State Officials Defend Privates

DENVER - The Colorado Department of Corrections will have a new carrot - or stick - to use in its dealings with private prisons starting this summer.

Under a new law approved by the Colorado Legislature and signed by Gov. Bill Ritter, the department will be able to withhold inmate per diem money if a private prison doesn't comply with conditions of its contract.

The measure, detailed in HB1363, allows the DOC to negotiate as part of its annual contracts with private prison companies what per diem rate it will pay, and how much extra it can give up to a maximum rate set by the Legislature each year.

Currently, that rate is $52.69 per inmate a day, but is set to increase 4.25 percent next year, bringing that per diem to $54.90 a day.

"It gives us some flexibility, a tool to work with a private facility that emphasizes public safety and improved outcomes," DOC Executive Director Ari Zavaras said of the new law. "The way it was set before is, whatever the per diem is, that's what we had to pay," he said. "What we have the ability to do now is if minimum staffing patterns aren't met, we can actually reduce per diems. That gives the privates the incentive to staff them appropriately. It's also going to give us the ability to negotiate programs, which should improve outcomes that directly relate to recidivism."

Though private prisons routinely come under fire by some, most notably Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, as facilities designed more to incarcerate inmates rather than rehabilitate them, Zavaras said that's not what he sees at all.
The Pueblo Chieftain