Access all of our premium content, get unlimited digital access and more! 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Colorado Prison Utilization StudyIMPORTANT PUBLIC MEETING - RESCHEDULEDYour chance to be heard!Crowley County: November 30, 2020 @ 5:30 p.m.Bent County: December 1, 2020 @ 5:30 p.m. ZOOM Webinar- Virtual Interactive MeetingLive meeting video feed (no feedback):Colorado Prison Utilization Study - Public HearingNote: livestream videos are delayed by several secondsPHONE- Listen and make comments:1-346-248-7799meeting ID: 949 6591 0073 #Participant ID: press # if you do not have onepassword: 499142request to speak *9 then WHEN CALLED UPON press*6 to unmuteIf you are unable to attend in person please comment to:https://rpiconsulting.checkbox.com/PrisonStudyPublicCommentBent Countys Private Prison is integral to the sustainability of our Community. What weve learned in the past few years is that (private prisons) are losing money, Herod said. Las Animas, CO. 81054. Of course when it closed, our little town just kind of fell apart, Netherton said. A company that could provide the annual payroll required to stimulate the local economy for growth.". "They are barely being served proper portions of food. You may also schedule a visit by email at bccfvisiting@corecivic.com. My approach is the numbers, she said. The facts speak for themselves. Phone Number. Bent County Correctional Facility Customer base: Colorado Department of Corrections - Facility Type: Medium-Security, Owned since 1996 For updated visitation schedules due to the coronavirus pandemic, click here . In Crowley County, the correctional facility generated 44% of property tax revenue and 42% of school district taxes. House Bill 1019 comes from the Prison Population Management Interim Study Committee. Roughly 60% of workers live in Otero, Crowley and Bent Counties who work at the two private prisons. We have two ofCoreCivic'sdetention facilities in a state that has increasingly passed some of the most unfriendliest policies for their industry.". researches product purchases and suppliers. Soon, the decision of whether to hand out millions more to a private prison company will be made by our General Assembly. The Cheyenne Mountain Reentry Center in Colorado Springs. It is the Bent County Correctional Facility. The first-floor library at the Cheyenne Mountain Reentry Center. The facility is owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America under contract with the Colorado Department of Corrections and houses Colorado inmates. Colorados rural communities heavily depend on the tax revenue from the remaining two private prisons, the 2021 study found. One facility in Colorado Springs closed last year. "Now that the political winds have changed and the attitudes toward this industry have changed, we're being left in the cold," MacDonnell said. 2020 Bent County, CO. All rights reserved. It is one of four minimum-security facilities in Colorado and the only one inCaon City. They continually ask the state to decrease their responsibilities in the contracts, which I believe leads to unsafe environments for both the correctional officer and the inmate.. Please enter valid email address to continue. 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. Crowley County Correctional Facility Customer base: Colorado Department of Corrections - Facility Type: Medium Security, Owned since 2003 For updated visitation schedules due to the coronavirus pandemic, click here . The incarcerated men and women who most need our help will be hurt the most by these actions, as they already have been in Denver, where the City Council put 500 residents at risk of being sent from their halfway houses back to jail just to make a political point.. ", First published on January 27, 2021 / 11:20 PM. The new deaths linked to the disease include: A 62-year-old inmate who was being housed at the Bent County Correctional Facility. It is contracted through the Department of Correction to incarcerate male offenders. When it was introduced, the bill set a 2025 deadline for private prisons to cease operations, but Herod then amended out a set date. Housing could be an issue, Brakke told lawmakers during Fridays hearing. 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. 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. They provide minimal educational and work programs to inmates, and offer far less mental health and substance abuse treatment. If I had a turnover rate like that, I would really be concerned about the quality and training of the individuals that I hire. 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. But Allen recommended against it, as the prison might need the beds for social distancing measures. 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. Anyone who arrives after 3pm will not be allowed to enter into a visiting session. 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. GEO also has offered its employees opportunities at any GEO prison, even those around the world, Foster said. Impacts of closing or selling the Bent County Correctional Facility: Loss of Jobs - Approx. Herod's bill provides more access to mental health programming, job transition programs and addiction treatment for inmates, things she said were lacking in state facilities. TheBentandCrowleycorrectional facilities are on average one-third cheaper to operate than comparable medium security state-run facilities, with theBent Countyprison costing about $61.78 million annually to operate and theCrowley Countyprivate prison costing about $62.28 million, according to information fromKarl Beckerof CGL Companies, who spoke at theNov. 30virtualCrowley Countypublic input hearing. The Crowley County Correctional Facility and Bent County Correctional Facility were set up decades ago when Colorado had a bed shortage for inmates. 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. But leaders in Bent County say its aiming at doing one thing in particular. Douglas County Republican representative Ransom doesnt venture a lot of opinions of justice reform or the politics driving private prisons out of the state. 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. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics. Closing would be devastating to fire districts, schools and many more community assets. The study, performed byRPI Consultingand CGL Companies, also cited a lack of access to health and job programs within private southeast prisons inSoutheast Colorado. Visiting days are on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 10am-3:50pm. DEIJ Policy | Ethics Policy | Privacy Policy. Colorado Newsline provides fair and accurate reporting on politics, policy and other stories of interest to Coloradans. Mr. Virgil Ensey. Learn more, Compliance Manager: Roscoe Mueller, Chief of Unit Management, Call the Department of Corrections at 719-226-4621, Call the CoreCivic Ethics and Compliance Hotline: 1-800-461-9330, or www.corecivic.com/ethicsline, Colorado DOC PREA Administrative Regulation (100-40): Download, PREA Audit Date or Scheduled Audit Date:October 18-20, 2021, PREA Audit Date or Scheduled Audit Date:July 17-19, 2017. Bent County Correctional Facility proudly supports the community through involvement in the following organizations and programs: Bent County Fair Board; Las Animas Chamber of Commerce; Las Animas Lions Club; La Junta Chamber of Commerce; Angel Tree for Children; Local Area Food Bank; Color Guard; Local Parades; Community Support Projects; Regional Schools Fundraising and Events, 1998 CCA Facility of the Year: Best Performance in Safety; 1997 CCA Facility of the Year: Community Relations, The following information is provided in accordance with PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003). We work hard to ensure that they have the necessary tools to feel safe every day.". Dear Mr. Lipton, I am sending the documents you requested that the City of Las Animas has for the Bent County Correctional Facility. Comparable figure for private facilities is around $42,000. Jared Polis doles out $1.67 billion in federal aid to state agencies and local governments, JBC gets down to hard part of budget exercise: cuts to K-12 education, Budget writers decide to use forecast with a lower shortfall to cover for 2020-21. 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. Another said the state would look at whether to close private prisons, not how to close them. What happens next at the Colorado Springs site is as up-in-the-air as the public policy. All mail must include: The inmate's name. Gov. Faith Miller was a reporter with Colorado Newsline covering the Colorado Legislature, immigration and other stories. That was after the areas previous economic driver, a VA hospital, shut its doors. The states handling of inmates is changing equally as fast to keep up. Interim Executive Director Sean Foster shows an empty bunk room on the third floor of the Cheyenne Mountain Reentry Center in south Colorado Springs. Theres real questions about that, and given GEOs decision to get out of the game, its forced the states hand to figure out a meaningful solution quickly, Gonzales said. InNovember 2020, theBent CountyDemocrat reported that a nurse who had worked at theBent Countyfacility,Dannette Karapetian, was suingCoreCivicand alleging retaliation over her complaints about discrimination and quality of patient care. View historical arrest records and monthly arrest reports. They operate on the cheap, churn more employees, and produce worse results than state-run prisons, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Lawmakers targeting hospital facility fees, State of Colorado pays CoreCivic over $67 million per year. The Department of Corrections reported a turnover rate of 22.9% in November 2021, according to a December presentation to the Joint Budget Committee. 615-242-5826. "The privates simply are not paid to have those facilities in their program components. It has a capacity of 1,894 beds and opened in 1998. According to his memo, that's about one-third of the total prison population. Phone Number. 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. It might be possible to be too obviously racist. 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.. Copyright 2020 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Meanwhile, the impact of closing the two remaining private prisons and even whether they should be closed continues to be debated in the legislature. 3 Denver, lose 2-1, Pandemics bureaucrats betrayed our trust | Jimmy Sengenberger, GUEST COLUMN: Colorado needs more prescribed fire on private lands, Live Well: Animal communicator in Colorado Springs says we can all better connect with pets, 'Visioning effort' launches ahead of plan for Colorado 14ers, Tom Sizemore, 'Saving Private Ryan' actor, dies at 61, Attendance data dive: Local performing arts groups may never fully recover, PHOTOS: The Classical Academy falls to Resurrection Christian in state quarterfinals, PHOTOS: Cheyenne Mountain hockey beats Durango 5-0 in semifinals, Brewers' Bracket: Vote for your favorite Colorado Springs breweries, Colorado Springs Mayoral Race | 2023 candidates and issues, GAZETTE PODCASTS | News, Sports, Cold Cases and Lifestyle, Sign up for our newsletters and get news that matters sent to your inbox, sought to eliminate contracts with GEO and CoreCivic, 'When Women Vote' tells the story of a nation | Joey Bunch, Colorado becomes national leader in LGBTQ policies, protections, Trump administration rolls out development plan for ex-national monuments, Rep. Terri Carver's bill works to keep state law on child pornography current with technology | Spotlight on the Springs, 10th Circuit Court upholds access fees for Maroon Bells, other forest sites, Colorado House gives initial OK to short-term rental law, General Assembly dedicates portion of U.S. 24 to fallen Falcon veteran, Colorado Springs man guilty of murder in love-triangle shooting, Senate Judiciary Committee makes sweeping changes to private prison bill, El Paso County sheriff complains about lawmaker's grilling of chief of staff, Alex Murdaugh trial: Autopsy photos shown, and witnesses paint graphic picture as trial continues, Stimulus update: Direct payment worth up to $400 to be available for Massachusetts residents in 12 days, New downtown Colorado Springs transit center plans updated, councilman calls it a 'boondoggle'.