Corrections Corporation of America sent letters to the prison leaders in January, saying it had a pot of $250 million to buy facilities as part of an investment. The company is trying to capitalize on the landmark deal it made with Ohio in the fall by purchasing a facility, the first state prison in the nation to be sold to a private firm.
CCA currently leases the Hall County jail facility in midtown Gainesville. Hall County recently announced intentions to sell the jail to CCA, despite objections from city of Gainesville officials.
Prison departments in California, Texas and Georgia all dismissed the idea. Florida's prison system said it doesn't have the authority to make that kind of decision and officials in CCA's home state of Tennessee said they aren't reviewing the proposal. The states refused to say exactly why they were rejecting the offer.
Critics of private prisons called the offer a backdoor way to delay the sentencing reform movements that have sprung up in many states looking to cut prison budgets. Lawmakers in many conservative states that once eagerly passed tough-on-crime laws are now embracing alternative sentences for low-level offenders who would otherwise be locked up.
CCA said selling a prison to a private firm doesn't block states from pursuing sentencing reform. The company also said it was still too early to say whether any state would take them up on the bid.
CCA said the offer was inspired by the $72.7 million sale of Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Ohio.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2012/3/246419