Arizona is proceeding with plans to send more inmates to private prisons in Oklahoma while transfers to an Indiana prison where a riot occurred remain on hold, the state Department of Corrections said Aug. 14.
Arizona plans to send about 900 inmates to the private Great Plains Correctional Facility located in Hinton, Okla., starting in September. The facility is operated by Houston-based Cornell Cos. Inc.
When the Hinton prison’s contract with Cornell was originally announced earlier this year, officials said the initial population would be 916 but that the facility will be expanded to hold an eventual 2,000 Arizona inmates.
Arizona also plans to expand its current population at the Diamondback Correctional Facility, a private facility in Watonga, Okla., from the current 1,700 to about 2,160 by mid-September, said Bill Lamoreaux, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Corrections.
Arizona had halted transfers of inmates to a privately operated prison in New Castle, Ind., just before an April 24 riot involving Arizona and Indiana prisoners and as of Aug. 14 hadn’t decided whether and when to resume transfers to reach the originally planned 1,200, Lamoreaux said. There are 600 Arizona inmates there now.
Lamoreaux said required repairs to the prison have been completed and that the complex “is just about there” on returning to a normal schedule.
Discussions between Arizona and Indiana officials continue, Lamoreaux said.
We want it done correctly,” he said. “We want to make sure everything is ready to house the full 1,200 safely and correctly.”