Michael Dougherty is the 20th Judicial District Attorney in Boulder. CoreCivic purchased the facility from the county in October 1996 and currently owns and operates the facility. CoreCivic's Bent County Correctional Facility landed at number two on the list with 40 GEDs earned over the same time period. The Cheyenne Mountain Reentry Center in Colorado Springs. unexpectedly shut down a re-entry facility housing hundreds of inmates in Colorado Springs. Inmates take part in reciting the three daily affirmations, Attitude, Credo and The Choice is Mine, at the Cheyenne Mountain Re-Entry Center on Oct. 28, 2005. Mr. Virgil Ensey. Colorado Springs mayoral candidates address affordable homeownership. Joey Bunch is the senior correspondent and deputy managing editor of Colorado Politics. Newsline is based in Denver, and coverage of activities at the Capitol are central to its mission, but its reporters are devoted to providing reliable information about topics that concern readers in all parts of the state, from Lamar to Dinosaur, from Durango to Sterling. (719) 456 2610. Instead of the General Assembly handing out millions to a private company with a problematic track record for how employees and inmates are treated, it is time for us to end the use of private, for-profit prisons. But leaders in Bent County say its aiming at doing one thing in particular. BENT COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY Hospitals and Health Care Las Animas, Colorado 11 followers "We're very proud of the incredible teachers who made . He also serves as director for the board ofSoutheast Health Groupand is board chairman for CDS Policy Control. The return address on the envelope must be clear and complete. Thats the main talk of the town right now, he said. It is clear from their own reporting that the state department is better at running correctional facilities. Poor working conditions, housing options and other factors may be the reasons why people do not want to work there. Bent County Jail Address: 11100 County Road GG.5 Las Animas, CO 81054 Phone: 719-456-1363 Bent County Jail Commissary Carepacks Bent County Jail contracts with Access Securepak for families to send pre-determined packages of commissary items to your inmate. Everybody is just really scared., Its all because of the recently passed Colorado House Bill 20-1019, which according to its summary, concerns measures to manage the state prison population.. Here's why. But if were running into capacity problems that would be something we could consider doing., He said if there were public concerns, lawmakers then could say, All right, well build another prison for you.. The costs of operation are driven down by fewer health programs and lower-paid staff. This is not just a story of one prison. Housing could be an issue, Brakke told lawmakers during Fridays hearing. The Bent County Correctional Facility generated 18.3% of Bent Countys property taxes and 25% of Las Animas School District taxes. Begin processing visitors in at 9:30 am and stop processing at 10:45 am, and will resume processing at 12:00 pm. The inmates may be awaiting trial or sentencing, or they may be serving a sentence after being convicted of a crime. 11560 Road FF75. The Department of Corrections also wants an additional $5.5 million to open a second tower to address overcrowding beyond that caused by the shutdown at Cheyenne Mountain. Around the same time, the nurse "began expressing concerns (to another supervisor) about the quality of patient care the inmates were receiving," the filing states. But Allen recommended against it, as the prison might need the beds for social distancing measures. Follow this link to our career page to view jobs at this facility. Login, Colorado Prison Utilization Study - Public Hearing, Note: livestream videos are delayed by several seconds. Corrections1 is revolutionizing the way in which the corrections community finds relevant news, Offenders can get substance abuse treatment at this facility. If you find yourself in the town of Las Animas, chances are youre either passing through or paying a visit to Bent Countys largest economic driver. You are also not allowed to use envelopes that are padded or made of plastic or . Littwin: Good news from the Dilbert front. "If we close down one or two facilities we're going to save the state millions of dollars, period. CoreCivic charges less to house a medium security prisoner than it costs at a DOC facility, but we are getting what we pay for less. Since the announcement of the closure, DOC has been providing human resources assistance to CMRC employees. She criticized the various programs offered by the facility to inmates, saying that programs are themselves limited in number as well as the available space within them. "We shouldn't just keep prisons open just for jobs," Herod said. What the governor had told me is, he thought that the state would take it over, Netherton said. Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, is co-sponsoring legislation this session that could end private prison operations in the state. It's a business with 285 employees, but it is also a small. Lawmakers on the JBC voted 5-0 on Friday to accept the staff recommendation, meaning the funding increase will be part of budget legislation that the entire General Assembly must vote on this spring. Gurule said his education and experience demonstrate his "passion and knowledge for business economics, social justice and education," but said his most important qualifications come from his personal experience as a Hispanic minority from a low-income family and as a formally incarcerated person in both state and private prisons. The study stemmed from 2020 legislation. Those measures were taken to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection to inmates and prison staff. Becker observed that the state doesn't compensate private prisons for including such programs. At theCrowley Countypublic input hearing the night prior, Gurule suggested thatCoreCivicdoesn't value its employees as much as its shareholders' expectations. But on Jan. 7, GEO Group announced it would shutter Cheyenne Mountain on March 7 after operating it since 2017. (719) 456-2610. I think my exact words were, he could be the first Governor in Colorado history to bankrupt two of the poorest counties in the state of Colorado, Netherton said. A company that needs the infrastructure and workforce thatBent Countycan offer; a for-profit company that would continue to pay the property taxes the county depends on. Attention: Private Prison Monitoring Unit, Colorado Department of Corrections Headquarters, Questions regarding applying for visitation:719-226-4931/Questions regarding visiting rules: 719-456-2610, ext. The state cant afford more costly mistakes, especially based on thin information, Allen said. identifies important training information, interacts with each other and Mistakes were made when the state announced it was shuttering Cheyenne Mountain, which prompted the company to exercise its 60-day pullout clause, said Rep. Kim Ransom, a Republican from Douglas County who sits on the Joint Budget Committee, the bipartisan panel of legislators charged with finding the money to manage the states next steps. Gurule suggested thatBentandCrowleycounties leverage their positions to get the state to develop a programming budget that would incentivize "the right company" to come to their areas. PRIVATE PRISONS ARE AT RISKBent County is at Risk. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Jared Polis has said he wants to see the state eliminate the use of private prisons. Work conditions could play into it. Visiting days are on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 10am-3:50pm. Colorado Newsline provides fair and accurate reporting on politics, policy and other stories of interest to Coloradans. The General Assembly is looking to add about $3 million to reopen one tower there to solve the immediate 126-bed housing crisis caused by the CMRC closure. I do not have access to the Bent County Development Foundation records, that is a different agency located at the address below. Leaders at the state Capitol are talking about evolutionary change in criminal justice at the same time theyre talking about spending $9 million in a hurry to solve a problem partly of their own making. Its a story of three prisons, the other two in rural Bent and Crowley counties, and the fears there about what the elimination of the private prisons might mean for local economies. That could mean, pending a feasibility study, the bent county correctional facility could be shuttered. DENVER After a bill aimed at reducingColorado'sincarcerated population passed last year,BentandCrowleycounties have been wrestling with the implications of a future less reliant on private prisons. Rocky FordresidentDuane Guruleopposes continued operations of the private prisons inSoutheast Colorado. Bent County generated $2.6 million in revenue for the county and eight. For the department to meet a proportional share of the $2 billion the JBC needs, the cut would be $144 million, a "breathtaking" amount, Allen said. La Vista, located on the campus of the Colorado Mental Health Institute, has 683 beds, and the recommendation was to reduce its capacity by 147 beds. Two private prisons in rural southeast Colorado both operated by the company CoreCivic are grappling with high turnover rates among their staff. They provide minimal educational and work programs to inmates, and offer far less mental health and substance abuse treatment. Herod made clear her intention is to see all private prisons gone, replaced with state-run facilities. Bent County Commissioner Chuck Netherton said closing the two. The association includes both the GEO Group and CoreCivic, the private providers of Colorado incarceration. Districts would need to seek increases from the taxpayers to sustain services, Decimation of residential property values, Increased Utility rates (due to loss of largest utility consumer), Loss of over $510,000 annually in additional fees, Negative impact to social determinants of health and health equity, Loss of sales tax revenue throughout the county. Douglas County Republican representative Ransom doesnt venture a lot of opinions of justice reform or the politics driving private prisons out of the state. That was after the areas previous economic driver, a VA hospital, shut its doors. Allen suggested lawmakers consider something with adults they already do in the juvenile system: When the system reaches capacity, administrators determine the least-risky kids to release. "We can shut down those facilities. Visiting days are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10:00 am to 3:50 pm. CoreCivic has invested in commercial advertising, participated in public events, and attempted to recruit community members through job boards, military bases, local colleges, social media and local hiring events, Davio said. If thats the case, the state wouldnt have pay the county any property taxes. State prison inmates are able to make calls with: Calling Cards. "They are barely being served proper portions of food. Copyright 2023 In the event that we have more visitors than space allows, visits may be cut short on a "first-in, first-out" basis. Dear Mr. Lipton, I am sending the documents you requested that the City of Las Animas has for the Bent County Correctional Facility. The facility is owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America under contract with the Colorado Department of . To achieve those savings, DOC would have to close nine of the 19 state-operated prisons and release 5,000 offenders, he said. Right now, our prison budget is over a billion dollars, and it continues to grow. The state pays better, has much better staff retention, provides better programming and treatment for incarcerated individuals, and offers better re-entry services which helps to lower the rate of re-offense. [1] CCA has run the facility since 1996, and it has an . "Since the lockdown began because of COVID, they've barely been let out of their cells," the caller said. The study concluded that the prisons should remain open for now, largely due to the negative economic impact closure could have on the areas, By Christian Burney Copyright 2023 For people who live near the two private prisons in Colorado, it's become a lifeline to jobs and services the community relies on. It is contracted through the Department of Correction to incarcerate male offenders. It has become the most comprehensive and trusted online destination for correctional professionals nationwide. When asked about how the DOC had addressed staffing concerns at the private prisons, Skinner mentioned the per diem rate increase as well as retention bonuses for CoreCivic staff. Lexipol. The State of Colorado pays CoreCivic over $67 million per year in taxpayer dollars to operate these two prisons the Bent County Correctional Facility and Crowley County Correctional Facility. "I'm in 100% agreement that losing a company of this size would have a detrimental effect on the region's economy," Gurule said at theBent Countypublic input hearing. Marianne Goodland A monitoring area on the third floor of the Cheyenne Mountain Re-entry Center, Colorado Springs. Allen said that if legislators are to discuss eliminating private prisons, they need an accurate view of how theyre performing. They also voted to gut higher ed general fund support by 58%, or $493.2 million, the largest budget cut to date. Department of Corrections officials have said CMRC has not complied with contract obligations and has other performance deficiencies. Shes worried that the soured deal at Cheyenne Mountain might lead to early closures at the other private prisons. He was part of the Denver Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 and he is a two-time finalist. So that means that we are increasing our public safety risks when we don't provide the right programming within jail and the transition out.". We don't need to continue to grow our prison population, and we're not going to keep prisons open especially private prisons that have bad outcomes, poor outcomes simply because we want to keep people in jobs. This exact situation recently played out in 2020, when Geo Group, another private prison company. I think we should reinvest in services we can actually ensure our recidivism rate goes down, that offenders are able to transition back into the community and be productive and have a shot at being productive instead of going right back into the system.". Website. For others, they've been fighting for two years over the issue. Now, they are hoping people will speak out, to keep it from happening. "We are in a position as a community to use this study to our advantage by being proactive in creating a better economy founded on innovation and leading in what we know best: agriculture. This means that the number of separated correctional officers exceeds the average number of officers at those facilities; more people are starting and quitting than are employed there, the memo states. Thats something that deserves to be considered when youre making judgments about whether you should stop relying on private prisons, which are, I can tell you, much less expensive to operate, the budget analyst said. Allen noted that under an executive order issued by the governor, about 1,140 inmates had been released in the last two months, mostly in April. You may also schedule a visit by email at bccfvisiting@corecivic.com. All rights reserved. Contact the facility operator for answers to questions concerning visitation rules. The Bent County Correctional Facility (BCCF) located 85 miles east of Pueblo, was built by Bent County and opened in 1993 as the first private correctional facility in the State of Colorado. Foster said Cheyenne Mountain still employs 171 staff. If these facilities are needed, our state should take on the two remaining private prisons and incorporate them into the Department of Corrections. We have two ofCoreCivic'sdetention facilities in a state that has increasingly passed some of the most unfriendliest policies for their industry.". Shortly after, the county sold it to a private company to run. The Cheyenne Mountain Reentry Center will be an empty jailhouse by March 7, driven out by politics and money. It is one of four minimum-security facilities in Colorado and the only one inCaon City. Becker said the lower pay makes it harder for private prisons to retain staff; both private prisons inBentandCrowleycounties suffer a turnover rate "in excess of 50% annually" because employees leave those positions for better pay with the state. Even if Colorado agrees to pay this exorbitant amount, the staff at these private prisons will still make $2 per hour less than their DOC counterparts. Colorado has two private prisons run by Core Civic: Bent County Correctional Facility Crowley County Correctional Facility For more information on Core Civic go to https://www.corecivic.com/ Contact Us 1250 Academy Park Loop Colorado Springs, CO 80910 Phone: 719-579-9580 Email: cdoc@state.co.us Visitors arriving on or after 3:00 pm will not be allowed to visit that day. "However, my opinion is that we cannot ethically support a company which makes a profit on the incarceration of human beings.". Colorado Politics senior political reporter. But leaders in Bent County say it's aiming at doing one thing in particular. Select the option or tab named Internet Options (Internet Explorer), Options (Firefox), Preferences (Safari) or Settings (Chrome). by Faith Miller, Colorado Newsline January 26, 2022. There goes our million and a half out of our 4 point something million dollar budget, he said. The Bent County Correctional Facility is a private medium-security prison for men located in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. "We can do things like investing in mental health and substance use so they don't go back into the community and back into the situations they were in before," she said. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX, The DOC requested $1.09 million in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, and $4.32 million in the next fiscal year to raise the per diem rate at the two private prison facilities. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday. researches product purchases and suppliers. Bent County Correctional Facility is a privately run institution located in Las Animas Colorado. Access all of our premium content, get unlimited digital access and more! Recently a study into the use of private prisons was published as part of legislation passed by State Rep. Leslie Herod. Of course when it closed, our little town just kind of fell apart, Netherton said. Jails and Prisons maintain records on inmates, including arrest records, sentencing records, court documents, and other . ", First published on January 27, 2021 / 11:20 PM. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to give friends and family members peace of mind, keeping you informed every step of the way. Inmates work here under close supervision. The Bent and Crowley correctional facilities are on average one-third cheaper to operate than comparable medium security state-run facilities, with the Bent County prison costing about $61.78 million annually to operate and the Crowley County private prison costing about $62.28 million, according to information from Karl Becker of CGL Companies . The Department of Corrections reported a turnover rate of 22.9% in November 2021, according to a December presentation to the Joint Budget Committee. "It's a free-for-all in those places, which is not only detrimental to rehabilitation, but also (leads to) criminal activity as they are coming out.