the Holguins' trailer in the Northeast Heights. The Holguins also are suing Houston-based Cornell Corrections Inc. for negligence, alleging it should have been more cautious because it knew Chubbuck had a propensity for violence and escape. The company operated the Santa Fe County Detention Center, where Chubbuck was housed and the van. (Albuquerque Journal)

May 8, 2002 Investigators from the Department of Justice arrived at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center on Tuesday to begin investigating alleged past civil-rights violations. Although jail officials do not know much about the allegations, they say they think the alleged incidents took place before Utah-based Management & Training Corp. took over the county-jail contract from Houston-based Cornell Companies Inc. on Oct. 1., said Greg Parrish, county correctional-service manager. After receiving complaints about jail operations, the county replaced Cornell as the jail contractor, hired Parrish to oversee jail operations for the county full time, and appointed members of a citizens' Correctional Advisory Committee, Duran said. (The Santa Fe New Mexican)

February 19, 2002 A former Santa Fe County jail guard was given a deferred probation sentence Monday for intimidating a witness and tampering with evidence, according to the district attorney's office. Carlos Dean, who was found not guilty in November of forcing a disabled inmate into a sex act, will have no record of the sentence if he completes his probation successfully, said Assistant District Attorney A.J. Salazar. Salazar said the 60-day psychological evaluation of Dean conducted between his trial and Monday's sentencing recommended incarceration, but state District Judge Stephen Pfeffer decided probation would suffice. Dean could have received up to 13 years in prison after he was accused of forcing a 40-year-old inmate to perform oral sex on the guard in the inmate's jail cell in 1999, bribing the inmate to keep quiet about the incident and washing the inmate's prison jumpsuit because it had semen on it. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

February 9, 2002 A man charged with stabbing and beheading a Santa Fe woman in October 2000 spat in a fellow inmate's face Friday during a court appearance that got out of control. Both Lara-Sanchez and the man he spat at, Tony Sanchez, were in handcuffs for their court appearances, and no one was injured during the melee. According to a tort claim filed in October 2001 by Sanchez's attorney, Mark Donatelli, Sanchez was placed in the same cell as Lara-Sanchez at the Santa Fe County jail in September 2001 despite the fact that they were known enemies. Lara-Sanchez subsequently badly beat Sanchez, who was still in handcuffs, Donatelli alleged. "Mr. Tony A. Sanchez was placed in the cell with his hands cuffed toward the back, the cell door was closed and Ivan Lara-Sanchez immediately attacked and beat Mr. Tony A. Sanchez," reads the tort claim. Cornell Corrections, the company that used to manage the jail, and Santa Fe County should have known that Lara-Sanchez posed a threat to Sanchez, and steps should have been taken to keep them apart, according to Donatelli's tort claim. Donatelli said in a phone interview Friday that the two are enemies because of an ongoing criminal investigation, but he declined to elaborate. Donatelli said he would investigate Friday's incident and added that the jail's new management, officials at the Utah-based Management & Training Corporation, should have known Sanchez and Lara-Sanchez's history. "It's hard to believe that they got put together again," Donatelli said. (Albuquerque Journal)

December 11, 2001 The Santa Fe County jail has fired two former corrections officers in the mistaken release in late October of a prisoner accused of rape. Greg Parrish, county correctional services manager, said in early November that jail officials had obtained a release order for a Javier Gonzales accused of shoplifting, but the wrong inmate was let go. "Two employees of (Management Training Corp.) were dismissed," Parrish said. "It doesn't appear that there's any criminal intent involved." Parrish was hired by the county to act as a liaison with the privately run jail after Utah-based Management and Training Corp. assumed its management in October. (Albuquerque Journal)

November 25, 2001 Paula Arrietta-Boyce said her ulcer bled for two months during the time she was incarcerated at the Santa Fe County jail. But corrections officers and medical staff repeatedly ignored her requests for help. "I'd be in pain and I'd actually vomit blood," the 34-year-old mother said. Eventually, she said, the jail's medical unit gave her medicine. "When you go to medical, you have to have a stinking fit so they give you some help," the former inmate charged. Difficulty obtaining medical care was one of the leading complaints of inmates during the time Cornell operated the adult detention center on N.M. 14 south of Santa Fe. Under Cornell, inmates also complained about lack of toilet paper, being kept in segregation for too long, sexual harassment and lack of access to the facility's law library -- a room with plastic lawn chairs and portable shelves holding a few books. District Judge Michael Vigil said that getting medical treatment for inmates was a constant struggle. He was forced to contact authorities on several occasions to confirm that inmates were receiving needed treatment. But Vigil said he felt the company wanted to try to cut its costs. County Commissioner Javier Gonzales said the county was aware of the problems but found it difficult to hold Cornell accountable because it "didn't have as tight a contract as we should have." Santa Fe County Sheriff Ray Sisneros, who had oversight responsibility for the jail while running his department, agreed that the contract lacked teeth to "hold Cornell's feet to the fire." He added that the warden "had to take something from me very strongly because I could make life difficult for him, but still, the warden didn't answer to the sheriff. The warden answered to corporate." "It was really their duty to get (inmates) to medical treatment," public defender Scott Reidel said. But he said Cornell's solution was to tell inmates, "Get your lawyer to get you a medical furlough." The bottom line was more important to the company than inmates' problems, Donatelli declared. In May, 54 inmates at the jail complained in a letter to Cornell that they did not receive enough toilet paper even though the jail promised them a roll each Monday and a second roll the following Friday. Sixty-six federal inmates housed at the county jail also filed a grievance last May. Their letter demanded more access to the law library and more legal resources. "We need law materials to help us work with our cases," the letter stated. They also complained about the shortage of toilet paper. Cornell also suffered from various management problems, including billing mistakes, low morale, understaffing and high turnover. One warden lasted only three months. The last, Lawrence Barrerras, spent a lot of his time negotiating contracts for Cornell at other facilities. "That's when (Undersheriff) Benjie Montano and I saw stuff go wrong," Sisneros said. "It was very difficult for him to run the facility when he wasn't there." (The Santa Fe New Mexican)

November 14, 2001 A 40-year-old developmentally disabled man told a jury Tuesday that a former Santa Fe County jail guard forced him to perform a sex act while he was an inmate at the jail in April 1999. The former jail guard, Carlos Dean, 25, warned the man afterward not to tell jail officials, the man testified. Dean is charged with criminal sexual penetration, threatening a witness and tampering with evidence. After the attack, another former inmate, John Christenbury, said he heard the attack and reported it. Christenbury also said he heard a man crying during the attack. Questioned by Maj. Anthony Romero of the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department after the incident, Dean admitted masturbating in the cell, cleaning the mess and washing the man's clothing, the affidavit said. However, Dean denied going into the inmate's cell or having contact with him, according to the affidavit. (Albuquerque Journal)

November 8, 2001 As police continue to look for escaped Santa Fe County Detention Center inmate Javier Gonzalez, officials at the jail say they have taken the first steps toward making sure a similar incident never happens again. Management and Training Corp. officials have reassigned staff members and have assigned a new lieutenant to the booking department to make sure employees follow procedures correctly. MTC took over the jail-operations contract from Cornell Companies Inc. on Oct. 1. (The Santa Fe New Mexican)

November 6, 2001 Lest anyone wonder why public-safety officials love private prisons, Santa Fe County Jail's latest foul-up should make matters clearer. Last week, the privately operated jail had two Javier Gonzalezes behind bars. One, a New Mexican, had been accused of shoplifting. The other, a citizen of Mexico, was charged with the rape of his fiancee's 13-year-old sister. The one accused of shoplifting was due for release. The other faced a March trial -- and more than seven years in prison if convicted. So which one was given his street clothes and his walking papers by the private entrepreneurs in charge of the jail? And which one, if he has an ounce of sense, hightailed it south of the border? A couple of days later, the presumably blushing private entrepreneurs in charge of the jail's locks let the right guy go. But here's the beauty of the deal for Sheriff Ray Sisneros and Under-sheriff Benjie Montano: They simply blame the system. "Obviously," Montano said, "someone didn't do their job." Who? An outfit from Utah with the innocuous name of Management & Training Corp. is the jail's new operating contractor. The company's designated warden, Cody Graham, assures Santa Feans that "we have the proper policies and procedures" -- so no changes are needed. Such assurance seems pretty blithe when you consider that no one had bothered to mug the guy accused of shoplifting, so photo comparisons couldn't be run before releasing the rape suspect -- and when common sense would demand double- and triple-checking identities before sending inmates on their merry way. The new jail contractor has been on the job here only a month after replacing Cornell Corrections Corp. -- so count on management and training to blame Cornell for freeing an accused felon. The buck should stop with the Sisneros-Montano team, which has run the sheriff's office for more than a decade -- but they're stepping down after next year's election. Among the many aspirants to succeed them, at least one candidate should come out for county operation of the jail. And if only one does, he or she should have a head start in the race to be our next sheriff. (The Santa Fe New Mexican)

November 2, 2001 In a case of apparent mistaken identity, Santa Fe County jail officials on Monday mistakenly released the wrong Javier Gonzales, a Mexican national charged with raping a 14-year-old girl in Espanola. Santa Fe County Undersheriff Benjie Montano n said Thursday that someone at the jail should have verified they were releasing the n right Javier Gonzales. "Obviously, someone didn't do their job," Montano said. Utah-based Management & Training Corp. took over jail operations from Cornell Corrections in October. (Albuquerque Journal)

October 24, 2001 Santa Fe may stop paying to house city inmates in the privately run Santa Fe County jail and send its prisoners elsewhere, unless a lower rate can be negotiated, City Manager Jim Romero said Tuesday. Romero said city councilors are frustrated with the rates the county charges to hold city inmates. "The council feels that the costs are extremely high," Romero said. Romero said another issue the city has had to contend with in recent years is over-billing and billing mistakes made by jail management when Cornell Corrections ran the facility. On Oct. 1, the Utah-based Management & Training Corp. took over management of the jail from Cornell Corrections. County Finance Director Katherine Miller said Monday that under Cornell's management, the jail didn't swiftly correct persistent billing problems that resulted in complaints from Santa Fe and outside law enforcement agencies that said they were being overcharged. City Finance Director Kathryn Raveling said over-billing by the jail was "a significant problem." The city even went so far as to devote a full-time city police employee to correct over-billing mistakes. (Albuquerque Journal)

September 7, 2001 Incoming Santa Fe County jail warden Cody Graham says increased training for corrections officers will help reverse problems at the jail when the Utah-based Management & Training Corp. takes over in October. "If we can get the staff back to basics on security and some training, then these problems will go away," Graham said in a telephone interview Wednesday morning. Under the current contract with the Texas-based Cornell Corrections, the jail has experienced a series of problems, including a death by heroin overdose, a minor disturbance among inmates and lawsuits alleging male and female inmates were allowed to intermingle and that a jail employee sexually abused an inmate. Cornell withdrew from the competition for a new contract this summer, saying the company couldn't effectively run the jail and turn a profit based on what the county wanted to pay. (Albuquerque Journal)

August 16, 2001 After four hours of public comment, contract tweaking and deliberation, the Santa Fe County Commission unanimously voted Wednesday to award the contract to run its adult jail to the Management & Training Corp., a Utah-based private corrections firm. Company representatives were at the county chambers to answer the commission's questions. The corporation will take over operation of the jail Oct. 1, one day after the contract of the current jail operator, Cornell Corrections Inc., expires. Cornell, a Houston-based concern, on Tuesday withdrew its bid to continue running the jail, citing financial loses it experienced at the jail here. The county said it chose Management & Training in part because of the company's emphasis on rehabilitation through education. (The Santa Fe New Mexican)

August 15, 2001 Cornell Corrections Inc. withdrew its application Tuesday to continue running the Santa Fe County's adult jail for the next three years, saying it had experienced financial problems operating the facility. Paul Doucette, a spokesman for the Houston-based company, said Cornell had lost a significant amount of money running the jail. Doucette said he did not know the exact amount. Santa Fe County Manager Samuel Montoya said Cornell's decision to withdraw its bid would not change his decision to recommend a new jail operator. Montoya is expected to recommend to the commission at a special meeting at 10 a.m. today that it choose the Utah-based Management & Training Corp. as the new operator of the county's adult jail on N.M. 14. The contract will be for $33 million and last for three years. Montoya said he will recommend that Cornell continue to operate the Santa Fe Youth Development Center on Airport Road. A news release indicated Cornell's decision to withdraw was premised on the facility's ongoing financial underperformance, which has resulted in operating losses at the detention center. Doucette said the adult jail now has 122 employees, including senior staff. Most of the guards and other lower-ranked employees came from the previous contractor, Corrections Corporation of America. (AP)

August 1, 2001 A former Santa Fe County jail guard pleaded guilty Tuesday to helping three federal inmates escape the facility four months ago for $3,000. Lawrence Candelaria, 44, of Las Vegas, N.M., admitted in federal court he gave the inmates a hammer, a chisel and hacksaw blades they used to saw the metal bars and crack the window of one of the cells of the jail. The jail is privately run by Houston-based Cornell Companies Inc. Candelaria, who was fired shortly after his arrest in April, also admitted letting one of the inmates use his cell phone to call for a ride. The inmates still have not been apprehended. (The Santa Fe New Mexican)

July 18, 2001 Police say Marcos Cordova engaged in sexual intercourse several times with a female inmate at Santa Fe County Jail. A former Santa Fe County jail guard was behind bars Tuesday charged with having sex with a female inmate on numerous occasions while he worked there. Police arrested Marcos Cordova, 39, of Santa Fe on a district-court warrant Tuesday. The warrant stemmed from an indictment released Monday. Cordova is being detained at the facility where he used to work in lieu of a $25,000 cash or surely bond. According to a report from the department, one of the incidents occurred either March 9 or 10, when male guards allegedly let female and male inmates comingle in the same cell -- also against state law. Deputies investigated the incident, but never filed any charges. However, two jail guards, who were not named, were terminated about two weeks later, and one was placed on administrative leave without pay. A woman who had been jailed on a federal drug charge said in May she was molested by guards at the Santa Fe County Jail and raped by an unnamed guard. (The Santa Fe New Mexican)

July 4, 2001 Officials suspect heroin overdose killed Santiago Martinez, 19, inside jail's segregation unit. The inmate, Santiago Martinez, of Chimayo, received the drugs when he went to Santa Fe's state district court for a hearing, said Steve Gonzales, spokesperson for the Houston-based Cornell Companies Inc. -- the private contractor that runs the problem-riddled jail. Martinez's mother, Tessie Martinez, said her son had told her he had been in the segregation unit for about 20 days for an incident involving a food tray that had been blamed on him. Inmates in segregation are locked down in a cell for 23 hours a day and are only let out for an hour, officials have said. (The Santa Fe New Mexican)

June 21, 2001 Santa Fe County Manger Samuel Montoya said he will recommend that the contract for the adult jail be taken away from Cornell Corrections Inc. and given to a Utah-based company that emphasized education and rehabilitation. If the recommendation is followed, Cornell would continue to operate the juvenile facility, known as the Youth Development Center, Montoya said Wednesday. The two private corrections companies competing against Cornell are Correctional Services Corp. of Florida and Management & Training Corp. of Utah. (The Santa Fe New Mexican)

June 20, 2001 A security consultant will visit the Santa Fe County juvenile detention center to assess Monday's escape by a 17-year-old, who climbed over a 20-foot, barbed wire-topped fence, a jail official said Tuesday. Gary Miller, senior division director for Cornell Companies, said Tuesday that the security consultant will determine whether the juvenile jail needs to be made more secure, or whether Monday night's escape is an aberration. Houston-based Cornell Companies operates both the Santa Fe County juvenile jail and the adult jail. (Albuquerque Journal)

June 19, 2001 A 17-year-old prisoner escaped from the Santa Fe County juvenile detention center around 6:40 p.m. Monday by climbing over a 20-foot-high chain-link fence topped with barbed wire, according to Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. Montano said Haws apparently climbed the fence in an outdoor area of the detention center known as a "bullpen" when the guards weren't looking. "When the staff turned its back he climbed over the top and took off," Montano said. Paul Doucette, a spokesperson for Cornell Cos., a Texas-based company that runs the juvenile jail, said the fence manufacturer touts the fence as "unclimbable" and claims a university climbing team could not scale it. (Albuquerque Journal)

June 13, 2001 A lack of enthusiasm over three recent offers to operate the Santa Fe County jail for the next three years has local officials considering another option operating the jail themselves. The bids received from three companies sought more money than county commissioners budgeted to operate the Santa Fe County Detention Center, County Manager Samuel Montoya said. Officials will approach the interested companies to try to get their prices down, Montoya said during Tuesday's County Commission meeting, while also exploring whether the county could take over operations. Officials said bids exceeded the county's budgeted amount by roughly $2 million. Neither bid figures nor the proposed jail operating budget were divulged Tuesday. "I think we should just do it, take it over and hire a good warden," Duran said. "Someone's making money at it. They're not doing it because it's fun to do." (Albuquerque Journal)

May 12, 2001 The attorney for a Las Vegas, N.M., woman has filed a claim alleging the woman was raped by an employee of the privately run Santa Fe County jail while she was an inmate and that a former guard also tried to rape her. The claim by Mary Lucinda Valdez, 23, follows a federal suit filed earlier this year by three women who were locked up at the jail claiming the former guard, Marcus Trujillo, sexually abused them. According to the claim filed for Valdez by Taos attorney Stephen M. Peterson, she was a federal prisoner at the jail from April 2000 through March 13, 2001. The claim, filed earlier this month, names Santa Fe County, Texas-based Cornell Cos., which operates the jail under contract with the county, Trujillo, and the unidentified employee as potential defendants of a lawsuit. Valdez was interviewed by Santa Fe County sheriff's detectives about the complaints, which lead to further harassment by another jail employee who was related to her alleged attacker, the claim says. Valdez was then moved to a facility in Sandoval County by the U.S. Marshals Service, which her attorney said may lend credence to her claims. (Albuquerque Journal)

May 11, 2001 Carmen Jaramillo says she feared she would be raped or worse on March 10, when she claims guards at Santa Fe County privately run jail forced her and five other female prisoners to intermingle with male inmates. Jaramillo, 37, of Santa Fe, said a male prisoner at the jail run by Texas-based Cornell Companies told her it had been a long time since he had been with a woman. He told her she was attractive and "kissed and fondled" her, Jaramillo said. Jaramillo's attorneys, Cliff McIntyre and Edward Chavez, said they plan to file a civil rights lawsuit against Cornell and two guards on behalf of Jaramillo and two other women who were in the jail on the night of the alleged incident. Paul Doucette, a spokesperson for jail operator Cornell Companies, acknowledged Thursday that male and female inmates had mixed on March 10 and 11. Chavez believes the corrections officers didn't unlock the gate separating female and male prisoners by accident. "The women were housed in a men's area; that in itself is a violation of law," McIntyre said. Starting pay for a new guard is $9.50 an hour, Doucette said. In recent months, the jail has faced a series of problems, including an escape, flooding, a minor disturbance among inmates and a lawsuit alleging a jail employee sexually abused a woman while she was detained there in 1999. (Albuquerque Journal)

April 17, 2001 Police charged a Santa Fe County jail inmate, a convicted murderer, in connection with this past weekend's jail scuffle because he allegedly threw an empty gas canister at the deputy warden's chest. Joe "Buzzard" Everisto Gurule, 44, was charged Monday after he threw the can at Deputy Warden Wilfred Romero during Saturday night's incident at the privately run Cornell Companies Inc. jail. This was the second weekend that a part of the jail has been on lockdown because of an incident there. Inmates were participating in Easter festivities at the jail before the incident occurred about 10 p.m., when they were supposed to go back to their cells, Cornell spokesperson Paul Doucette said. Inmates were forced back into their cells about midnight and helped clean up after throwing food trays, books and signs, he said. About 60 inmates--some of whom were involved in last summer's Rio Arriba County jail riot--took part in Saturday's incident and were placed in lockdown. (The Santa Fe New Mexican)

April 14, 2001 One of the three federal inmates who escaped last weekend from the Santa Fe County jail promised a guard $3,000 to smuggle in hacksaw blades and let them use his cell phone to arrange a getaway, court documents say. U.S. Marshals arrested Lawrence Candelaria, 43, of Las Vegas, N.M., on Wednesday and charged him with aiding or abetting escape. The inmates used a hacksaw, hammer and chisel to break a window and saw through a metal bar while Candelaria turned on exhaust fans to drown out the noise, an affidavit states. The jail is privately run by Cornell Companies, Inc., of Houston. Other guards helped the inmates obtain the tools to escape, one escapee had told Candelaria, according to the affidavit. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

April 13, 2001 A Santa Fe County jail guard has been arrested on charges that he was to be paid $3,000 to help three federal inmates who escaped from that lockup Saturday. Lawrence Candelaria, 43, of Las Vegas, N.M., is charged with aiding and abetting an escape. Court documents obtained by The Journal said the investigation revealed Candelaria allegedly smuggled in three hacksaw blades and gave them to one of the inmates, let one of the inmates use his cellular phone to arrange Saturday's escape, and created diversions while the inmates cut and pounded their way out. The investigation also revealed that the night of the escape, Candelaria was working in the control booth and allegedly turned on exhaust fans at Tijerina's request as a diversion as the inmates sawed and pounded away, according to the affidavit. (ABQ Journal)

April 11, 2001 The weekend escape of three federal inmates from Santa Fe County's jail is giving local government officials financial jitters. The U.S. Marshals Service on Monday considered moving its inmates out, acting U.S. Marshal Tom Bustamante said. The federal contract is a lucrative, but needed, benefit for the county government's $22 million jail. At $65 a day for each inmate, the feds pay Santa Fe County about $4 million each year to house convicts and defendants awaiting trial. Bustamante and other officials met with Cornell representatives Monday to determine the severity of problems at the jail. The prevailing problem, Bustamante said, is that inmates who stay locked inside for more than a year stand a good chance of creating problems -- be it abusing guards or escaping. Inmates who stay confined in the same jail for months on end "start to develop relationships," Bustamante said. Had the decision come down to transfer all of the federal prisoners, the Marshals Service would have faced another question -- where to send them? Every other New Mexico jail with which the Marshals Service has contracted has experienced similar problems, Bustamante said. "Cornell is not the only facility where we've had problems," Bustamante said. (ABQ Journal)

April 11, 2001 Builders of the $22 million Santa Fe County jail assured officials before it opened more than two years ago that an inch-thick window in the jail would withstand up to 20 minutes of pounding with a sledge hammer, Sheriff Ray Sisneros said. Three inmates broke the window with a hammer and a metal punch to escape Saturday, jail officials have said. The jail has "a serious design flaw that shouldn't have happened," Sisneros said Tuesday. The jail was built by an Austin, Texas, construction company, Landmark Organization Inc. Santa Fe County contracted with Houston-based Cornell Companies to build and operate the jail, and Cornell subcontracted with Landmark for construction. The U.S. Marshals Service, which leases 170 of the jail's beds for federal prisoners, announced it was moving 19 inmates who have been jailed there for more than a year. Senior Warden Lawrence Barreras said Tuesday the action was prompted by Saturday night's escape. (AP)

April 10, 2001 Santa Fe County jail officials said Monday a staff member probably gave three escaped inmates the tools to break out. The officials also called the jail one of the most problem-riddled correctional facilities run by Cornell Companies. The facility has no alarms, and a 14-foot chain-link with barbed wire serves as a parameter fence, not to detain inmates. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

April 10, 2001 Jail staff was probably involved in the weekend escape of three federal inmates from the Santa Fe County Detention Center, an incident Cornell Companies Vice President Gary Henman said Monday was the "most serious introduction of escape tools" in his 38-year career in corrections. "We can't pass the buck here," Henman said at a morning news conference. "It's definitely a problem of our internal facility." Authorities continued Monday to hunt for the escapees and the means by which they obtained the tools they used to saw their way out of the county jail Saturday night. (ABQ Journal)

April 9, 2001 An investigation into the escape of three federal inmates from the privately run Santa Fe County Detention Center late Saturday focused on how the prisoners got access to the tools they used in their breakout, authorities said Sunday. Saturday's escape was the latest in a series of publicized problems at the county lockup, which also serves as a holding facility for federal prisoners. Santa Fe County Sheriff Ray Sisneros said his office was taking the lead in the investigation and was working with the U.S. Marshal's Service and Cornell Cos. to determine how the escapees obtained a hacksaw, a hammer and a metal punch. "It's obvious that they had help of some kind," said Sisneros. "We always look at the possibility of an inside job, but we don't know yet." Saturday's was the first escape from the county jail since Cornell assumed operation three years ago, but it's not the first escape by a federal prisoner in the company's custody. Byron Shane Chubbuck, a convicted bank robber, escaped from a Cornell transport van Dec. 21 in Albuquerque on his way back to the Santa Fe County jail after a court hearing. (ABQ Journal)

April 6, 2001 A San Miguel County woman and her daughter have sued the privately run Cornell Youth Detention Center in Santa Fe alleging an employee at the center sexually abused the younger woman while she was detained there in 1999. The lawsuit alleges Campbell violated Maria Carreon's civil rights by subjecting her to cruel and unusual punishment. Campbell kissed, bit and sexually touched her in her cell, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit also alleges that Cornell failed in its training and supervision of personnel at the juvenile facility and that both county commission failed in their responsibility toward inmates there. But as result of Carreon's complaint in 1999, Campbell was investigated and fired for non-criminal misconduct unrelated to Carreon's complaint, spokesperson for Cornell Paul Doucette said. Cornell Corrections' operations of the adult jail, an operation separate from the juvenile facility, is already under scrutiny by Santa Fe County Sheriff Ray Sisneros. (Albuquerque Journal)

April 4, 2001 Since it opened three years ago, Santa Fe County's privately run jail hasn't exactly been a trouble-free operation. Early on, there were complaints from defense attorneys and others about possible civil rights violations at the jail, which is run by the Texas-based Cornell Companies. Safety also was an issue at one point there were complaints that violent, hard-core criminals were housed with people held for minor or nonviolent crimes. For most of the past three years, the city of Santa Fe has been squabbling with county and Cornell officials over the cost of housing city prisoners at the jail. In December, the County Commission forked over a half-million-dollar increase in Cornell's budget an adjustment apparently connected to the ongoing dispute over how much public agencies should pay for prisoner housing. But the city has decided to send its prisoners somewhere cheaper. County officials, who under state law are required to keep close tabs on privately run jails, have not been particularly zealous in pursuit of this duty. Last year, a state district judge had to order a grand jury review of jail operations because the required county report on jail conditions was months overdue. Just recently, there have been allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of guards, and of sex between inmates. And in the past month, one jail guard has been arrested for trying to smuggle a Baggie of marijuana into the jail and another was arrested for beating an inmate. In view of the seriousness of the most recent incidents and the upcoming decision about who will run the jail for the next three years it's about time the county took a hard look at the jail and the company that has been running it. Santa Fe County Sheriff Ray Sisneros has started the task. Last week, Sisneros confirmed that he has assigned a detective to the jail full-time to investigate conditions there. A national organization that reviews private prisons and jails is scheduled to make a visit soon, too. Such scrutiny may lead to improvement. A just-appointed citizens oversight committee can't hurt, either. The committee will begin its task in the fall, after the County Commission has chosen a new jail operator from the three companies, including Cornell, that have submitted bids. County officials have been saying they may be ready to award the bid as early as next month. But under the circumstances, the commissioners should be in no hurry. To be fair to the three companies, including Cornell, they should postpone any decision on the bid until the investigation and accreditation reviews are completed.

April 1, 2001 Workers for the Texas-based firm that hopes to continue operating the Santa Fe County jail for another three years are the target of a full-time investigation for criminal wrongdoing. County Sheriff Ray Sisneros, who monitors the jail, confirmed Thursday he has assigned one of his detectives to the Santa Fe County Detention Center on a full-time basis. The investigation was prompted, Sisneros said, by two events in the past month: allegations that one guard tried to sneak a Baggie of marijuana into the jail, and another guard was arrested and charged with beating an inmate. The jail operator, Cornell Companies, formerly Cornell Corrections, is in the final leg of its three-year contract with Santa Fe County. The requirements for Cornell guards, known as "detention officers," are similar to their counterparts in the state Corrections Department. Training, however, differs somewhat. The Corrections Department puts its applicants through a 7-week-long academy, which some other private correction firms in the complete, state officials said. Cornell puts its applicants through two weeks of classroom instruction and another two weeks of supervised on-the-job training, Cornell Spokesperson Paul Doucette said. Cornell does not send its trainees through the state corrections academy. (Privateer News II and AP)

April 1, 2001 Allegations of a drug smuggling attempt and an inmate beating have prompted the sheriff to launch a criminal investigation into activities at the privately operated Santa Fe County Detention Center. Sheriff Ray Sisneros has assigned a detective to the center on a full-time basis. Sisneros is particularly suspicious of allegations that a guard tried to sneak a small bag of marijuana into the jail and the arrest of another guard who allegedly beat an inmate. The jail is operated by Cornell Companies of Houston. In addition to the investigation, County Manager Sam Montoya has asked jail management to improve training for guards. ( AP)

March 22, 2001 A Santa Fe County jail guard has been fired for allegedly agreeing to take $70 to sneak a bag of marijuana into the Cornell run jail for an inmate. (AP, March 22, 2001)

March 21 ,2001 Three women locked up last year at the Santa Fe County jail have filed a federal lawsuit alleging a "malicious and sadistic" guard sexually abused them. The women sued Trujillo, Senior Warden Lawrence Barreras and Cornell Cos. of Houston formerly known as Cornell Corrections, which operates the jail under a contract with the county. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for pain and emotional distress. Romero alleges in the lawsuit that Trujillo touched her genitals and asked her for sex. Gallegos alleges he asked her to show her breasts, which she did twice, and that touched her genitals under her clothes. Martinez alleges Trujillo attacked her in a section of the booking are not visible to surveillance cameras. Trujillo remains employed by the jail, and there have been no other allegations of misconduct against him, Doucette said. Meanwhile the Sheriff's Department is investigating whether jail officers let female inmates into the same cell with her boyfriend, also an inmate on March 10 and 11, and whether other inmates had sex at the jail. Gilliland said two guards have been fired in the last few weeks. He would no release their names or say whether they were fired in connection with the allegations. (AP)

March 10, 2001 A man who pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of a homeless man in October was incorrectly released from jail Thursday by Cornell Corrections Inc., which runs the Santa Fe jail. Santa Fe police fear that the man, Luis Lopez-Cota, 24, may flee the area. "We were notified late Friday evening and learned he was released," said santa Fe Deputy Police Beverly Lennen. "We are working with Cornell staff and the district attorney's office to determine why and how he was released." Lopez-Cota pleaded guilty to murdering Cruz Montez Montoya, 34, in October in an outdoor drinking spot near the Santa Fe rail yard. Police said Lopez-Cota is considered dangerous and people should not approach him. (The New Mexican)

March 6, 2001 Former guard Christopher Grule found himself on the wrong side of a cell door Friday after his arrest on charges he beat an inmate who was later stitched up at the hospital, according to a Santa Fe County sheriff's report. According to court documents, Gurule used his body to push Chatman into a cider-block wall in the jail's booking area, where Gurule was working as a booking officer. Gurule held Chatman against the wall and the slammed his head into it, giving Chatman a 1 1/2-inch cut to his right eyebrow, the document state. "The injury bled excessively," court documents state." Gurule forced Mr. Chatman to the concrete floor, lying onto his stomach. Gurule then stomped his foot into the center of Mr. Chatman's back approximately two three times. While on the floor, Chatman pleaded with Gurule because he couldn't breathe, but Gurule continued to apply pressure to Chatman's back, the documents indicate. Chatman was handcuffed behind his back. Another detention officer, Muriah Townsend, reported telling Gurule to release his hold on Chatman, whom Townsend reported as having difficulty to breathe, court document state. Jamie Neal-Barone, another Cornell employee who saw the attack described Gurule as aggressive. (Albuquerque Journal)

February 09, 2001 One of the heads of the Santa Fe County Jail was the guard who bank robber Byron Shane Chubbuck accused of brutality and corruption. Chubbuck accused Romero of abusing inmates and selling Chubbuck a handcuff key he used in a Dec. 21 escape from a prison transport van. (Albuquerque Journal)

December 27, 2001 Federal law officers hunting for escaped bank robber Byron Shane Chubbuck say they have received some solid tips that lead them to believe he is still in the Albuquerque area. Tom Bustamante the acting U.S. Marshal for New Mexico, said the U.S. Marshals Service also is checking with law agencies across New Mexico to determine if Chubbuck has committed any new crimes. Chubbuck escaped from a prisoners transport van just before 5 p.m.. Thursday at Second Montano NW. Bustamante has said--Chubbuck who dubbed "Robin the Hood" by the FBI. He used a key to free himself from his restraints. An investigation into how Chubbuck got the key is still continuing. Chubbuck was being housed at the Santa Fe County Detention Center, and escape took place as he and some other federal prisoners were being returned to Santa FE after court hearings in Albuquerque. As Chubbuck bolted from the Cornell Corrections Inc. transport van, Bustamante said, the two private guards in that van chased him and fired several shots with their duty handguns. Chubbock injured his right hand during or after the escape, but authorities aren't sure if the wound was caused by the gunfire. (Albuquerque Journal)

December 23, 2000 A convicted bank robber dubbed "Robin the Hood" used a key to free himself from his restraints before escaping from a prisoner transport van, a federal law enforcement officer said. He freed himself from his restraints, kicked out a window in the van and ran away. Authorities said at least one of the two guards in the transport van fired at Chubbuck after the escape. (Albuquerque Journal)

November 22, 2000 Late reporting by Santa Fe County officials on conditions at the local jail has led to a District Court grand jury tour of the facility. Chief District Judge Michael Vigil, who said Tuesday he has grown tired of reminding Santa Fe County lawmakers to inspect their jail twice a year, asked the sitting grand jury to determine if local inmates were receiving proper medical and nutritional treatment. "I have to remind all the county governments of their responsibilities, "Vigil said, referring to Santa Fe and other area jails. "They have failed to do timely reports." Some of the loudest concerns have been voiced by Commissioner Duran, who has called for public oversight of the jail and noted in the county report that holding cells were overcrowded. He also said inmates in solitary confinement are not receiving adequate representation. "Occasionally, we still have problems getting people released in a timely matter." (Albuquerque Journal)

October 16, 2000 City council planned to create oversight board to examine problems at jail has met opposition from county commissioners. City councilor Frank Montano, a critic of the jail, says residents routinely complained to him about the conditions at the jail. (AP)

October 10, 2000 In an effort to "take the mystery out of our operations" Cornell launched a public-relations program the company calls a "bold new communications initiative." What were they hiding? Recently the county announced it was putting out to bid the jail contact. Shortly after opening the jail became the subject of intense criticism from lawyers and judges for allegedly taking too long to release inmates, for allegedly mishandling inmate medicine and for not allowing attorneys to meet with inmates. Earlier this year Santa Fe councilors blasted Cornell for allegedly overcharging the city. (Santa Fe New Mexican, Oct.11, 2000)

Questions are raised about Cornell's operations of the detention center by human rights, civil rights and equal rights advocates. One inmate didn't have toilet paper for 12 hours in his holding cell at least two times. (Santa Fe New Mexican, August 29, 2000)

Santa Fe County Juvenile Detention Center Santa Fe, New Mexico MTC (Formerly Cornell)

March 22, 2004 Sixteen-year-old Heather was at the end of her rope. She couldn't leave the house without being followed by her probation officer or her mother. The therapy, supervision and detention time she was assigned after repeated runaway attempts made her feel crazy. She grew more angry, more rebellious. So she ran away again. This time making it to the East Coast, where she spent most of her teenage years living on the streets, alternately shooting heroin, smoking crack and thinking about coming home. If she hadn't been afraid of getting put back in the system in Santa Fe, she would have made the hard trip back to real life sooner than she did. She's now 21, living at home with her mom, attending college, holding down a full-time job and visiting a counselor when she can't quite wrap her mind around it all. But Heather, who didn't want her real name published, believes a different approach by the juvenile-justice system could have helped her sooner. People, like her, with a turbulent youth might have better odds of staying out of serious trouble if officials in Santa Fe County succeed in diverting more teenage offenders before they grow into adult criminals. Dozens of teens are booked into the county's juvenile-detention center each month for relatively minor offenses, such as shoplifting, to crimes as serious as murder. Instead of leaving the care and rehabilitation of wayward youngsters to a private company -- like Santa Fe County has done for more than 20 years -- the county is playing a more direct role and is looking at different ways to deal with juvenile delinquency. The county's takeover of daily operations doesn't mean immediate, drastic change. But officials say some changes are on the way that could reduce the number of youths who spend time in lockup and offer young offenders more interaction with the community. The former county jail on Airport Road is a place no one likes to refer to by that name anymore. The j-word is practically banned from the building, whose sign out front declares its formal name as the Santa Fe County Youth Development Program. Cornell Companies began its tenure running the program with an in-your-face style that many referred to as their "boot camp" model. Over the years, however, the focus has shifted to less abrasive treatment. The people who are housed there are no longer called prisoners or inmates. They are residents, clients or kids. They don't sleep in cells but have quiet time in their bar-doored rooms. The people watching over them on the inside aren't guards, but life-skills workers. Despite the sign and the jargon, the barbed-wire perimeter allows no mistaking -- it's still a jail. These adolescents, however, are increasingly viewed as in need of programs and not punishment. "Children are still-developing human beings, and society owes children an opportunity to become healthy adults," said Judge Barbara Vigil, who handles juvenile-delinquency cases for the state's 1st Judicial District. "The juvenile system is a system that takes this role very seriously. We're trying to modify behavior so they become law-abiding citizens." Shifting focus After Cornell decided not to continue its contract this summer, Santa Fe County officials said they could save money and offer more alternatives by running the facility themselves rather than contracting with what would have been a third consecutive private operator. So about 60 people who had worked for the program under Cornell became county employees, a handful of sheriff's deputies and a county administrator made offices in the building, and the county reclaimed all responsibilities at the facility. Cornell, a nationwide private-prison operator that also ran the local adult jail for several years, employed boot-camp tactics at the youth detention center for roughly the first four years it ran the program, according to program director Chris Sanchez. The strict regimen and confrontational style was not well received by the community and didn't seem to make great strides with teenagers. Heather was in and out of the lockup during those years as she struggled with a drinking problem that was out of control by the time she was 15. "I was pretty scared. It startled me that I had ... even gotten myself into that place," she said. "Every time I went there I was terrified. ... (Jail workers) would get in your face and scream until they made you cry or you would scream back. "I just kept to myself and kept my mouth shut, but I'd watch these other kids get ripped to shreds. It just didn't seem helpful to me." (The New Mexican)

January 8, 2004 About 60 people who currently work at the Santa Fe County Youth Detention Center will have a chance to become county employees when the government takes over the youth jail from a private contractor later this month. Cornell Companies announced this summer it would not renew its contract to operate the 128-bed facility, which it has operated for about five years. Last month, the County Commission voted not to contract another private operator. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

December 19, 2003 How the Santa Fe County Juvenile Detention Center is operated on Jan. 28 could be decided today by the County Commission. The five-member commission will be presented with three options for running the 57-bed juvenile center once Cornell Companies Inc. pulls out Jan. 27. Options include closing the facility, hiring another private contractor to run it or having the county take over the facility, County Manager Gerald Gonzalez said. "We have a time deadline associated with that facility because the current operator's contract ends in January," Gonzalez said. Gonzalez said he is hopeful the elected officials will make a decision on how to best operate the facility. The commission meets at 1 p.m. today in the commission chamber. "It's critical we get a decision (today)," he said. As of Monday evening, Gonzalez said his staff had not yet completed the final details of each option or the cost associated with each alternative. He said a full explanation and costs of each option would be presented to the commission during the public meeting. Gonzalez said county staff has been researching the options for about a month. In that time, the county has also solicited bids for a private contractor to operate the facility. This work had to be done because Cornell Companies Inc. notified the county in August it would terminate its contract to run the juvenile jail. The company has operated the facility for the past three years. Cornell is ending the relationship with the county; it is claiming it has lost money because the facility has not been full. Cornell also did not want to renew its contract because the county was seeking to increase rent. If the commission decides to close the facility, Gonzalez said the county would then look at other facilities in nearby counties where juveniles could be sent. The closest juvenile centers are in Valencia County and in Tucumcari, he said. The commission could also choose to hire another private company to run the facility. Gonzalez said Correctional Services Corp. has submitted a proposal to the county to operate the facility. The third option is for the county to operate the facility itself. Currently, the county does not run any of its detention centers. The adult jail is operated by Management & Training Corp., a Utah firm. (ABQ Journal)

September 3, 2003 A former corrections officer at the Santa Fe County Youth Development Program who pleaded guilty to raping a juvenile inmate will be released on house arrest and must undergo additional psychological evaluation before sentencing, state District Judge Michael Vigil ruled Tuesday. John Robertson, 39, pleaded guilty last week to two felony sex crimes for having intercourse with a 16-year-old girl at the facility. Vigil said he ordered the additional report because an existing evaluation on Robertson did not test extensively enough to determine whether he is a sexual predator or a pedophile. Robertson had worked as a corrections officer at the county's adult jail for more than two years before moving to youth facility, where he worked for about a year and a half before the incident, according to Paul Doucette, vice president for public affairs with private jail-operator Cornell Companies Inc. Doucette said Cornell did a background check on Robertson that did not indicate a past history of any kind of offense. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

September 2, 2003 A former corrections officer at Santa Fe County’s youth jail pleaded guilty Friday to criminal charges for having sex with a juvenile inmate at the facility this spring. John Robertson, 39, is scheduled for sentencing at 4 p.m. Tuesday in state District Court in Santa Fe pending Judge Michael Vigil’s review of a psychological evaluation. Assistant district attorney Barbara Romo said Robertson could be sentenced to up to six years in prison for criminal sexual contact and attempted criminal sexual penetration of a minor. Robinson told police he had a sexual encounter with a 16-year-old girl who was in his keep at the Santa Fe County Youth Development Program on March 31, according to court records. Romo said the former guard had the encounter in the female unit of the jail’s detention wing. A nurse-examiner later that day found evidence of sexual intercourse, court records show. (The New Mexican)

August 19, 2003 Cornell Companies Inc. has decided against seeking renewal of its contract to run Santa Fe County's juvenile jail. "We've been negotiating with the county for some time, and it was obvious we weren't going to be able to reach an agreement," Paul Doucette, vice president of public affairs for the Texas-based company, said Monday. Cornell, which has managed the jail for about five years, sent a letter to the county last month saying it would let its contract expire at the end of October. Cornell has been struggling with high overhead costs and a small population in the jail, Doucette said. The amount of rent the company paid the county was not justified by the number of prisoners in the jail, he said. The county pays a daily rate to the company for each youth, but the contract requires Cornell to pay $25,000 in rent each month and waive the daily fee for 8.25 beds per month. The county wanted more free beds for the same amount of rent, and Cornell sought to maintain the current agreement or decrease the number of free beds, said Stephen Ross, county attorney. (AP)

August 14, 2003 A 19-year-old federal inmate at the Santa Fe County juvenile jail is under investigation for threatening a 14-year-old male inmate "with physical harm" in order to get oral sex, according to a report from the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. The investigation was initiated after staff members at the jail observed the suspect and the alleged victim in a room together without authorization, according to the report. Solano said it is not uncommon for adults who were sentenced to spend time at the juvenile jail before their 18th birthday to spend time there as an inmate. However, adults who spend time at the juvenile jail after they turn 18 must have a judge's permission to do so, Solano said. (ABQ Journal)

Santa Rosa, New Mexico TransCor/CCA

October 13, 1999 A convicted murderer from North Dakota en route to Oregon used a handcuff key smuggled in his shoe to unlock his handcuffs, climb through an air vent and escape from a secure transport van operated by TransCor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Corrections Corp. of America. Although the escaped occurred around 4:00 a.m., it wasn’t reported to police until 3:00 p.m. - 11 hours after the fact. (Albuquerque Journal, 10/14/1999)

Smith's Food and Drug Bernalillo, New Mexico Priority One

November 19, 2003 A woman with developmental disabilities was unfairly targeted as a shoplifter at Smith's Food and Drug, and her mother was slammed to the floor after coming to her aid, a lawsuit says. The same guard at an unlicensed security firm targeted the women more than a week later when they tried to fill a prescription at a different Smith's store, the lawsuit alleges. The Smith's store manager at Carlisle and Menaul NE where the first incident occurred referred questions to corporate offices and to Priority One, the allegedly unlicensed firm that provides store security. But the manager, Roger Flenniken, said shoplifting is a problem at the store and one that management takes seriously. (AQBQ Journal)

Torrance County DC Estancia, New Mexico CCA

June 13, 2003 Torrance County employees will see a 7 percent pay raise this year — their first raise in a couple of years. Torrance County manager Bob Ayre said he was pleased that the county's proposed budget will allow an across-the-board pay raise to all employees. Municipalities generally cover the cost of people incarcerated under municipal statutes. But if municipal police cite people under state statutes in magistrate court, the county is responsible for paying the incarceration costs until that person is sentenced. This fiscal year, the county projects spending $885,747 for incarceration costs. But the county has no control over the number of actual arrests made. The cost comes out of the general fund, which impacts each department and the entire county budget.The county pays about $48 a day for adult male inmates, $75 for female inmates and an average of $100 a day for juveniles. The county houses an average of 40 inmates a day. (ABQ Journal)

June 13, 2003 Money to build a swimming pool isn't part of Estancia's $1.5 million preliminary budget for 2003-04, but the budget provides for a 4 percent cost-of-living pay increase for all employees. (ABQ Journal)

December 13, 2002 A carbon monoxide leak in the kitchen of the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia sent nine people to Albuquerque and Santa Fe hospitals Friday. The gas leak also presented another problem: How do you feed 1,000 people without a kitchen? An inmate working in the kitchen area fell and hit his head after apparently inhaling carbon monoxide in the dry storage area of the kitchen about 11 a.m. Friday, Barner said. Employees who went to his aid also got sick. Barner said inmates were confined to their cells for safety reasons, and the inmates, prison staff and the community were never in any danger. (ABQ Journal)

December 7, 2002 A noxious gas, apparently carbon monoxide, sickened about nine people in the private Torrance County Detention Facility on Friday, officials said. Investigators were trying to pinpoint the source of the fumes, said Louise Green, vice president of marketing and communications for CCA, which runs the prison about 40 miles east of Albuquerque. "We've got no apparent gas leak from a dry storage area from within the (prison) kitchen," she said in a telephone interview from CCA headquarters in Nashville, Tenn. State police Lt. Robert Shilling said the prison was locked down "while they track down the source of the fumes." (Santa Fe New Mexican)

December 6, 2002 State police reported a disturbance Friday at the private Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, but had no immediate details. A state police officer was sent to the site to assess the situation, said Lt. Rob Shilling, spokesman for the state police. The Torrance County sheriff was on the scene and not available to comment, his office said. The private prison about 40 miles east of Albuquerque is run by Corrections Corporation of America, based in Nashville, Tenn. The prison, which houses both state and federal prisoners, has been the scene of several disturbances in recent years. In January, about 20 inmates were confined to their cells after a fight among federal inmates. In an uprising in November 2000, inmates using a makeshift knife, mop handles and table legs injured eight guards. Two guards were beaten in August 1999 in an melee triggered by a fight at an inmate softball game. (AP)

July 18, 2002 Torrance County is broke. It's as simple as that, according to County Manager Bob Ayre. Counties are required by state law to pick up the cost of jailing people arrested under state statues within the county. "Incarcerations are costing the county over $1 million a year. And we have to pay it---we have no choice," Ayre said. Torrance County is not the only county in this situation. Valencia County, in an effort to bring its deficit budget in line, laid off five employees. Mckinley County finance director Judy Krauklis said one-third of her county's general funds are used to operate the jail. Ayre said these costs consume about 20 percent of Torrance County's budget, excluding grants. He said some of the smaller counties are joining forces with the New Mexico Association of Counties to lobby the Legislature for funding to help offset the cost of housing prisoners. (MtV Journal.com)

May 28, 2002 A civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Torrance County Detention Facility operator Corrections Corporation of America. First Financial Trust Co. filed the suit on behalf of Calvin Lamy, a Native American who committed suicide on Aug. 9, 2001, while being detained at the facility. On Aug. 5, 2001, Lamy tried to commit suicide with anti-depressant pills and rubbing alcohol, according to the suit. His conditions of release were revoked and he was sent to the Estancia prison "because he was a danger to himself," the suit says. When Lamy's psychologist learned Lamy had been taken to the Estancia prison, he contacted prison officials to advise them that Lamy posed a suicide risk, according to the suit. The lawsuit claims prison employees left Lamy alone and unsupervised in a jail cell with "materials capable of being used for a suicide." On Aug. 9, Lamy was found hanging by a sheet from the upper bunk in his cell. (MtV Journal.com)

April 26, 2002 Three members of a gang that took over the crack cocaine trade in Albuquerque in the 1990s were sentenced Thursday for their roles in a riot at the Estancia prison. The riot erupted Aug. 17, 1999, at the privately run Torrance County Detention Facility while the three were awaiting sentencing in the racketeering case. The riot was to serve as a cover-up for an escape attempt. Several inmates and guards were injured, including officer Alberto Estrada, who was beaten with baseball bats and was in a coma for four days. (Albuquerque Journal)

February 13, 2002 A Santa Fe teacher who apparently hanged himself in his jail cell last week had numerous e-mail conversations with someone he thought was a 13-year-old boy, court records indicate. However, Daniel Sogen, 55, was actually communicating with a police detective over the Internet. Sogen hanged himself in the Torrance County Detention Facility on Saturday with a pair of socks, the jail warden said. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

January 17, 2002 A Jan. 8 inmate disturbance at the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia has kept the prison on lockdown for more than a week. The Jan. 8 meeting of the Estancia Board of Trustees was interrupted when Mayor Marty Hibbs received word that there had been a disturbance at the facility and all inmates had been placed on lockdown. Inmates are confined to their cells during a lockdown. Hibbs said a fight broke out between inmates in one of the cellblocks about 8:15 p.m. No medical help or additional outside law enforcement was requested, he said. "The prison has made a commitment to let the town know when there is any disturbance out there," Hibbs said at the meeting. Officials at the privately run prison, owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America, confirmed Tuesday that the inmates were still locked down. (Albuquerque Journal)

October 11, 2001 Torrance County property owners will pay higher property taxes for the 2001 tax year because of a bond issue voters approved last year. County Manager Bob Ayre said one example of the county losing income is the Torannce County Detention Facility, owned by Corrections Corporation of America of Tennessee. The prison had been valued at $30 million, Ayre said, but under a protest it wanted the valuation reduced to $15 million. County Assessor Chris Pohl said the negotiated valuation was set at $25 million. Ayre said that resulted in a loss of about $30,000 in tax revenue to the county. "It's not right," Ayre said. "It astounds me to know that the assessor can go behind closed doors and make a deal." (Albuquerque Journal)

August 2, 2001 Members of the Legislative Corrections Oversight and Justice Committee learned Friday that some out-of-state inmates currently held at the Torrance County Detention Center Facility were involved in several violent incidents at an Arizona prison in April. Committee members questioned prison officials about classification procedures for out-of-state inmates and about changes made since a series of disturbances during 1998 and 1999, including an August 1999 incident in which eight guards were injured. Ed Mahr, CCA's lobbyist, answered most of the questions for CCA because current Warden Lane Blair had only been on site for less than a week. The facility has had four new wardens in less than a year. "What was the classification of the Hawaiian inmates in Arizona? And was there a problem with the Hawaiian inmates which caused them to be transferred out of Arizona?" Sen. Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, asked several times before Mahr deflected the question to other CCA officials. "In Arizona they were medium-security," said Chris Rhoads, the Torrance County Detention Facility's assistant warden. Rhoads said the prisoners are currently classified as medium-security. "What was their classification in Hawaii?" Sanchez asked. "Was there a problem with them?" Rhoads answered that the Hawaiian inmates were classified as maximum-security in their home state because they were identified as gang members and a security threat. "Were any of those inmates involved in the Arizona incident transferred to this facility?" Sanchez asked. The question was referred to John Gluch, a regional managing director for CCA, who said some inmates transferred to Estancia from another CCA facility in Arizona were involved. Torrance County Sheriff Pete Golden expressed concern over what he called CCA's "white-out" classification of out-of-state prisoners. "My concern is these out-of-state prisoners also have gone through a reclassification process, using 'white-out' maybe, where they go from maximum to medium-security," Golden said. Rep. Rhonda King, D-Stanley, asked Mahr if an emergency plan has been filed by the Estancia prison with local and state officials. As part of the Prison Oversight Act, private prisons must file emergency plans with local and state law enforcement. "We are just starting the implementation of the act," Mahr said. "We have not met with the staff of the Department of Corrections." (Albuquerque Journal)

August 2, 2001 Former Torrance County Detention Facility warden Don Dorsey has a new job with the New Mexico Department of Corrections. "I am working with the prisons in Hobbs, Santa Rosa and the women's facility in Grants as a consultant, monitoring and making suggestions on the practices the facilities are using to house New Mexico inmates," Dorsey said Tuesday. "I think this job is less stressful, and I really enjoy it." Dorsey, 53, was fired as warden Nov. 29 after a series of disturbances at the Estancia prison, culminating on Nov. 11 when inmates rioted and injured eight guards using a makeshift knife, mop handles, toilet-bowl scrubbers and table legs. Dorsey said he left the state corrections department in early 1997 to take a job as a warden with the Corrections Corporation of America in Sayre, Okla. By the end of 1997 the warden's position at the Estancia CCA prison became available, and he moved back to New Mexico. (Albuquerque Journal)

July 28, 2001 Members of the Legislative Corrections Oversight and Justice Committee learned Friday that 38 inmates from Hawaii currently being held at the Torrance County Detention Center were involved in several violent incidents at an Arizona jail in April. The Torrance County lockup, run by Corrections Corporation of America, is required to comply with the Privately Operated Correctional Facilities Oversight Act that became state law July 1. Members of the committee grilled prison officials about the classification procedures for out-of-state inmates and about changes made since a series of disturbances at the Torrance County facility during 1998 and 1999. Eight guards were injured in an August 1999 incident. "What changes were made after the last riot?" Sen. Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, co-chairman of the Corrections Oversight and Justice Committee asked CCA officials. Sanchez asked CCA officials how the Hawaii inmates, who came to New Mexico last month, were classified in Arizona and whether there was a problem that caused the Hawaiians to be transferred from Arizona. "In Arizona, they were medium security," said Chris Rhoads, the Torrance County Detention Center's assistant warden. "What was their classification in Hawaii?" Sanchez asked. "Was there a problem with them?" The Hawaiian inmates were identified as gang members and as a security threat, Rhoads said. (Albuquerque Journal)

July 26, 2001 The privately run Torrance County Detention Center has another new warden, the fourth in a year. Lane Blair, 31, replaced warden Earnest Taylor as the Estancia prison's head administrator on Saturday. (Albuquerque Journal)

A 7th Judicial District judge on March 27 sentenced a former Torrance County Detention Facility correctional officer to one year of unsupervised probation for possession of marijuana. In November, Paul A. Tafoya was charged of possession and conspiracy to take contraband into a prison. According to a police report, Tafoya went to Circle K in Moriarty to pick up an envelope of money for a District of Columbia inmate housed at the private prison in Estancia. But Tafoya told Torrance County Sheriff's deputies that he planned to pick up the money and give it to officials at Corrections Corporation of America, which runs the Estancia prison. (Albuquerque Journal)

April 26, 2001 Two of three reputed gang leaders serving time on federal convictions entered innocent pleas last week to charges stemming from an August 1999 riot at the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia. About 80 inmates were involved in the riot, which broke out Aug. 17, 1999, during a softball game in the yard of the prison. The facility is run by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America. (Albuquerque Journal)

March 22, 2001 A lawsuit brought by guards from the Estancia prison is now in the hands of the state Supreme Court. The lawsuit, filed in 1999 by five correctional officers and three of their spouses, alleges that the guards were injured because the private prison operator, CCA, intentionally placed them at risk by failing to comply with industry standards. The lawsuit cites several instances of inmate violence against correctional officers at the Estancia prison from 1998 to 1999. One of the allegations in the case is that CCA officials knew about plans for an Aug. 17, 1999, riot at the prison but did nothing to prevent it. The lawsuit also alleges that prison officials failed to repair a broken lock on the prison's C-13 door, which leads to a prison office area. Correctional officer Alberto Estrada was unable to lock the door to escape from rioting inmates who subsequently beat him with a baseball bat. Prison officials admitted that the door had been broken for months. Officers Estrada and Bernadette Brown were seriously injured in the Aug. 17. riot. (Albuquerque Journal, March 22, 2001)

December 5, 2000 The Warden and Chief Security Officer of a New Mexico prison have been fired by the for-profit company that manages the facility. Their dismissal of Don Dorsey, by the privately run Corrections Corp. of America comes after 32 D.C. inmates injured several officers during a late-night riot. The prison, which houses about 160 D.C. inmates in a dorm in 1999, and earlier this year some of them attempted an escape. Just after midnight on Nov. 11, guards tried to turn off the television in a cellblock filled with maximum-security District inmates. According to a prison advocate, officers had kept changing the hours when the television had to be shut down for the night. That night, a movie had started when the officers ordered that the television be turned off. Two officers were seriously injured when they were stabbed with home made weapons, according to Susan Hart, Vice President of Communications of CCA. CCA has had consistent problems in handling the District's most violent inmates. (The Washington Post, Dec. 5, 2000)

November 30, 2000 A District of Columbia inmate who nearly escaped from the Torrance County Detention Facility on October 20 had $800 with him when he was captured. Authorities don't know how the inmate had got the money. (Mountain View Journal, Nov. 30, 2000)

October 26, 2000 An attempted escape was far too close for comfort. Two inmates apparently had plenty of time to do all the fence climbing before prison officials figured out the inmates were not where they were supposed to be. Both were recaptured but the incident shines an unfavorable spotlight on security at the Estancia prison. This attempted escape causes a serious concern among the residents of Estancia. Warden Donald Dorsey doesn't know how long the inmates were missing before guards realized they were gone. Around 8 p.m., about 35 inmates supervised by two guards went to the prison gym. Dorsey speculated that the prisoners got away from the guards on the way. Torrance County Undersheriff Don Packingham said the attempted escape was "particularly upsetting because the inmates got outside the fence." Jail officials have repeatedly stated that the prison is safe for inmates, guards and the surrounding communities and that there is no reason to worry. However, the community remains worried, and it appears that's for a very good reason. (Albuquerque Journal, Oct. 26, 2000)

October 20, 2000 Prison guard, Andrew R. Lopez, was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after he allegedly shot a 20-year old Estancia man in the face with a pellet gun. If convicted, he faces a maximum of thee years in prison, according to court documents. (Albuquerque Journal, Oct. 26, 2000)

June 10, 2000 A suspect, Antonio Martinez, in the murder of a state official is mistakenly released. His release was not noticed until July 28 when the wrong man showed up for Martinez's pre-trial hearing. (Albuquerque Journal, July 31, 2000)

August 17, 1999 Two guards were seriously injured in a disturbance that involved about 290 inmates. One guard was in a coma for four days. As many as 75 inmates were involved in the disturbance, which may have been staged as a cover for an aborted escape attempt.

Valencia County NM Cornell

October 31, 2002 Los Lunas County commissioners would definitely like to give 39 county employees the Christmas present of returning 40-hour work weeks, but that return depends on two key factors. During the past two months, the county received $114,562 for housing Bernalillo County inmates detained at the Valencia County Detention Center. However, with the new Bernalillo County jail completed, those funds will no longer be available, as Valencia County's contract to house Bernalillo County inmates expires on Nov. 24, leaving the county to find an alternative form of income. Senior Warden Lawrence Barreras of Cornell Companies Inc., which operates the county's detention center, said he feels that his company will have no problem keeping all 194 beds at the county detention facility occupied. "I talked to the state, and they wanted to put 140 inmates at our facility, but we don't have 140 beds," Barreras said in a from Bernalillo (County) to take 40 more inmates, but we just don't have space," Barreras said. Another form of revenue for Cornell and the county may come through the U.S. Marshal's intergovernmental contract, which has been completed and is ready for the county to review, according to Barreras. (News-Bulletin.com) June 20, 2002 A former Cornell Corrections jail guard allegedly sold an inmate marijuana and then tried to bring him heroin, methamphetamine and more pot three weeks later, according to a Valencia County sheriff's report. (The Albuquerque Journal)

June 8, 2002 A jail guard at the Valencia County adult jail was arrested Thursday night and booked on counts of trafficking in a controlled substance after he allegedly was found selling drugs to inmates, Valnecia County Sherriff's Deputy M. Torres said. Torres said the guard works for Cornell Corrections. The suspect was being held in jail in isolation under a $160,000 bond. (The Albuquerque Journal)

June 8, 2002 A Valencia County grand jury will look into how the county slipped into financial chaos and what, or who, is responsible. The county Clerk's Office on Wednesday confirmed that the required number of petition signatures was verified from among more than 900 submitted by a citizens group in May. Bill Brown — past president of the Rio Communities Association, the group that circulated petitions — on Wednesday said he's pleased that a probe will be conducted. The petition asks a grand jury to determine whether "any money, county warrants, or other indebtedness, was paid out, or offered to be paid out, by the Valencia County Commission, the county manager, the county treasurer, or any other county officer, agent or employee, and whether it was done without authority of law. "Further, the grand jury is to determine whether there are any acts of malfeasance, misappropriation of funds, or any other illegal acts committed in relation to the operation and practices of the Valencia County budget, business and finances." It also urges the grand jury to look at the county budget and financial reporting practices. Brown said he believed another major contributor to the county's woes was the failure to maintain adequate cash reserves. He also criticized the county's jail contract with Cornell Corrections as being too costly. (ABQ Journal.com)

June 6, 2002 The Valencia County Commission this week formally approved a plan Cornell Corrections says will save the county $1 million a year in its jail contract. The plan involves increasing capacity in the county's two adult jails from 126 inmates to 194, instituting an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet program, double-bunking inmates to free bed space and leasing the new bed space to outside agencies. The contract is still subject to approval from the state Department of Finance and Administration and the state Attorney General's The commission action this week came despite protests by employees who said they felt the contract with Cornell Corrections represents a major impediment to their returning to full time. The existing contract of about $3.3 million a year represents nearly a third of the county's general fund. (The Albuquerque Journal)

May 30, 2002 The Valencia County Commission on Tuesday approved "conceptually" a plan proposed by Cornell Corrections that the company says could shave nearly $1 million a year from the county's jail costs. The proposal was contingent on Cornell getting a three-year contract extension. The commission acted despite the pleas of some county employees who asked that the jail contract be opened up to competitive bids to try to reduce the county's current jail expenditures of about $3.3 million annually. The commission Tuesday finally acquiesced to concerns that the county was not in a position to run its jails on its own. It could be sued for breach of contract if it immediately terminated its contract with Cornell Corrections, for which it would not be covered by state Risk Management. Lawrence Barreras, senior warden with Cornell, on Tuesday outlined the company's offer to implement a number of measures it claims would reduce its costs by $251,000 and add up to $725,000 in revenues a year, resulting in an annual total benefit of about $976,000 for the county. Barreras said the proposal calls for increasing capacity from 126 inmates at the county's two adult jails to 194. Up to 40 additional beds would be freed up by instituting an electronic ankle monitoring program for low-risk offenders, with costs passed on to program participants, and up to 28 more spaces by double-bunking inmates in existing cells, Barreras said. The additional 68 beds would then be leased to outside agencies that need bed space, Barreras said. Charles Eaton, county deputy fire marshal, said employees were hopeful that the jail contract would be put out for competitive bid. He said it appears to him that the issue is being driven by the company. "It seems that instead of the county calling the shots, that these other people are calling the shots. It's like we're tugging at somebody's suit asking if we can get in the driver's seat," Eaton said. Commissioner Alicia Aguilar made a motion to accept Cornell's proposal but withdrew it after hearing opposition and criticism. Commissioner Gary Daves, who has been a proponent of terminating the Cornell contract and seeking bids, said he doubts the savings the company projected and again asked that the county seek bids. "We're not bargaining from a position of knowing what the market is," said Daves, who provided the lone dissenting vote. "I think to get to the light at the end of the tunnel, we need to know what the market is. Otherwise, the light I'm afraid is going to be an oncoming train." (ABQ Journal.com)

May 2, 2002 Jail expert Jack Daly said that while Valencia County might be able to save money by cutting some services at its two adult jails, he doubts it could achieve a goal of shaving $1 million from the county's annual contract with Cornell Corrections. He stressed that he had not had time to fully research or assess several revenue-producing and cost-cutting measures being considered by the county. "I do know they cannot cut back on any of the services that are required in the consent decree under which they have been operating," said Daly, a consultant with the New Mexico County Insurance Authority of the New Mexico Association of Counties. A citizens jail committee recently recommended renegotiating with Cornell Corrections to lower its operating contract by at least $1 million annually to run the county's two adult jails. (Albuquerque Journal)

May 2, 2002 Cornell Corrections senior warden Lawrence Barreras said he has already submitted a "plan of action" to Valencia County showing how it can cut or recoup $1 million annually from the company's $3.2 million contract to run the county's two adult jails. The plan features a three-pronged approach, Barreras said. "Through a combination of first adjusting some of the services required by the contract, secondly, instituting an electronic monitoring program to move some inmates out of the facility and, thirdly, offering that freed-up space to house inmates from other counties or jurisdictions, I believe, would generate the revenue needed," Barreras said. (Albuquerque Journal)

April 18, 2002 A jail expert will be the next to weigh in on the debate over Valencia County's jail. The commission, at the end of a lengthy and sometimes heated discussion Tuesday, voted unanimously to accept the services of Jack Daly, a jail expert with the New Mexico County Insurance Authority of the New Mexico Association of Counties. "Let's let him review the facilities ... check on Cornell's performance and advise us," Commissioner Alicia Aguilar said. The issue now before the county is not that the jail is substandard; it's that it is too expensive. Cornell's contract costs the county $3.2 million a year and is the largest item in the county's general fund. The county's inmate cost per day, which is the general guideline on how much a jail costs, is either the highest or one of the highest in the state, according to a report compiled by a jail committee put together to study the county's options. The committee's first recommendation is to try to renegotiate with Cornell to lower the operating contract by at least $1 million. Also at the meeting, Daves moved to go forward with the second recommendation, which is to seek legal advice on terminating Cornell's contract, but the motion died for a lack of second. (Albuquerque Journal)

January 17, 2002 Former Valencia County finance officer Carlos Montoya has questioned what he termed "inappropriate" expenses paid to Cornell Corrections when it opened the county's new adult jail two years ago. Montoya, in an interview this week, said the county paid for such items as travel expenses for Cornell employees to fly from Houston, for part of Cornell's salaries and closing costs for warden Anthony Romero when he relocated to Valencia County. County Manager James Fernandez and Cornell executive warden Lawrence Barreras denied that the county paid closing costs for Romero. Meanwhile, Montoya said he was stung by published comments made by Commission Chairwoman Alicia Aguilar that he said cast him and other county finance employees in a bad light and unfairly blamed them. The County Commission recently voted to lay off five employees, cut workweeks for more than 100 others to 32 hours and to curtail all unnecessary spending to try to prevent a budget deficit in its overall $16 million and $9.4 general operating fund. Aguilar did not allege criminal wrongdoing, but has said that "imprudent" budget practices may have helped create the county's budget problems. (Albuquerque Journal)

NORTH DAKOTA

Pembina County

May 2, 2002 A privately run prison is not the answer to the state's inmate housing problems, say consultants who are preparing a report on North Dakota's corrections system. The consultants' comments, made Wednesday to members of the Legislature's interim Corrections Committee, irritated Pembina County officials who have been trying to rally support for a private prison in North Dakota's northeastern corner. The company's president, Michael Fair, and vice president Karl Becker told legislators Wednesday they did not believe a privately run prison would save money for North Dakota taxpayers. 'I would suggest at this point, for a system this size, it's only going to cost you,' Fair said. Becker said private corrections companies would probably have more difficulty hiring North Dakota workers because of the state's low unemployment rate and small labor pool. The companies also count on having fewer workers and paying them less than state employees make, but North Dakota's corrections system already has 'very, very lean' staffing and relatively low pay, he said. 'I'd be very surprised if a private facility could come in, with a comparable type of penitentiary, and save significant dollars,' Becker said. Fair said a private company would ask the state to guarantee a minimum number of inmates for its prison. Inmates who are sick, or pose disciplinary problems, would be put back into the state corrections system, he said. 'They get to operate with the cream of the crop, every state they go to,' Fair said. 'Look at the security levels that private operators run. They don't run any of the big, tough institutions.' Five years ago, county officials lobbied former Gov. Ed Schafer to support a private prison in Pembina County. Instead, Schafer advocated converting a building on the grounds of the Jamestown state mental hospital into a prison. The Legislature approved the remodeling project, and the James River Correctional Center now holds more than 300 inmates. (The Bismarck Tribune)

OKLAHOMA

Avalon Correctional Center Tulsa, Oklahoma Avalon Correctional Services

November 22, 2003 A pay-to-stay plan is a welcome source of new revenue but probably won't solve all the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority's financial problems, officials said. During a meeting Friday at which the plan officially was approved, County Commission Chief Deputy Paul Wilkening said the authority could earn about $1.06 million a year by charging inmates for one night of their jail stay. "The good news is that it helps the shortfall," Commissioner Bob Dick said. "The bad news is that it sure doesn't make up for what the state's doing to us." The number of state inmates at the Tulsa Jail has been growing as the Department of Corrections has accepted fewer inmates at its intake facility in Lexington. The DOC reduced the weekly number of Tulsa County inmates it will accept to 36 from 52 last year. County officials have watched the DOC-ready inmate population at the jail balloon from 48 in October 2002 to 336 this month. In an interview Friday, DOC spokesman Jerry Massie said the weekly number was reduced because last year only an average of 36 inmates were actually transported to prison each week by the sheriff. "The majority of the time, more often than not, they don't send the full complement," he said. The authority is only partially compensated for housing state inmates. The authority pays private jail operator Corrections Corporation of America $47.18 a day for each inmate, but the DOC reimburses the authority only $24 per day per inmate. "That story can't be told too much or too often. The state is giving us an unfunded mandate of about $4.8 million dollars a year right now," Dick said. "The voters were kind enough in 1995 to vote a permanent tax on sales, and I don't think they voted thinking that this is going to subsidize the state system. I think they did it to take care of the local jail problem." Massie said rural jails are more satisfied with the $24 rate than Tulsa County. "It sounds like what Tulsa County's problem is is (that) their per-diem rate is so high," he said. "They'd probably be happy if it covered their cost; it wouldn't be as big of issue for them." Wilkening previously has mentioned that the authority might want to pursue legal action against the state for causing the authority to have financial problems. Jim Orbison, the authority's attorney, said before Friday's meeting that a lawsuit would be a last resort. A recent auditor's report shows that the current sales tax stream is insufficient to pay jail operating costs. The Criminal Justice Authority has tapped its reserve funds, which have shrunk from $11.9 million in 2002 to $5.8 million in 2003, the report shows. CCA was paid nearly $21.1 million in 2003, a 22.8 percent increase from 2002. Dick said instituting the pay-to-stay plan is the "right move" and that the authority might want to consider broadening the scope after monitoring the results for a period of time. Prisoners will pay $47.18 for one night's stay -- the amount paid to CCA by the authority. Inmates will be charged for only one day, regardless of the length of their jail stay. Wilkening said judges recommended the one-day charge because they felt that it would be easier to collect. "It's a start, and it will generate a substantial amount of money if collected," Wilkening said. "If we can get a million-six or a million dollars and it can go back into the operation of the jail, then that's something." CCA Warden Don Stewart estimated that about 30 percent of inmates spend only one night in jail. (Tulsa World.com)

November 18, 2003 A new state law that adds county sales taxes to residential energy bills is expected to raise more than $4.5 million a year for the Tulsa Jail and local capital improvement projects. Electricity and natural gas bills were untaxed until the Legislature passed Senate Bill 708, which took effect on Nov. 1. The law was written by Sen. Angela Monson, D-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Clay Pope, D-Loyal. Paula Ross, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Tax Commission, said the law attempts to clarify a 1999 commission ruling that lifted a tax exemption for residential customers. A recent auditor's report shows that the current sales tax stream for the Tulsa Jail is insufficient to pay its operating costs. The Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority has tapped its reserve funds, which have shrunk from $11.9 million in 2002 to $5.8 million in 2003, the report shows. The Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the jail, was paid close to $21.1 million in 2003, a 22.8 percent increase from 2002. (Privateer News)

May 28, 2003 A Tulsa County inmate jumped a fence Tuesday afternoon and escaped from the former Adult Detention Center but was caught by police about an hour later. Shane Allen Boggs, 32, escaped about 1:15 p.m. by bolting through a door used by work crews. He gained access to the door after being sent to pick up his medication, according to James Saffle, president of Avalon Correctional Services, which operates the Riverside Intermediate Sanction Unit. Boggs' escape is the third from the Riverside facility in six months. Avalon holds between 80 and 100 county inmates at the Riverside facility at a lesser daily cost than the Tulsa Jail. But the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority has opted not to renew Avalon's contract, which expires June 30. (Tulsa World)

April 28, 2003 A clerical error has led to another mistaken release from the Tulsa Jail, officials said Friday. Marvin Branham, a spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the Tulsa Jail, said the jail released Dixon because workers received an "order of release from custody" for him from the court clerk's office. Court Clerk employee Sonya Smith said it appears that when the bond was paid for Dickson, it was recorded as paid for Dixon's case number, not Dickson's. In 2001, errors led to the mistaken releases of three inmates and two ere mistakenly released last year from the Tulsa Jail. (AP)

March 27, 2003 A woman sues two corrections companies and an escapee who is accused of killing her husband. A wrongful death suit was filed this week in connection with the Christmas Eve shooting of a Tulsa man that allegedly was carried out by an escapee from the Riverside Intermediate Sanction Unit. Virginia Qureshi filed the suit on behalf of her late husband, Zubair Qureshi, previously referred to as Mohammad "James" Qureshi, 53, who was working behind the counter of the 24-hour U-Stop, 2520 E. Mohawk Blvd., when he was killed. Defendants in the suit are the Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the Tulsa Jail; Avalon Correctional Services, which operates the Riverside facility; and Markis Daniels Rogers, who escaped from the Riverside facility Nov. 24. Martin and Associates is representing Qureshi. The law firm alleges that CCA employees transferred Rogers to the low-security Riverside facility operated by Avalon but continued to charge the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority to house him. It alleges that CCA paid a Avalon a lower rate to house Rogers and pocketed the difference. Attorney C. Rabon Martin, said that whether CCA made a profit by sending Rogers to the Riverside facility is irrelevant. "The meat and potatoes is that they took a very dangerous guy to Avalon in low-security," he said. Rogers was sent to the Riverside facility by mistake. (Tulsa World).

January 31, 2003 A homeless man who previously escaped from the Riverside Sanction Unit was back in custody this week at the Tulsa Jail after being picked up by police officers on burglary complaints. Richard Lee Bates Jr. escaped from the Riverside facility in November by climbing over two chain-link fences from an unsupervised exercise yard at night. (Tulsa World)

January 30, 2003 A federal lawsuit filed by the estate of an inmate who died after becoming ill at the Tulsa Jail in July 1998 has been settled on confidential terms, attorneys said Wednesday. Jeannie Edwards of Okmulgee County filed the suit in January 2000 after her brother, Gregory Allen Pope Sr., was pronounced dead at Tulsa Regional Medical Center on July 1, 1998 . The lawsuit originally listed both the city of Tulsa and Tulsa County among the defendants, but eventually only Wexford Health Sources, the jail's health services contractor at the time of Pope's death, remained. The plaintiff claimed that Pope, 34, began vomiting and convulsing and that a trusty notified a nurse, who then allegedly chose to continue talking on a telephone instead of responding immediately to Pope's medical needs. The estate alleged that 30 to 45 minutes passed before the nurse was brought to the scene by corrections officers. Pope was taken by ambulance to TRMC, the lawsuit states. The estate claimed that Pope died of cardiac arrhythmia brought on by breathing in his vomit. (Tulsa World)

December 14, 2002 A Tulsa halfway house inmate who beat a fellow inmate to death with a TV set last spring was found guilty of first-degree murder Thursday night. The jury recommended life without parole for Robert Spanglo, 47, who was convicted in the March 31 attack on Charles Bush, 34, at the Avalon Correctional Center, 302 W. Archer. Spanglo and Bush were inmates at Avalon, where, during the early morning hours, Spanglo picked up a TV and bashed Bush on the head while Bush was in bed. (Tulsa World.com)

December 1, 2002 Police and a former guard had expressed concern about security at Riverside Intermediate Sanction Unit before two inmates escaped this week. Donald Montgomery, an administrator for the center run by Avalon, said added security measures were imposed after the escapes. Montgomery dismissed accusations by Bryan Jones, former security superviser for the center. Jones, a former Broken Arrow police officer, said he left his job with Avalon earlier this year because he was afraid he would be held responsible if an inmate or guard were injured. He said Avalon hires people who have no experience, then staffs the facility poorly. Jones also said a urine test was never pursued when he reported an employee who was obviously "high." "Things like that were swept under the rug," he said. "The big thing on their agenda was we were not a correctional facility. They didn't want to appear as a jail." (News ok.com)

November 27, 2002 A second escape by a Tulsa County inmate in just two days has prompted officials from Avalon Correctional Services to beef up security at the former Adult Detention Center. Richard Lee Bates, 25, escaped about 8 p.m. Monday from an exercise yard at the Riverside Intermediate Sanction Unit. Bates, who is still at large, climbed over two barbed-wire fences. Also at large is Markis Daniels Rogers, 19, who escaped Sunday night. Avalon Administrator Donald Montgomery said Tulsa County inmates are now being held at a medium-security level. Avalon will stop the practice of allowing inmates into the exercise yard without direct supervision. Inmates also will not be allowed outside the building after dark, he said. Tulsa police have been critical of Avalon's staffing levels, and Bryan Jones, a former security supervisor for Avalon, said he believes that six employees is definitely inadequate. "I would want at least 15," he said. (Tulsa world.com)

November 26, 2002 A Tulsa County inmate who is facing robbery charges remained at large Monday after escaping Sunday night from the former Adult Detention Center. Markis Daniels Rogers,19, escaped from the Riverside Intermediate Sanction Unit's exercise yard by getting past two fences. Razor wire previously topped the fence surrounding all of the units, but Webber said it has been removed. County officials are in the process of finding out what happened to it. Webber said no guards were in the exercise yard when Rogers escaped but that guards rely on security cameras. Rogers was among more than 100 inmates who have been diverted from the Tulsa ail, operated by Corrections Corporation of America, to the Riverside facility, operated by Avalon Correctional Services, to cut jail costs. Avalon Administrator Donald Montgomery was unavailable for comment, and Avalon's chief operating officer could not be reached. (Tulsa World.com)

October 23, 2002 Tulsa County Officials are expressing frustration with the Tulsa Police Department for continuing to take public drunks to the Tulsa Jail rather than the Public Inebriate Alternative center, where the daily cost is much cheaper. The chairman of the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority, Bob Dick, said Tuesday before a meeting with judges, the public defender, district attorney and other court officials that they would have to decide next month whether to renew a contract with Avalon Correctional Services. The authority is paying Avalon to operate thee PIA program and guarantees it 40 beds at $24 a day. But the average number of beds used is only five or six while there are typically 100 to 200 public drunks in the jail. It may be too late, however. The Criminal Justice Authority has already been paying for about 35 extra beds for public drunks a year, which comes to an estimated $306,600. Avalon's contract is subject to renewal Nov. 30. (Tulsa World.com)

September 28, 2002 The Public Inebriate Alternative program, designed to cut jail costs and offer refusal services, continues to be severely underused, according to reports released during Friday's meeting of the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority. Avalon Correctional Services' contract to operate the PIA program is up for renewal in November, and the lack of participation casts doubt on whether the program can survive as designed. Tulsa County commissioners deputy Paul Wilkenling, who is working on a jail population task force, reported Friday that 176 people were in jail for public drunk charges, while only six of 40 beds were being utilized in the PIA program. The jail board is hoping to save $500,000 this year by paying Avalon $29.99 a day per inmate at the 100-bed Riverside facility. Corrections Corporation of America, which runs the Tulsa Jail, is paid $45.81 a day. The jail population is down to about 1,250 but is still considered high. (Tulsa World)

May 3, 2002 A Tulsa halfway house inmate who was hit in the head by a television-wielding fellow inmate has died from his injuries. Robert Spanglo, 46, was charged Thursday with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Charles Bush,34. Spanglo is accused of flinging the TV at Bush's head at the Avalon Correctional Center on March 31. (Tulsa World)

Avalon Correctional Services Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

January 29, 2004 The Oklahoma County jail's only psychiatrist, who treats more than 600 mentally ill inmates, was fired Wednesday. Dr. Bill Mitchell said the only reason he was given for his termination was that he did not "fit in. Mitchell said he has been upset for months with operation of the medical unit because he could not easily get the more expensive medications that the mentally ill need, but he did not expect the abrupt firing. "I didn't have any warning," he said. The sheriff's office has a $4.2 million contract with Correctional Healthcare Management of Oklahoma Inc. Chris Capoot, vice president of Correctional Healthcare Management Inc. of Parker, Colo., came to Oklahoma City on Wednesday to terminate Mitchell. (The Oklahoman)

August 12, 2002 This month primary elections could affect the operation of the Oklahoma County jail and whether it remains under the authority of Sheriff John Whetsel. The committee is charged with recommending whether the county commissioners should take control of the jail for Whetsel and give it to a jail trust authority whose membership would include the commissioners. Another option, the express trust, concerns Whetsel the most. Under this option, the commissioners could form a trust similar to the one that operates the Tulsa County jail. The measure would require just two of the three commissioners voting "yes". The county would hire a private company to operate the detention center without a vote of the people or the consent of the sheriff. "The problem with the jail is the funding," Inman said. "It's been under funded since it's been built. If you form a jail trust, it solves none of the problems." Inman is urging voters to look at the Tulsa County Jail, where the sheriff lost control to an express jail trust authority formed by Tulsa County commissioners. The commissioners hired a private company to manage the jail- a contract that has since proven controversial due to increased costs for housing inmates. "It's a back-door way for the commissioners to take control away from the sheriff," Inman said. "It allows the commissioners to tell the private company how to operate the jail." (The Oklahoman)

June 21, 2001 James Saffle has joined the Avalon management team as President, following his retirement as Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Mr. Saffle will direct Avalon's national growth by continuing to focus on community corrections markets, as well as target additional states with Avalon's innovative community corrections programs. "This is an ideal time for many states to take a closer look at community corrections and alternative programming for the increasing inmate population. Daily corrections operating costs continue to spiral upward, putting increased financial pressures on many states," said Saffle. (Business Wire)

June 08, 2001 The former head of the state Corrections Department has taken over as president of a private corrections company. James Saffle said he felt he could do more good with the type of people housed in facilities owned by Avalon Corrections Services. Avalon, based in Oklahoma City, has operations in Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado. Don Smith, Avalon's chief executive officer, first contacted Saffle in February after learning of his pending retirement. Saffle started at Avalon on Tuesday. His last day at the Corrections Department was June 1. (AP)

May 17, 2001 Avalon Correctional Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: CITY), a leading owner and operator of private community correctional operations and specialized alternative programming, announced today the appointment of Dr. Charles W. Thomas to the Avalon Correctional Services Board of Directors. Dr. Thomas served as a director of Prison Realty Trust, Inc. from 1997 until the merger of Prison Trust with the Corrections Corporation of America in October of 2000 and as a director of the Corrections Corporation of America from the date of the merger until December of 2000. He also is a member of the Research Committee of the Associated of Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations, the recently formed trade association that was created to represent the interests of private providers of correctional services. (Business Wire)

Central Oklahoma Correctional Facility McLoud, OK Dominion

January 15, 2003 A deal that allows the Department of Corrections to purchase a private prison and transfer inmates from the Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility there could be finalized as soon as next month. The DOC believes moving offenders from Mabel Basset, where the state's maximum-security female inmates are housed, to the Central Oklahoma Correctional Facility in McLoud will save the agency money. The private prison, which houses about 575 female inmates, is about 25 miles east of downtown Oklahoma City and can house about 1,100 offenders, Ward said. About 150 of the inmates in the McLoud prison are from Hawaii and Wyoming. "Our plan is to continue to contract with those two states," Ward said. "We will have enough bed space to continue to do that. It is our plan to do that as long as it is mutually acceptable to all the parties." Edmond-based McLoud Correctional Services owns the prison and Dominion Correctional Services, also based in Edmond, operates it. (AP)

October 25, 2002 The state Corrections Department moved a step closer Thursday to buying the Central Oklahoma Correctional Facility in McLoud when its governing board approved a resolution that would authorize the state to spend up to $40 million for it. The plan calls for the state to issue bonds that would allow the department to lease, then buy the prison. The proposed budget also includes $8.6 million more for contract prison bed space. Contract beds include private prisons and county jails. (The Daily Oklahoman)

October 24, 2001 Four Hawaii women inmates who said they were sexually assaulted by prison guards in Oklahoma will not be allowed to pursue their lawsuit here in Hawaii. The four said they were abused at the privately-run Central Oklahoma correctional facility -- they'd been sent there to relieve overcrowding at Hawaii prisons. Judge David Ezra agreed with the mainland-prison company. The trial will be held in federal court in either Tulsa or Oklahoma City. (The Hawaii Channel.com)

August 16, 2001 Inmates and former staff members at an Oklahoma prison where some female prisoners from Hawai'i are housed say illegal drugs are abundant there. Wisconsin inmates who served time at the privately operated prison repeatedly told monitors from their home state that drugs were widelyavailable there. Former prison employees told The Advertiser that the Oklahoma prison staff seemed unable or unwilling to cope with the drug problem. A former inmate from Hawai'i, recently paroled after serving time at the Central Oklahoma Correctional Facility, said drugs were far more plentiful in Oklahoma than at the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua, where she had also served time. Inmates at the Oklahoma prison had access to heroin, crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and marijuana, said the inmate, who asked that her name not be used because, as a parolee, she feared retribution from authorities. The state first sent inmates to the Central Oklahoma Correctional Facility outside Oklahoma City in 1998 and is negotiating a new contract with Dominion. The prison was operated by the Sarasota, Fla.-based Correctional Services Corp. until December, when the operation was taken over by Dominion. Former prison staff members such as Sid Stell, who worked as a training officer, captain and acting chief of security at the prison, said drugs were so widely available by early last year that inmates would brazenly smoke marijuana in the six prison dormitories. Linda Phipps, a former grievance officer and compliance officer who worked at the prison until March, said: "Drugs are rampant there. They are absolutely all over the place." Sandra Green, who worked as a corrections officer at the prison in 1999 and 2000, said she was astonished at how often corrections officials turned up evidence of drug use. She estimated she smelled inmates smoking drugs inside the prison on 10 occasions. Once, she said, she saw inmates lined up out the door of a bathroom for a chance to smoke crack cocaine. Stell was also responsible for training corrections officers at the prison, and drugs were a problem partly because the prison couldn't seem to recruit well-qualified staff. (The Honolulu Advertiser)

August 12, 2001 Three Hawai'i women who served time in a privately run Oklahoma prison claim they were sexually assaulted by prison staff there, and a fourth woman alleges she was "tortured" by prison officials after she complained that a prison lieutenant was sexually preying on women inmates. One Kaua'i woman says she was forced to have sex with a guard, became pregnant and underwent an involuntary abortion at a prison medical facility. The four Hawai'i women are suing the Hawai'i Department of Public Safety as well as Dominion Group, the company that operates the Central Oklahoma Correctional Facility in McLoud. The federal court lawsuits allege that "more than a dozen" women locked up at the prison were raped or endured "unwanted sexual advances and other forms of improper behavior" by prison staff. In the early 1990s, there were similar accusations of sexual misconduct involving female prisoners in Hawai'i. In a series of cases, about two dozen corrections workers were fired or charged with crimes. The state paid nearly $1 million to settle several lawsuits filed by female prisoners claiming they were sexually abused. (The Honolulu Advertiser)

Cimarron Correctional Facility Cushing, OK CCA

February 20, 2004 State agents are looking for a man they suspect of funneling drugs into a private prison in Cushing, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics said Thursday. Agents executed a search warrant at the Forest Park home of Loy Eugene Driver, 33. Driver was not there, but agents found 2 pounds of marijuana, a pound of rock cocaine, $10,000 cash and several weapons. The drugs have a street value of about $8,300. Mark Woodward, bureau spokesman, said Driver has been supplying drugs to Cimarron Correctional Facility. Driver's record includes convictions for second-degree murder, eluding a police officer and possession of a controlled substance, state corrections records show. The bureau said Driver was released from prison in 2001. Records show he is under state supervision. Woodward said Driver was involved in a drive-by shooting that resulted in a death. The bureau states that since Driver's release, he's been charged with two counts of drug possession, possession of a firearm after a felony conviction and eluding police. The investigation began last fall. Cimarron Correctional Facility officials' inquiry led to the arrest of Steven Zoope Williams, 27. Williams was a correctional officer and is accused of making a deal to bring methamphetamine to an inmate. He was charged in January with one count of trafficking illegal drugs and two counts of using a telephone to facilitate the commission of a felony. Drug activity isn't uncommon in prisons, corrections department spokesman Jerry Massie said. Many inmates were drug users before their incarceration. "That's why we emphasize interdiction," Massie said. "People are always trying to get drugs into the system." (NewsOK)

January 31, 2004 A correctional officer has been accused of making a deal to deliver methamphetamines to an inmate at the private Cushing prison where he worked. Steven Zoope Williams, 27, of Cushing was charged Thursday in Oklahoma County District Court with one count of trafficking in illegal drugs and two counts of using a telephone to facilitate the commission of a felony. Williams was arrested Oct. 1 after an Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control agent delivered about five ounces of methamphetamines to him, a court affidavit states. (News OK)

January 6, 2004 Prisoners at a northern Oklahoma prison were locked in their cells after they beefed about a new, low fat "heart-healthy" menu by boycotting the cafeteria, officials say. The prisoners remained locked up over the weekend at the Cimarron Correctional Facility, a privately run prison, because they objected to meals that take ground beef out of some dishes and replace it with lower fat ground turkey, said Linda Hurst, the prison's programmes manager, on Tuesday. "As a precautionary measure, we locked them down to investigate if there was anything more serious than a boycott," Hurst said. Hurst said the situation at the prison was not volatile and prisoners returned to the cafeteria on Monday The typical dinner menu may include turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy and peas. "The meatloaf is where the heart-healthy diet comes in," she said. Hurst said the new menus have been used for a few months in order to reduce the fat in prisoners' diets. Some of the inmates said they would rather not eat than take another bite of turkey loaf. The Cimarron Correctional Facility, with about 900 inmates, is operated by the Corrections Corporation of America. A spokesman for the Oklahoma prison system said it has no plans to introduce heart-healthy meals for its prisons state-wide. (Yahoo.com)

May 6, 2003 An inmate who was being held in a private prison in Cushing was ordered Monday to stand trial on a charge of attacking a guard at the Cimarron Corrections Facility last year. Because of his criminal record, Jerome Shaun McCoy, 35, could receive as much as a life prison sentence if he is convicted of assault and battery on an employee of a private prison contractor, according to prosecutor Jack Bowyer. (Tulsa World)

August 29, 2002 Two former inmates at Cushing's private prison were arraigned Wednesday on charges of assaulting two female Cimarron Correctional Facility guards in separate attacks. Both alleged assaults occurred last winter, but charges were not filed until last week, court records show. In an incident two months earlier at the Cushing prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America, inmate Joe Lopez Jr., 29, who is serving 10 years for second-degree burglary, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for an alleged Dec. 27 razor-blade attack on corrections Officer Brenda Hadix. (Tulsa World)

August 23, 2002 STILLWATER -- A convicted sex offender who was severely beaten in Cushing's private prison does not want to testify against his alleged assailant, a convicted killer, prosecutor Tom Lee said Thursday. The assault and battery with a dangerous weapon case was dismissed since the victim "had no desire to prosecute nor to testify" at a preliminary hearing Wednesday against the inmate accused in the attack, Lee said. After the Aug. 17, 2001, attack in the Cushing prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America, Perosi was moved to the Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, another private prison operated by CCA, corrections officials said. (Tulsa World.com)

August 1, 2002 A Payne County jury deliberated for nine hours before convicting an inmate of possessing marijuana at Cushing's private Cimarron Correctional Facility in November. The jury Wednesday recommended a five-year prison term, the minimum possible, for Thomas Kye Thompson, 25, who served as his own lawyer at the three-day trial. The jury also recommended a $2 fine for Thompson for possession of drug paraphernalia, a piece of paper that allegedly contained a small amount of marijuana. (Staff Reports)

May 11, 2002 A former youth leader at the River of Life Church north of Perkins was given 10 concurrent 20-year prison terms Friday for repeatedly sexually abusing two girls who attended the church. Rex Jason Sumner, 31, of Perkins, who was the church's youth leader for about a year until his arrest in December, had pleaded guilty to all 10 sexual abuse counts before District Judge Donald Worthington. River of Life Church members had strongly supported Sumner a year ago when he received seven years' probation from Associate District Judge Robert Murphy Jr. for marijuana delivery in Payne County. In court Friday, Worthington revoked that probation and handed Sumner a concurrent seven-year prison term for smuggling a pound of marijuana into Cushing's private prison while he worked there as a corrections officer two years ago. (Tulsa World)

Diamondback CF Watonga, Oklahoma CCA

June 17, 2003 Officials here aren't sure what kind of economic effect the indefinite closure of a private prison will have on the town's economy. Corrections Corporation of America on Friday announced that it planned to consolidate its Sayre operations with the Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga. The 225 employees at North Fork received a written, 60-day notice of their termination before the public announcement was made after the stock market closed Friday. The Watonga facility has 2,160 beds and is a medium-security prison. Officials cited the long-distance telephone rates of the prison's 989 inmates contracted from Wisconsin as one of the reasons for the closure. "Inmates' families were getting these outrageous telephone bills," said Bill Clausius, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. "CCA has a contract with us that is not facility-specific, but in that contract we have certain requirements about phone rates. "We had spoken with CCA about this on several occasions, but nothing was ever done concerning their vendors. So they've decided to move the inmates to another facility." Steve Owen, a CCA spokesman, confirmed his company's contractual obligations with the state of Wisconsin is to provide reasonable long-distance phone rates for its inmates. "I can't quote you those rates (in Sayre) off the top of my head, but they were substantially higher than our contract permits," Owen said. In Wisconsin, prisons must use telephone vendors who charge no more than $1.25 for each call and 22 cents for each additional minute, Clausius said. He didn't know what SBC Communications had been charging the prison in Sayre, but he said it was well above Wisconsin's contract requirements. CCA officials said they will work to identify other opportunities to reopen North Fork and bring staff and operations back to the Sayre facility. (AP)

December 27, 2001 Prosecutors filed charges Thursday against four men accused of plotting to rob and possibly kill an Enid doctor. Dustin Cox, 21, Corey Best, 20, and Chris Pembrook, 21, made their first court appearances on attempted grand larceny and conspiracy charges. Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Jami Cox, 24, brother of Dustin Cox. Garfield County Sheriff Bill Winchester said more people could be involved in a burglary ring that spawned the plot. The three were arrested Saturday after an attempt to steal an automated teller machine from the Bank of Kremlin in Drummond. According to an affidavit, an informant told a Garfield County sheriff's investigator that the four men were planning to rob Dr. Ross Vanhooser because they had heard he had $2 million in a safe in his house and that they would kill him if necessary. Pembrook, who had worked at Watonga's private prison since Oct. 15, was fired Tuesday, Assistant Warden Jim Keith said. Winchester said Pembrook was a prison guard. (AP)

August 15, 1999 A disturbance started when correctional officers attempted to stop two inmates from climbing a fence separating two recreation areas. 25 inmates went on a rampage, and $400,000 in damage from fire, smoke, and water resulted from 12 separate fires that were set.

Dominion Correctional Services Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

January 01, 2001 Top state democratic Party officials said Wednesday that because of "new revelations," they will ask for state and federal investigations into some $240,000 in cash gifts to Gov. Frank Keating. Meanwhile, it was learned Wednesday that a meeting Keating set up between his benefactor Jack Dryfus and Department of Corrections director James Saffle was not the first the governor had arranged so the wealthy financier could make a pitch for the drug Dilantin to state prison officials. Dryfus considers Dilantin a wonder drug and wanted it used on prison inmates. Keating arranged for him to meet with federal prison officials when Keating was an official in the Reagan administration. Saffle has said that he met with Dryfus at Keating's request. But he said never acted on Dryfus' proposal. Larry fields who proceeded Saffle as director and who was forced out of office by Keating, confirmed Wednesday that he also met with Dryfus at Keating's request. Fileds, who is now an officer in a private prison corporation, said the initial meeting took place in the governor's office at the Capitol. "Keating was just there at the start," Fields said. "He introduced us, and then he left to go to another meeting." Fields said he was attending a meeting in New York City. Fields was corrections director from 1993 to 1997. Although he had a good reputation and generally was well-liked by lawmakers, he ultimately resigned as director under pressure from Keating. Fields is now President of Dominion Correctional Services. (World Capital Bureau)

David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center Tulsa, Oklahoma CCA

June 18, 2003 A former Tulsa Jail corrections officer has been charged with participating in a mail fraud scheme that took $1.2 million from WorldCom. Henry Darian Wilson, 25, is charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tulsa with participating in criminal activity with his sister, Alisha Nicole Johnson, from January 2001 to March 2002 while she worked at WorldCom. Charges against Johnson, 31, are expected to be filed soon. The charge against Wilson says Johnson was a senior accounting assistant who audited accounts payable and approved payment invoices. Prosecutors allege that she submitted false invoices to WorldCom's check-writing center in Virginia in the name of an Oklahoma City company that was a legitimate supplier of goods and services to WorldCom. Wilson, who lists a Coweta home address, is accused of renting a mail box in Oklahoma City in the company's name, retrieving the checks as they came in and having them deposited in bank accounts in Oklahoma City and Oceanside, Calif. Wilson was a corrections officer from July 2000 to February 2001 at the Tulsa Jail, which is operated by Corrections Corporation of America, CCA spokesman Chris Howard said. He said Wilson resigned without notice. (Tulsa World)

January 20, 2003 A federal lawsuit filed by the estate of an inmate who died after becoming ill at the Tulsa Jail in July 1998 has been settled on confidential terms, attorneys said Wednesday. Jeannie Edwards of Okmulgee County filed the suit in January 2000 after her brother, Gregory Allen Pope Sr., was pronounced dead at Tulsa Regional Medical Center on July 1, 1998. The lawsuit originally listed both the city of Tulsa and Tulsa County among the defendants, but eventually only Wexford Health Sources, the jail's health services contractor at the time of Pope's death, remained. The plaintiff claimed that Pope, 34, began vomiting and convulsing and that a trusty notified a nurse, who then allegedly chose to continue talking on a telephone instead of responding immediately to Pope's medical needs. The estate alleged that 30 to 45 minutes passed before the nurse was brought to the scene by corrections officers. Pope was taken by ambulance to TRMC, the lawsuit states. The estate claimed that Pope died of cardiac arrhythmia brought on by breathing in his vomit. (Tulsa World)

January 3, 2003 The three men face first-degree murder counts in the Christmas Eve killing of a convenience store owner. Three men were charged Thursday with first-degree murder in the Christmas Eve slaying of a convenience store owner. Markis Daniels Rogers, 20, Kelvin Lanard Ford, 20, and Alvin Deanglo Elliott, 19, were arrested within the past week in the shooting death of Mohammed "James" Qureshi, 53. Police arrested Rogers in Spavinaw on Monday night. He had escaped in late November from a privately run Tulsa County corrections facility, where he originally was being held on two armed robbery charges. Rogers had been sent mistakenly to the Riverside Immediate Sanction Unit, operated by Avalon Correctional Services, by county officials who thought all of the armed robbery charges against him had been dismissed. The Riverside facility is supposed to be for nonviolent inmates who are serving time for municipal charges or for failing to pay court costs or fines. Rogers escaped Nov. 24 after making his way over and under two 15- to 18-foot chain-link fences that were topped with barbed wire. A warrant had been issued for his arrest, but police could not say whether there had been a manhunt. (Tulsa World)

January 2, 2003 A Tulsa County inmate who escaped from the Riverside Intermediate Sanction Unit in late November has been arrested in connection with the Christmas Eve slaying of a convenience store owner. Markis Daniels Rogers, 20, was taken into custody Monday night in Spavinaw of complaints of murder and armed robbery. He had been at large for more than a month after escaping Nov. 24 from the Riverside Intermediate Sanction Unit. He was able to make his way under and over two 15- to 18-foot chain-link fences that were topped with barbed wire. At the time, Avalon Correctional Services, which operates the Riverside facility, allowed inmates into the exercise yard at night with no direct supervision. Avalon stopped that practice after Richard Lee Bates, 25, escaped the day after Rogers had. Bates also got past the fences in the exercise yard. Records show that Bates, who was being held for mfailure to pay fines, is not back in custody. (Tulsa World)

December 27, 2002 A man who was critically injured when he was beaten by a fellow Tulsa Jail inmate has settled his lawsuit against the jail's operator under confidential terms, an attorney for the organization said Thursday. Brandon McKnight had sued Corrections Corporation of America, the private company that runs the jail, on May 31 in federal court. He claimed that CCA was negligent in placing him in the same cell as Joshua Cudjoe on Jan. 27, 2001. Cudjoe was found guilty in May 2001 of assaulting and battering McKnight with an intent to do bodily harm. A corrections officer was fired for failure to perform his job properly in relation to the episode, in which McKnight suffered severe trauma to the throat, face and head, reports show. (Tulsa World)

December 23, 2002 A burglary suspect who was shot by Broken Arrow police hanged himself with a bed sheet in a Tulsa Jail. Scott Ray Dickens, 36, was discovered hanging in a medical cell about 9:05 p.m. Saturday, jail spokesman Chris Howard said. Howard said Dickens had been jailed on charges including possession of a stolen vehicle and armed robbery. (AP)

December 18, 2002 Tulsa County officials say reductions in the number of sentenced inmates being accepted each week by the Department of Corrections is creating a backlog of prisoners being housed in the Tulsa Jail at the expense of local taxpayers. On Monday, 164 inmates were ready to go to the DOC's intake facility at Lexington, but the Sheriff's Office will only be al lowed to take 35 of them this week. If conviction and arrest rates stay the same, officials fear that number will continue to grow. The DOC reimburses the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority $24 a day for each prison-ready inmate housed at the Tulsa Jail. But because the authority pays Corrections Corporation of America a daily per-inmate rate of $45.81, each of those state inmates wind up costing taxpayers $21.81 a day. A task force has been formed to examine ways to reduce the jail population. Dick said discussions with Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the Tulsa Jail, are under way to house those arrested for public drunk at a lower cost. (Tulsa World.com)

December 5, 2002 A school security guard who fired a gun at one student and accidentally injured another student with the bullet in October was charged Wednesday with recklessly handling a firearm. A 15-year old student was wounded Oct.31 by a bullet that was fired by security guard Ronald Lee Littles Jr. in front of the Tulsa High School for Science and Technology. Littles, a 19996 graduate of Central High School, was working as the site security supervisor and trainer at Tulsa Science High, according to Burns International Security Services Corp., his employer since June 2001. Burns, a subsidiary of Pinkerton's Inc., has provided contract security services for the Tulsa school district since 1996. (Tulsa World.com)

November 16, 2002 A program to divert public drunks from the jail went down the hatch Friday. Avalon Correctional Services was given a 12-month contract last year to operate a Public Inebriate Alternative program at the Riverside Intermediate Sanction Unit, the former Adult Detention Center. The company housed alcohol abusers at a cheaper rate -- $26.15 a day -- than the jail and referred them to 12&12 and other drug treatment rograms. The trouble was participation. The Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority pledged to pay Avalon for 40 beds a day, but the program had an average of only five participants a day. The jail board took no action to renew its contract with Avalon, which expires Nov. 30. Tulsa County Commissioner Bob Dick said the jail board lost about $280,000 on the program. "People always say government ought to act like private business. Well, private business gets rid of losers." Newly appointed Police Chief Dave Been told the Tulsa World last month that officers would make efforts to use the program more often. Records show that Been advised supervisors to send a backup with officers going to the facility after concerns were raised that the environment there was not safe. An officer told Been that Avalon was housing public drunks with prisoners from the state Department of Corrections, records show. Avalon was minimally staffed, with prisoners having "the run of the place," and officers were being verbally harassed by prisoners. (Tulsa World)

September 22, 2002 Corrections Corporation of America terminated a new employee this week after she was arrested for possession of a controlled drug. Daniele Marie Niedzialkowski, 25, was arrested Tuesday evening along with three others at a south Tulsa apartment. CCA spokesman Chris Howard said Niedzialkowski was fired shortly after her arrest. She had been working as a corrections officer at the Tulsa Jail after going through training in July. Tulsa County sheriff's deputies arrived at the home to serve two arrest warrants regarding Russell Gilbert Campus, who, along with John Curtis Adams and Jason Michael Smith, was arrested for possession of a controlled drug. Campus indicated to deputies that he was employed by CCA, but Howard said Campus had only applied for a job and had not been hired. (Tulsa World News)

August 25, 2002 A former inmate who alleges that she was raped by a former Tulsa Jail supervisor is suing Corrections Corporation of America and past and present CCA employees. A lawsuit filed Friday in Tulsa County District Court on behalf of a 26-year-old woman alleges that she was "repeatedly raped and forcibly sodomized" by Eugene Pendleton while she was in the jail. Pendleton managed an addiction treatment unit at the CCA- operated Tulsa Jail. Former Warden Jim Cooke hired Pendleton for that post in 2001. At the time, Cooke said drug offenders relate well to someone such as Pendleton, who had overcome addiction. Her suit alleges that Pendleton was negligently hired, supervised and retained. It maintains that CCA, Stewart and Cooke knew of Pendleton's "violent criminal background" before and during his employment with CCA. Authorities with the Alabama Department of Corrections said Pendleton spent 17 years in prison there for second-degree murder in the death of a University of Alabama football player. He was released from an Alabama prison in 1992, and he subsequently has worked at various CCA facilities. (Tulsa World)

August 16, 2002 An employees at the Tulsa Jail was fired after her mistake in procedure allowed an inmate to walk out the front door. Chris Howard, spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America, which runs the jail, said the inamte followed a records clerk out of the booking area, past the inmate dressing rooms and operations desk and around a corner to a hallway that leads to two secure doors operated by the master control. The records clerk asked the inmates where he was going. Unsatisfied by his response, the clerk followed him to the doors, where he pushed a button requesting master control to open the doors, Howard said. "The records clerk was waving to master control not to open the doors," he said. But the doors were mistakenly opened anyway. Stacy Barnes, the employee in master control that night, was fired for failing to identify an individual verbally or visually before opening two computer-operated doors that paved the way for the man's escape. (AP)

August 13, 2002 A Tulsa Jail inmate's flight for freedom was short-lived when he was caught by police less than three hours after his escape, authorities said. Scoot Edmiston, 38, of Tulsa, who was at the David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center on charges of driving under the influence and no insurance verification, escaped around 9:15 p.m., jail spokesman Chris Howard said. Edmiston was arrested by Tulsa police at 12:06 a.m. Sunday. The incident is under investigation, but it is believed the escape occurred because a staff member failed to follow identification procedures, Howard said. (Tulsa World.com)

July 30, 2002 The Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority has accepted a $200,000 offer from a bankrupt company that failed to provide a computer system for the Tulsa Jail. The authority accepted the offer on Friday. The total claim is nearly $600,000 for damages and incomplete work. But Dick said getting one-third of a claim is "not bad" for a bankruptcy case. (Staff Reports)

July 27, 2002 Business is booming at the Tulsa Jail-- so much so that the officials are looking for ways to lower inmate count to keep from busting the budget. Jail board members said the increase in the inmate population could be linked to an underused program designed to divert public drunks to a treatment facility. A study points to an increase in bookings on charges that could have been handled with a citation, jail board Chairman Bob Dick said. "Apparently that's at least part of what's going on," Dick said. The current pace has the jail on track to owe Corrections Corporation of America, which runs the lockup, more than $2 million for the month of July, County Fiscal Officer Wayne Carr said. That's more money that the county expects to collect in sales taxes. To lower inmate housing costs, the jail board will begin housing certain inmates in the former Adult Detention Center, a city-owned facility at 1727 Charles Page Blvd. The jail board will pay Southern Corrections Systems Inc. $29.99 per day for each inmate housed at that facility. Southern Corrections already operates the public inebriate program. The jail board approved a measure Friday that extends the public inebriate program contract with Southern Corrections Systems until Nov.30 in hopes of seeking the booking increase. (Tulsa World News)

May 27, 2002 Corrections Corporation of America, negotiating for a new contract running the Tulsa City- County jail, wants to charge inmates $8 every time they demand a sick call. The fee, admittedly sometimes uncollectible, would slow the number of frivolous sick calls, which CCA officers say are as high as 90 percent of all claims of illness. Although the purpose of the fee is to reduce infirmary visits, a co-pay charge will produce as much as $15,000 a year. Given that most sick calls are frivolous, jail attendants should nevertheless be alert to spot genuinely sick inmates. Those jailed often are suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and a bevy of diseases. None of them should be denied the treatment they need. (The World)

May 26, 2002 The Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority on Friday approved a new contract with a private jail operator despite objections from Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune. The three-year contract, with two one-year renewal options, will pay Corrections Corporation of America at least $20.62 million a year. That is a 20.6 percent increase from the estimated $17.1 million the Tennessee- based company will earn in the last year of its current contract. LaFortune cast the dissenting vote after asking authority members to delay the vote for a month or even a week so that law enforcement, particularly the Tulsa Police Department, would have an opportunity to address ongoing concerns and make suggestions on the contract. LaFortune also said he had not had enough time to review the new contract. "I have only had this contract in my hands since Monday," the new mayor said. "This contract is far too critical to the public safety of Tulsans to be subject to such a rush review." Palmer submitted a memo Friday to LaFortune that commented on the new contract. In the pre-booking area, where officers have complained about long waits Palmer said standards are set so low that CCA is never out of compliance. He recommended that CCA be required to complete the prebooking process in 30 minutes 90 percent of the time. The current standard is 75 percent. Palmer said the quality of fingerprinting, photography and booking information at the jail "remains grossly inadequate for investigative purposes." (World Staff)

May 23, 2002 Corrections Corporation of America would be paid about $3.5 million more annually to operate the Tulsa Jail if a proposed contract with the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority is approved. While a majority of authority members say they are in favor of signing a new contract with the Tennessee-based company, Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune said he is undecided. The authority is expected to vote as soon as Friday on a three-year contract, with two one-year renewal options, that would pay CCA at least $20.62 million a year. That is a 20.63 percent increase from the estimated $17.1 million CCA will earn in the final year of its current contract. The authority would also pay $1.4 million annually for utility costs, which CCA pays under its current contract. LaFortune, the newest authority member, said he was just briefed on the new contract Monday and may ask the authority to defer on voting Friday. "I know the timing is important as far as getting the contract in place, but I also believe that the public's interest outweighs having to rush into a contract," Tulsa's new mayor said. "To me, this is an extremely critical decision about the future of our jail." LaFortune said he would like to speak to individuals involved with operating the jail as well as members of the Tulsa Police Department, which has previously expressed concerns about long waits to book in prisoners. "That's a public safety issue, in my opinion, because it takes that arresting officer off the street for that period of time," he said. LaFortune said he also wants to be assured that erroneous release problems have been addressed. (Tulsa World)

May 16, 2002 A female inmate at the Tulsa Jail hoarded medication and wound up in the hospital Tuesday after suffering the affects of an overdose. Corrections Corporation of America spokesman Chris Howard said corrective action would be taken against a medical assistant for failing to crush the inmate's medication. Elizabeth C. Horton, 25, was in the process of being transported to Corrections Department custody but was held back because she was pale, groggy and disoriented, Howard said. Horton was on medication not available in the liquid form, Webber said. CCA has maintained in the past that it crushes psychotropic drugs prior to administration. An understanding between CCA and the authority stemmed from CCA's being cited in a medical audit last year for not purchasing psychotropic drugs in the liquid form as required in its contract. Following an attempted suicide in December, the authority gave CCA notice that it was still in violation of its contract by not administering psychotropic drugs in the liquid form. (Tulsa World)

May 11, 2002 The manager of the Tulsa Jail's female Addiction Treatment Unit is a self-admitted drug offender. But authorities with the Alabama Department of Corrections have confirmed that Eugene Pendleton also spent 17 years in prison for second-degree murder. Former Warden Jim Cooke hired Pendleton to run the women's Addiction Treatment Unit last year. At the time, Cooke said that drug offenders relate well to someone such as Pendleton who has overcome addiction. Pendleton has been working at various Correction Corporation of America facilities since he left prison. Cooke first met Pendleton in 1979 while he was serving his sentence in Alabama. Cooke worked for the Alabama Department of Corrections at the time. Don Stewart, who became warden of the Tulsa Jail earlier this year, said he was aware of Pendleton's murder conviction but that prospective employees with felony convictions are not automatically excluded from employment. Stewart said it's not unusual for CCA's treatment employees to have had a criminal past. Court records indicate that a female inmate alleges she was sexually assaulted by Pendleton on Tuesday. A search warrant was filed Thursday in Tulsa County District Court to obtain samples from Pendleton for DNA and forensic testing. (The Tulsa World)

May 9, 2002 A female inmate has accused a male staff member at the Tulsa Jail of rape, police said. The case is being investigated by the Tulsa Police Department's Sex Crime Unit, Sgt. Gary Stansill said. (The Tulsa World)

March 23, 2002 The Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority has penalized the private company that operates the Tulsa Jail for three mistaken releases last month. The panel, which oversees the jail, voted unanimously Friday to reduce compensation to Corrections Corporation of America by $5,625. The authority has paid CCA roughly $2.6 million to operate the jail so far this year. Two of the erroneous releases involved inmates who were still wanted in other jurisdictions. (AP)

March 7, 2002 Financial sanctions against the operator of the Tulsa Jail following two recent erroneous releases likely will be discussed at the next meeting of the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority on March 22. Tulsa County Commissioner Bob Dick said he will suggest that the authority withhold compensation to Corrections Corporation of America in accordance with its contract. "I think we have a duty as an authority to take formal action," he said. CCA's three-year contract is up for renewal in August, and negotiations are under way. But Dick said the latest incidents should not affect those talks. Though there is some conjecture among county officials that the Sheriff's Office is going to get the jail back, Dick said it's "way too early to say that." "I haven't had any sense we weren't going to come to terms at some point. Our lawyer and their lawyer are having some strong conversations about some language, especially in regard to the breach area, but I'm comfortable that will be worked out." Commissioner John Selph said the latest mistaken releases, discovered Feb. 24 and 27, are the result of employee negligence, and CCA should be penalized. "We need to hold their feet to the fire," Selph said. The jail board notified CCA in July that it was in breech of its contract following two erroneous releases in May, but the board fell short of fining the company. In other developments, six to eight people have been identified in connection with the apparent illegal transfer of more than $17,000 from the inmate account at the Tulsa Jail. (Tulsa World)

March 1, 2002 Police fraud and computer crimes detectives are investigating the disappearance of more than $17,000 from the Tulsa Jail's inmate account. The money apparently was withdrawn from the Corrections Corporation of America account using either phone lines or the Internet, said Sgt. Tony Cellino, supervisor of the Fraud Unit. (Tulsa World)

March 1, 2002 A convicted felon who was wanted by federal authorities for possession of a handgun was mistakenly released from the Tulsa Jail last week. The mistake -- the second of its kind to be discovered in less than a week -- was realized only after police arrested the man again Wednesday. The latest erroneous release was discovered Wednesday when Lance J. Sherwood, 30, was arrested by members of the Northern Oklahoma Fugitive Task Force in the parking lot of the Target store at 71st Street and Memorial Drive . When officials looked at his record, they realized that Sherwood still should have been in jail following a previous arrest. CCA officials are exploring what further action they can take against a jail intake clerk who was fired Monday following Sunday's mistaken release of Courtney K. Thompson, 20. (Tulsa World)

February 26, 2002 A female inmate who was wanted in Osage County was mistakenly released Sunday morning from the Tulsa Jail. Courtney K. Thompson, 20, of Pawhuska, was released from jail about 8:30 a.m. after posting bond on DUI and traffic charges. She had been jailed since late Saturday. Chris Howard, a spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America, said the jail received information from the police about an hour before Thompson was released that she was to be held for Osage County relating to charges of assault with a dangerous weapon. "We received the add-on charge, and the intake clerk failed to enter it into the computer," Howard said. The intake clerk, Ahmad Watkins, who had worked at the facility for about a year, was fired as a result, Howard said. Thompson was not back in custody Monday afternoon at either the Tulsa Jail or the Osage County Jail. Charlie Cartwright, the administrator of the Osage County Jail, said its lines of communication with CCA in relation to inmate holds are not good. "The communications we have between the public sectors and private sector that operates that private facility" sometimes leaves "a lot to be desired," he said. (Tulsa World)

February 8, 2002 A committee of prominent lawyers will look at operations of the privately run Tulsa Jail, specifically the release process. Attorney Allen Smallwood, who will be the committee's chairman, said a wait of six to 18 hours for release -- after charges are dismissed or bond has been posted -- is not unusual. "I don't want to be ugly about it, but that place is 2-1/2 years old, and we've had a lot of time for initial growing pains to be worked out," he said. Phil Frazier, president of the Tulsa County Bar Association, said the committee was formed following complaints from attorneys and residents. When the sheriff ran the jail, Frazier said, an attorney or bond agent could secure a release in a matter of minutes. But long waits have become the norm since CCA took over in August 1999, he said. Longer jail stays also contribute to higher jail costs in some cases. The Criminal Justice Authority pays CCA $38.02 a day for each inmate, based on a midnight count. "It is suspect," Frazier said. "I can think of no other reason why they'd want to hold someone for an inordinate amount of time other than for some financial gain." (Tulsa World)

December 21, 2001 A former jailer at the David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center was sentenced Thursday to three years and one month in prison for attempting to smuggle methamphetamine to an inmate for $40. Edwin M. Vasquez, 47, was also ordered to serve three years of post-custody supervised release and was fined $2,500 by U.S. Senior District Judge H. Dale Cook. Vasquez received an enhanced punishment for abusing a position of trust. Officials with Corrections Corporation of America, the private company that operates the Tulsa Jail, said Vasquez was fired the day he was arrested. (Tulsa World)

December 16, 2001 A city-county contract committee negotiating with the company that operates the Tulsa Jail is pushing a "categorized system" for inmate releases that w