As a further indication that the overall economic situation is affecting the corrections industry, construction of the new county jail in Texas has been delayed as the volatile U.S. financial market threatens financing for the project.
McLennan County commissioners Tuesday postponed for the third straight week issuing project revenue bonds to finance the new jail because of high bond interest rates. Community Education Centers, the New Jersey-based company that is to oversee the new jail’s construction and operation, would be responsible for paying the interest on bonds the county sells to third-party financial houses. County Judge Jim Lewis said officials had hoped to break ground for the new jail this month. However, the county is waiting to see whether the financial markets stabilize, allowing for reasonable bond interest rates. In the meantime, Lewis said, the project cannot go forward. He did not know how long the county would hold out on issuing the bonds …
The new jail would be privately run by CEC, which currently operates the downtown jail. The 816-bed jail would be built next to the present county-run jail on State Highway 6 and would help alleviate some jail overcrowding issues plaguing McLennan County. The new facility will cost about $37.4 million and will take 12 to 14 months to complete, according to Hale Mills Construction Ltd., the jail’s builder.
More information from the Waco Tribune.
vericatrajkova CEC, Economic Issues, Private Prisons, TX McLennan County
The Delaware County PA Board of Prison Inspectors didn’t have much of a choice yesterday in deciding which company would run the George W. Hill Correctional Facility next year.
Only one firm in the country was willing to assume the $40 million annual contract left behind by the Florida-based GEO Group, which is skipping town amid a flurry of costly lawsuits and an inability to turn a substantial profit at the 1,883-bed county lockup.
The five-member board awarded the contract to Community Education Centers (CEC), a smaller company that specializes in inmate re-entry programs and, according to its Web site, “believes in the opportunity for redemption” and providing “second chances” to ex-offenders. John Reilly, the jail’s acting superintendent, who oversees GEO’s performance on the county’s behalf, said that CEC will begin managing the prison on Jan. 5 and is expected to retain most of the 500 GEO employees.
The prison, located in Thornbury, has been operated by GEO, formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp., since 1996 and is the state’s only privatized county jail. The cost of running the prison – about $43.8 million this year – is the single largest expenditure of county tax dollars in Delaware County’s $316 million annual budget. But officials say that the public-private partnership has saved taxpayers millions.
More at the Philadelphia Daily News.
vericatrajkova CEC, GEO, PA Delaware County, Private Prisons