I came to office with the goal of reforming the prison system in Arizona. Toward that end, I recruited a new Arizona Department of Corrections Director, Dora Schriro, whose savvy in managing the prison system with effective, successful inmate re-entry programs reduced Missouri’s recidivism rate by one third.

For Director Schriro to find that same success with our 30,000-member inmate population in Arizona, we must give her the appropriate corrections policy tools.

For the past nine years, Arizona has experimented with incarcerating felons in private prisons. The results have been revealing. Arizona got into the business of privatization in 1994 under the premise that for-profit prisons could provide services to the state at a cost-savings of as much as 20 per cent. Today, 15 per cent of all Arizona prisoners are housed in private beds, which is three times the national average.

As the Legislature takes up the question of how to reduce the overcrowding of our correctional facilities, lobbyists for the for-profit prison industry have descended upon the Capitol peddling the notion that further privatization will bring great savings to the state and good management to our correctional facilities.

However, there simply is no evidence of this, much less proof. The evidence, in fact, is quite to the contrary.

State May Eventually Own Private Facilities

To start with, the for-profit prison industry generally builds facilities to last 10 to 20 years, while the state of Arizona looks for buildings with 50-year life-spans. As private prison contracts expire, there is a fair chance the state will own the prison facilities — yet there has never been an appropriation for the state to monitor construction and maintenance to ensure they are as durable as the state-built beds.

In the long run, low-grade facilities, built on the cheap to preserve profit margins, will cost the state millions of extra dollars to refurbish or replace.

In addition, private industry contracts generally contain provisions that can lock the state into long-term charges it must pay, regardless of whether actual expenses are even incurred – like paying to house non-existent prisoners.

Consider contract bids for the women’s prison that I have chosen not to move forward with. The state was set to build a 3,200 bed for-profit facility with the agreement that it would guarantee and pay for a 90 per cent occupancy in this facility. Bear in mind that the current population of women inmates stands at 2,645. Even if every Arizona female prisoner was placed in this facility, it would be just under 83 per cent full.

Reducing The Number Of Female Prisoners

And that doesn’t take into account Director Schriro’s program to reduce the number of prisoners who return for violating terms of their probation and paroles. Over the next five years, programs will be put in place to reduce female population. Projections are that we could reduce the female population to 2,170 — leaving the women’s prison at just under 68 per cent capacity.

Yet, under the 90 per cent occupancy guarantee, we would have to pay the for-profit prison managers as though they were housing 2,880 prisoners. That adds up to about $17 million that taxpayers would be required to pay to for-profit prison managers so that they can essentially house inmates who do not exist.

Under the state-run prison model, those tax dollars would be saved.

For the private prison structure to work, a profit margin must be factored in, which is what drives up the operational costs of private prisons beyond the levels required by the state to do the same job.

Yet right now, lobbyists for the private prison industry are courting lawmakers for their support to widen the for-profit private prison industry in Arizona. Unfortunately, some lawmakers are all too willing to oblige.

A bill introduced Nov. 10 not only directs the Department of Corrections to buy private beds, it specifies which contactors to use and where additions should be built. This legislation crosses the line. It dictates privatization and sells the state out to specific vendors.

Considerable care is given to ensuring the private prison industry gets what it wants from this bill. Public safety and prudent use of tax dollars is an afterthought, at best.

To be clear, I do not object entirely to using private beds. They have their value as temporary sources of beds in times of emergency. When we need the beds, we need the beds — and private facilities are helpful to ease temporary crunches. In fact, we know we must place inmates into private facilities now to ease the current crisis in state prisons.

It is the permanent privatization of our prison system into a for-profit venture that I object to. The Arizona Department of Corrections is simply better at managing correctional facilities than a for-profit company is. Director Schriro has shown that our prisons can be run cheaper and safer through the state.

Let’s move forward in managing our prisons — and our money — in Arizona. —

Janet Napolitano is the governor of Arizona.