I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The New Mexico Corrections Department has not collected penalties from two private prison operators despite repeated contract violations, costing the state potentially millions of dollars in uncollected fines, state officials have told The Independent.
That has put New Mexico Corrections Secretary Joe Williams on a collision course with state lawmakers, some of whom are questioning Williams’ decision not to collect penalties from GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). The companies have repeatedly violated a contractual obligation to keep certain staffing levels at the prisons they operate. The two for-profit businesses operate four correctional facilities for the state in Hobbs, Grants, Clayton and Santa Rosa.
Williams sees no problems due to vacancy rate
Williams acknowledged that the vacancy rates at the prisons GEO and CCA operate often are higher than their contracts allow, but he decided against punishing the firms because the prisons they manage “are outstanding,” he said.
“They are not having escapes; there are no substantial problems. If there were a problem I would be down there penalizing them,” he said.
GEO and CCA operate four of the state’s prisons, while the state of New Mexico operates the remaining six prison facilities.
It is also unclear where the disagreement is headed, and what action, if any, state lawmakers might take during this upcoming 2011 legislative session.
In addition to the quality of the privately operated prison, Williams said he rejected fining the companies because most of the prisons they operate are in rural areas or small towns, where recruiting and retaining correctional officers and other staff is difficult.
Working as a correctional officer is not for everyone and it’s best to only recruit top-notch people, Williams added.
“I would rather run a prison with 10 quality correctional officers than a bunch of bad apples introducing contraband,” Williams said. “I would rather they be in a penalty phase than they have to meet a contractual obligation.”
“The contract does not say I shall do it. The contract says I can do it,” Williams told The Independent on Wednesday, explaining why he never penalized the two firms for the contract violations.
State lawmakers want to know dollar amounts
So far, there is no agreed-upon amount on how much money New Mexico has given up in uncollected penalties from GEO and CCA.
Asked if his agency had an estimate, Williams said, “We don’t know. That is what we are trying to investigate right now. I’m sure you’ll have an LFC number, a private prison number and our number.”
The situation has irked some state lawmakers who predict the situation over the uncollected penalties is finally coming to a head, especially with New Mexico facing economic difficulties.
Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, wondered aloud Wednesday “how much money New Mexico taxpayers had lost” due to Williams’ decision.
Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, meanwhile, said a report from the Legislature’s budget arm, the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC), due out soon would place an estimated dollar amount of the never-assessed penalties.
“I think we need to see the magnitude of the payments that haven’t been made,” Wirth said. “If we are talking about millions of dollars, then absolutely I am concerned about it fiscally and policy-wise. I can assure you that the private operators wouldn’t stand idly by if the state wasn’t meeting its contractual obligations.”
Wirth added that public safety is a concern because staffing shortages mean fewer correctional officers to guard inmates.
Representatives of GEO and CCA could not be reached Wednesday.
Staffing shortages trigger penalties
The building controversy also threatens to stir up a long-simmering debate over New Mexico’s decision years ago to pay private firms to operate several of its correctional facilities. Critics have long vilified the agreements as a giveaway to private, out-of-state companies while some state lawmakers have quietly wondered if the companies are making out-sized profits.
Williams defended GEO and CCA on Wednesday, saying they deserved to make a profit since they’re for-profit businesses. He also questioned the wisdom of trying “to balance the corrections budget through penalties.” The corrections department has suffered $10 million in budget cuts over the past two years.
Williams acknowledged that over the years GEO and CCA each could have faced repeated penalties as called for in their contracts. The penalties are triggered when staffing vacancies reach 10 percent or more for 30-consecutive days at the prisons GEO and CCA operate in Hobbs, Grants, Clayton and Santa Rosa, according to the rules.
High vacancy rates at the state’s privately operated prisons are nothing new. As far back as 2007, state lawmakers were fuming over an LFC report (page 24) that reported a 37 percent vacancy rate for correctional officers at GEO-operated Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs.
According to agency figures, during July of this year, correctional officer vacancy rates at all four of the GEO and CCA managed facilities were higher than the 10 percent allowed by contract.
Of those, the Lea County facility had the largest vacancy rate, at 22 percent. The other privately operated facilities registered vacancy rates of 17 percent, 14 percent and 13 percent, according to the agency.
A corrections agency spokeswoman said Wednesday it would take days to get monthly vacancy rates for each of the privately operated prisons over the past year.
Private prisons may be paying extra overtime to compensate
Williams also speculated that GEO and CCA were addressing the high vacancy rates at their facilities by giving a lot of overtime to existing employees, as has occurred at the six state-operated prison facilities.
From July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010, correctional officers at the six state-operated prison facilities took home $7.2 million in overtime, according to the agency. It’s unclear how much overtime corrections officers at the four facilities operated by GEO and CCA earned during the same period.
Williams knows his decision to not assess and collect the penalties had put him on the hot seat with state lawmakers. He fully expects to hear from legislators in coming weeks.
Asked if he were scheduled to speak before any legislative committees, Williams replied, “I’m not scheduled to, but I expect to get the phone call.”
