A privately run state prison in Eloy, Arizona will likely be expanding. The Department of Corrections is looking for a facility to house its growing prison population.
Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the facility about 65 miles south of Phoenix, is the only company that bid for the state’s contract. CCA plans to accommodate 1,000 more prisoners through renovations and expansions to its Red Rock Correctional Facility.
That’s something Eloy City Manager Harvey Krauss is happy to hear, since CCA is the city’s largest employer. More than 8 percent of city’s 17,000 residents work there.
“It’ll add another 125 jobs to the Red Rock Correctional Facility,” he said. “It represents an investment of nearly 40 million dollars of construction to our community.”
Despite the potential economic benefits those who oppose the expansion voiced their concerns at a public hearing in Eloy Tuesday night. Tucson resident Becca Fealk made the trip to Eloy to ask Tennessee-based CCA about its political influence in Arizona.
“They are coming to our community, they’re making a profit by incarcerating families and communities,” she said.
Arizona’s privately run prisons have been under increased scrutiny since riots broke out at a Kingman facility this summer. A report following the incidents revealed the private operator, Management and Training Corporation, had been in continuous violation of several department policies. The state ended its contract with MTC in August.
Among the findings, investigators found chronically low staffing and training of corrections officers. Director Charles Ryan said the department plans to modify its oversight of private facilities.
“One of the changes that our monitors will pursue is, if you will, trust and verify,” he said. “They actually will have to observe and monitor the quality of the instruction.”
Ryan also announced a review of this Eloy CCA facility in addition to four other of the state’s private prisons will be released later this week.
