One of the most controversial proposals in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s executive budget would allow the sale and privatization of several state prisons.
Jindal’s plan would privatize the J. Levy Dabadie Correctional Center in Pineville and the Avoyelles Correctional Center in Cottonport.
Dabadie would shrink from 580 beds to 300 beds. Avoyelles would not shrink, according to the Division of Administration plan.
The administration estimates the Dabadie proposal would net the state $4.8 million for the general fund in the coming fiscal year and $5.9 million in the next. The Avoyelles proposal would net $2.6 million in the coming fiscal year and $6 million in the next.
The budget also calls for the outright sale of Avoyelles, Allen and Winn Correctional Centers to private prison companies. Whereas the privatization plans would simply use private workers to run public facilities, this plan would sell both operations and the facilities themselves.
Allen and Winn were each appraised at $32 million each, according to the Division of Administration.
The prison sales proposal will require legislative approval.
If the bill passes, the state will issue a request for proposal for the sale of facilities.
The state would then hold a competitive bidding process, after which the private prison company that makes the best deal will be awarded a 20-year contract.
Once the prisons are sold, the state would continue to house inmates. The administration says the state would pay less per inmate in a private scenario.
Jindal’s prison proposal has drawn sharp criticism from many state legislators on several fronts.
Some legislators criticized the program on a fiscal basis, saying it uses one-time money — prison sales — for recurring expenses.
“This is the worst kind of money we can use to plug the budget,” said Sen. Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte, at a March 4 meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. ”We’re just going to have to use this money later.”
LaFleur interrogated Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater during the meeting, saying he didn’t understand how the state could make money in the long term.
Rainwater said private prisons would find efficiencies that would allow them to reduce overhead and thus cost.
Other legislators have argued that the corporate profit motive might encourage prisons to cut corners in terms of safety or rehabilitation programs.
“There’s a lot of concern in the public about this,” said Rep. Mack “Bodi” White, R-Denham Springs.
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]