Private prison contracts may get a pass
Amid calls for more oversight, the Legislature is poised to extend three contracts without competition.
By JONI JAMES
Published May 5, 2005
TALLAHASSEE - Three months after a Senate panel questioned whether taxpayers were benefitting enough from privatized prisons, lawmakers are poised to expand three contracts that have been in place for a decade.
The plan would add 854 prison beds at three privately run prisons operated by GEO Group of Boca Raton and Corrections Corp. of America of Nashville. It's the second time in two years the companies have won expanded contracts even in the face of criticism about a lack of competition.
Now the Department of Management Services, which oversees the contracts, says it will wait at least a year before rebidding five private prison contracts worth roughly $90-million annually. One reason for the delay is the Legislature's decision to expand three of the contracts.
The new private prison beds are part of the budget to be approved Friday. It also includes 220 beds at a new private prison at Graceville, which lawmakers approved a year ago. The state has yet to hire a company to build and run that facility.
A spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush, who has said repeatedly he doesn't favor private prisons, declined to comment. But few expect him to veto the plan, because it's part of a carefully crafted budget compromise and he pushed lawmakers to build space for as many as 5,000 prisoners.
The 1,074 private beds are among the 3,940 new beds included in the 2005-06 budget. The balance will be added to publicly run prisons.
"Once again they've put the governor in a box," complained Ken Kopczynski, lobbyist for the Florida Police Benevolent Association, which represents public corrections officers.
Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, said extending the contracts saved money. The private prison companies will assume the cost of building the facilities and be reimbursed by the state over the life of their contracts, Crist said.
If the companies lose their contracts, they will negotiate with the state to have their construction costs repaid, Crist said. The state owns the private prison facilities.
Crist, chairman of the Senate's criminal justice budget committee, ordered a legislative auditor to study whether the private prisons actually cost 7 percent less than public prisons as the law requires.
Lobbyists for the two companies said expanding the contracts makes sense, because it should lower overall costs.
CCA lobbyist Matt Bryan said his client has always delivered what the state wanted: safe facilities with no escapes and lower costs.
CCA will get the bulk of the additional beds: 235 at Bay Correctional Facility in Panama City and 384 at Gadsden Correctional Facility in Quincy. GEO will add 235 beds at Moore Haven Correctional Facility.
Last year, in a similar prison expansion authorized bby the Legislature, CCA added 543 beds at the Lake City Correctional Facility; GEO added 544 at South Bay Correctional Facility.
"I'm not thrilled about it," said Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, who has pushed for increased legislative oversight of state contracts. "But next year, after we have the study, hopefully we'll have some answers about how these contracts are working," she said.
CCA and GEO have been successful since at least 2002 in thwarting efforts to rebid their contracts. That year, the Correctional Privatization Commission, a governor-appointed board that oversaw private prisons, launched a plan to rebid the contracts.
But two years later, after its director illegally hired a former Department of Corrections secretary as a consultant, lawmakers voted to disband the group and give oversight to DMS.
Joni James can be reached at 850 224-7263 or jjames@sptimes.com