The Arizona Department of Corrections is making some changes to how it monitors its privately run prisons. This follows a series of reports about the states privately run facilities.
The reviews were triggered after the state ended one contract with one of its six private prison operators, Management and Training Corporation, in August. The company was found to be in continuous violation of several department policies at its Kingman facility.
Assessments of the state’s other five facilities found other deficiencies. The most significant of which were:
- The majority of the wardens weren’t having regular meetings with staff.
- Training wasn’t up to department standards.
- Emergency response plans weren’t comprehensive.
The department announced it would change how its monitors evaluate the private facilities. Monitors are placed at private facilities and are in charge of making sure each meets the standards laid out in its state contract.
The monitors will now spend more of their time physically at the prisons and at meetings. The department also issued corrective action plans to each of the five facilities about specific problems they each need to fix to be in compliance with their state contracts.
