Public-Private Partnership in Corrections:
A series of evaluation studies
How Realities Change Perceptions: A Look at One CCA Community
When CCA first entered Shelby, Mont., more than 10 years ago, residents of the close-knit town were concerned about the impact of a partnership prison in their community. They posed questions about topics of interest to most law-abiding citizens interested in protecting their neighborhoods and safeguarding their families. They asked about public safety, social services, economic development, property values and more.
Local elected officials began researching these issues and conducted two analyses – five and 10 years after CCA entered the area – to see how those initial reactions to a local prison compared with the reality years later.
View the study to get a real-life look, from a community’s perspective, about how a prison affects local life. Also view this article from the Great Falls Tribune on how CCA’s Crossroads Correctional Center went from being viewed skeptically – to successfully – by even “some of the facility’s harshest critics from the days gone by.”
Blumstein, James F. and Mark A. Cohen. Written Dec. 2007; Published Dec. 2008. “Do Government Agencies Respond to Market Pressures? Evidence from Private Prisons.” Published in the Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law.
New Vanderbilt Research shows Public-Private Partnership in Corrections Lowers Rate of Growth of Public Corrections Costs
Vanderbilt University professors find that states can save substantially by having a shared system of public and private prisons. Using six years of data, the researchers found that states which house a portion of their inmates in private prisons have lower rates of growth in their public prison operating costs. These savings are in addition to the direct cost savings from the private operators. The research concluded that a state not currently using privatization could save $13 to $15 million annually from their yearly department of corrections budgets by introducing privately managed prisons. The research shows that privatization brings healthy competition and transfer of knowledge, both of which curb costs of the public sector.
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Johnson, Kirk. 2006. “What To Do About the Prison Problem: The Pros and Cons of Privatized Prisons in Alabama.” Alabama Policy Institute: Birmingham, AL.
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Archambeault, William and Donald Deis. 1997. “Cost Effectiveness Comparison of Private vs. Public Prisons in Louisiana: A Comprehensive Analysis of Allen, Avoyelles, and Winn Correctional Centers”. Journal of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Research Consortium, Vol. 4, August.
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Brackel, Samuel and Kimberly Ingersoll Gaylord. 2003. “Prison Privatization and Public Policy.” Pages 125-162 in Changing the Guard ed. Alexander Tabarrok. The Independent Institute: Oakland, CA
Book – see attached
Cohen, Mark. 2006. “Report on Private Prisons.” Document submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court, August 22.
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Hatry, Harry, et. al. 1993. “Comparison of Privately and Publicly Operated Corrections Facilities in Kentucky and Massachusetts.” Pages 193-237 in Privatizing Correctional Institutions eds. Gary Bowman et. al. Transaction Publishers: Edison, NJ.
Book not currently available in RCP
Joel, Dana 1993. “Privatization of Secure Adult Prisons: Issues and Evidence.” Pages 51-74 in Privatizing Correctional Institutions eds. Gary Bowman et. al. Transaction Publishers: Edison, NJ.
Book not currently available in RCP
Logan, Charles H. 1996. “Public vs. Private Prison Management.” Criminal Justice Review,Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 62-85.
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Mitchell, Matthew. 2003. “The Pros of Privately-Housed Cons: New Evidence on the Cost Savings of Private Prisons.” Rio Grande Foundation: Tijeras, N.M.
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Moore, Adrian T. 1998. “Private Prisons: Quality Corrections at a Lower Cost.” Policy study no. 240, Reason Public Policy Institute, Reason Foundation: Los Angeles, C.A.
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Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA), “Private Prison Review: South Bay Correctional Facility Provides Savings and Success.” Report no 99-39, March, Tallahassee, Florida.
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Segal, Geoffrey. 2005. “Significant Evidence that Prison Privatization Improves Quality: Private prisons produce cost savings, provide better or equal service.” Testimony the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons, November 2.
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Segal, Geoffrey. 2005. “Contracting Out Forces Prisons to Foucus on Results, Performance.” Testimony before the Utah Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee, September 25.
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Segal, Geoffrey and Adrian Moore. 2002. “Weighing the Watchmen: Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Outsourcing Correctional Services: Employing a best value approach to procurement, Part I. Reason Public Policy Institute, Reason Foundation: Los Angeles, CA.
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Segal, Geoffrey and Adrian Moore. 2002. “Weighing the Watchmen: Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Outsourcing Correctional Services: Reviewing the Literature on Cost and Quality Comparisons, Part II. Reason Public Policy Institute, Reason Foundation: Los Angeles, CA.
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Segal, Geoffrey. 2002. “The Extent, History, and Role of Private Companies in the Delivery of Correctional Services in the U.S.” Policy Study 302. Reason Public Policy Institute, Reason Foundation: Los Angeles, CA.
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Thomas, Charles. 2003. “Correctional Privatization in America: An Assessment of It’s Historical Origins, Present Status, and Future Prospects.” Pages 57-124 in Changing the Guard ed. Alexander Tabarrok. The Independent Institute: Oakland, CA.
Book – see attached
Volokh, Alexander. 2002. “Developments in the Law – The Law of Prisons: III. A Tale of Two Systems: Cost, Quality, and Accountability.” Harvard Law Review, vol 115, pp. 1838-1868.
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Volokh, Alexander. 2008. “Privatization and the Law and Economics of Political Advocacy.” Stanford Law Review, Volume 60, Issue 4, pp. 1197-1254.
Summary: A common argument against privatization is that private providers will self-interestedly lobby to increase the size of their market. In this article, Alexander Volokh evaluates the argument against prison privatization based on the possibility that the private prison industry will distort the criminal law by advocating for incarceration. The study finds that the idea that private prison operators inflate prison populations through lobbying efforts is unfounded.
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