Think Arizona spends too much on prisons? Now is your chance to be heard!! After banning public testimony during departmental budget hearings, the House Appropriations Committee has decided to hold a “Budget Conversation Tour,” to solicit public input on the state budget. Gov. Ducey has stated that he wants […]
In his State of the State speech, Governor Doug Ducey said: “And, if we’re serious about reducing recidivism – and reversing the growth of our prison population, let’s begin by building on the model already working in Pima County: a community corrections center, providing tough love and on-site […]
What a year! There’s never a dull moment when you are working for criminal justice reform in Arizona. We’d like to share with you just the highlights of some of our achievements from 2015: We added THREE new incredible staff people We passed sentencing reform legislation for the […]
The Arizona Department of Corrections has given a green light for a contract with a private, for-profit correctional management corporations for the construction and management of up to 2,000 additional state prison beds. Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) was the sole bidder. It has proposed to build a […]
The shocking riots in the privately-operated Kingman prison and the cancellation of the contract for the facility has raised significant questions about the role of prison privatization in Arizona. The Dept. of Corrections found “a culture of disorganization, disengagement, and disregard of ADC policies and fundamental inmate management […]
KJZZ reported that five for-profit prison corporations have expressed interest in taking over the Kingman contract: CCA, GEO Group, Emerald Corrections, LaSalle, and Community Education Centers (CEC). In our last post, we gave you the dirt on CCA and GEO Group. Now we will introduce you to the […]
Our enthusiasm for the Governor’s claims about adding more transparency and accountability to the prison contracting process in Arizona is beginning to wane. While we were pleased to hear that he was requiring that the assignment of a new contract for the Kingman prison be subject to a more open search […]