IMMEDIATE Action needed! 

Tell the Department of Corrections and Governor Ducey NO MORE PRISON BEDS!

The Arizona Department of Corrections has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for up to 2,000 more prison beds to be contracted out, most likely to a for-profit corporation. The contract will be SIGNED by July 1, 2016.

We don’t need more prisons. Crime rates are down in Arizona and the prison population is likely to decline due to low numbers of new court commitments.

The annual cost for the initial set of 1,000 beds is projected to be $24.2 million, beginning in FY2017. HOW MANY K-12 STUDENTS WOULD THIS MONEY SUPPORT?

No private prison company should make a profit while Arizona is slashing its education budget and social services. SAY NO TO NEW PRISON BEDS!

PLEASE CALL ADC DIRECTOR RYAN AND GOVERNOR DUCEY AND TELL THEM TO CANCEL THE RFP!

(Calling is always more effective than email, but any contact is better than none.  Make your voice heard!)

Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan: 602-542-5225, cryan@azcorrections.gov

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey: Phoenix: 602.542.4331; Tucson: 520.628.6580

**Governor Ducey does not make his email address public. You can fill out this comment form via the website: http://azgovernor.gov/governor/form/contact-governor-ducey

More spending on prisons is unnecessary, costly, and unsafe:

• Arizona already spends $1 billion on prisons every year—siphoning dollars away from education, health care, and needed services.

• We don’t need more prisons! Crime rates are down in Arizona and the prison population is likely to decline due to low numbers of new court commitments.

• There are cost-effective and safe alternatives to incarceration that save money and do more to reduce recidivism. Sentencing reforms like those in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Utah would save taxpayers millions while lowering crime rates.

**If you can blind copy or cc us, we will have a better idea how effective this initiative is.  If you receive responses, even boiler-plate ones, please forward those to us, if possible.