Private Prisons Debated In Minnesota
Some Minnesota legislators want to move more prisoners from state facilities to a private prison, saving the state $12 million in the next two years. This report from the Bemidji Pioneer.
The 776 medium security prisoners at the Moose Lake prison would be transferred to the Appleton facility under a bill promoted by Rep. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake, and Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria. Westrom said the bill is “another measure of common sense to save Minnesota money.” At Moose Lake, prisoners cost up to $122 per day, but just $62.90 at Appleton, Westrom said.
The newly emptied space at Moose Lake would be used as housing for the Minnesota Sex Offender Program and the bill’s supporters say that planned new Moose Lake construction would not be needed …
But Sen. Tony Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, said that the state should not farm out prisoners. “Many, many other states have experimented with privatizing their prisons and had dubious results,” said Lourey, whose district includes Moose Lake. Lourey said that among his fears are that workers in the Appleton prison are under paid and that a private facility is more prone to graft. “Any cost savings are not worth the price,” he added …
Westrom said any job loss at Moose Lake would be countered by more jobs in Appleton. Ingebrigtsen said he was making this bill his major project for the legislative session. “Increasing our use of private prisons also could bring a healthy element of competition to the state-run facilities to operate more efficiently and extend the saving seven further,” Ingebrigtsen said.