Mississippi Hall of Shame

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 23, 2002
Why are 2,600 state-owned prison beds empty while two state private prisons are being guaranteed an inm