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Prairie
Correctional Facility
Appleton, Minnesota
CCA
April 20, 2006 AP
Appleton, Minn. Swift County has raised the valuation of the Prairie
Correctional Facility in Appleton, Wis., 128 percent. Officials from the
privately-owned prison are contesting the valuation, which increased from $14
million in 2005 to nearly $32 million in 2006. Warden Daren Swenson met with
Swift County Assessor Edward Pederson earlier this month. Swenson says under an
agreement reached with the county three years ago, the prison's property taxes
are currently at $670,000. If the 128 percent increase goes into effect, they
will pay nearly $1.5 million next year. Prairie Correctional Facility is owned
by Corrections Corporation of America.
January 25, 2006 AP
A private Minnesota prison is giving North Dakota more time to find space for
inmates who have been housed there. The Appleton prison, operated by Corrections
Corporation of America, notified North Dakota in November that it no longer had
room for North Dakota prisoners. As of early this week, the state still had 48
prisoners in Appleton, which is more than 300 miles from Bismarck. North Dakota
warden Tim Schuetzle said the Appleton prison has given North Dakota until the
end of March to find another place for them. CCA offered to take some prisoners
to another prison it operates in Colorado for the same price per day, per inmate
- $54, Schuetzle said. But the Colorado lockup is about twice as far from
Bismarck as the Minnesota prison, and the Colorado prison will only take 27
North Dakota prisoners, he said.
December 6, 2005 AP
A private prison in Minnesota can no longer take inmates from North Dakota, the
North Dakota prison warden says. Warden Tim Schuetzle said the Prairie
Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minn., is filling up with Minnesota inmates
and can no longer house North Dakota prisoners. "Sometime over the next
month or so we'll be moving the North Dakota inmates out of Appleton," he
said. "That creates problems for us because we don't have any space at our
prisons here." He said arrangements are being made to house prisoners at
another privately run prison in Burlington, Colo. "But it's twice as far
for us to transport inmates so it's more expensive," Schuetzle said.
November 15, 2005 Casper Star
Tribune
When Idaho shipped 302 inmates to a private Minnesota prison last month, it was
only easing overcrowding: The state's prisons remain above capacity, and
Department of Correction officials appear likely to ask for a nearly $8 million
cash infusion during the upcoming 2006 Legislature to handle the overflow. With
a two-year contract, it'll cost Idaho about $1.1 million more to lock up its
prisoners at the prison in Appleton, Minn., run by the Corrections Corporation
of America. That's based on figures given by state officials on Oct. 27, when
they said it would cost $53 per day in Minnesota, compared to $48 in Idaho.
State prison officials, including prison system director Tom Beauclair, are
arguing that this added burden, which doesn't include the cost of transporting
inmates or keeping their records from afar, is another reason why Idaho should
invest $160 million in new prisons. As a stopgap measure, Beauclair is expected
in January to ask legislators for another $7.9 million for the current fiscal
year to cover the cost of housing overflow inmates both out-of-state and in
county jail cells. "Obviously the governor would prefer not to have to send
folks out of state," said Mike Journee, spokesman for Gov. Dirk Kempthorne,
in an interview with The Spokesman-Review newspaper. "That's a costly
remedy for the situation."
October 21, 2005 AP
More than 300 Idaho inmates will be housed in Minnesota under an agreement with
a private prison company, Idaho Department of Correction officials announced
Friday. The inmates will be transferred from Idaho facilities to the Prairie
Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minn., by the end of the month. Housing the
inmates in Minnesota will cost Idaho taxpayers $53 per inmate per day, officials
said. It costs about $48 per day to house an inmate in an Idaho prison.
September 8, 2005 Pioneer Press
Lawmakers must step up with cash to expand prisons in Minnesota if the state is
to safely house the growing inmate population. We read with interest Bill
Salisbury's piece in Tuesday's Pioneer Press on the upcoming tab for housing the
state's prisoners and sex offenders, estimated at $140 million if the
departments of Corrections and Human Services get all they say they need. The
article hammers home a point we've been making for more than a year: If
legislators stiffen sentences, they must also provide funds to house the
increasing number of prisoners that result from their policy decisions.
Corrections has been given some short-term relief as Wisconsin has withdrawn its
prisoners from the Corrections Corporation of America facility in Appleton,
which opened up about 1,300 beds. The expansion of the Faribault prison, which
was part of the bonding bill passed in the last legislative session, will add a
little more than 1,000 new beds. And expanding current facilities makes the most
economic sense. According to Benson, expansion of existing facilities would
result in long-term costs of about $45 a day per prisoner. By comparison,
private jails, such as the CCA facility in Appleton, cost $55 a day to house
each prisoner, but the real cost is closer to $70 a day when you factor in
transportation and administrative costs, Benson said. Building a new facility is
even more expensive.
July 24, 2005 Twin
Cities
Better late than never for Faribault and Stillwater projects included in the
bonding bill that finally passed last session.
The state finally passed a bonding bill in the last legislative session that
included money to address some of these long-standing problems. The largest
single project in the bill was $85 million to expand the Faribault prison,
adding more than 700 beds. About $3.5 million was also committed to building a
new 150-bed high-security lockup at Stillwater. Corrections is getting some
relief due to the fact that Wisconsin is pulling its inmates out of the
privately run Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minn., which will open
up about 1,300 beds. But expanding Minnesota's existing facilities is by far the
cheapest way to add space. According to Benson, expanding existing
facilities results in long-term costs of about $45 a day per prisoner. By
comparison, private jails, such as the Appleton prison, cost $55 a day to house
each prisoner, but the real cost is closer to $70 a day when you factor in
transportation and administrative costs, Benson said. Building a brand new
prison can be even more expensive.
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