[T]he Department of Corrections finalized negotiations on August 27 with an out-of-state prison, according to officials.
VTDigger has confirmed that once state officials and lawyers on both sides sign off on a finalized contract this week, more than 200 Vermont inmates will move in October to a facility run by private prison giant CoreCivic in Mississippi.
DOC Deputy Commissioner Mike Touchette declined to say where prisoners would go, citing a state statute regarding contracts, and has not provided VTDigger with a copy of the contract.
However, a list of frequently asked questions, prepared by the DOC in anticipation of the inmate transfer, says Inmate Calling Solutions — the same phone system used by the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in northwest Mississippi — will provide phone services for Vermont inmates.
Tallahatchie is run by CoreCivc, one of the largest for-profit prison companies in the nation. It was formerly known as the Corrections Corporation of America. The facility can house about 2,672 inmates. In June, U.S. Marshalls finalized a contract with the corporation for 1,350 detainees.
CoreCivic Public Affairs Manager Rodney King declined to comment.
“We defer to Vermont officials on any announced decisions regarding the procurement process or plans for inmate placements,” King said.
The state has been in discussion with two out-of-state prisons since June. The Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation in Rhode Island and the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi both submitted bids to house about 200 Vermont inmates.
Inmate Calling Solutions does not serve any Rhode Island facilities, according to a customer service representative. Central Falls Warden Daniel Martin of Rhode Island declined to discuss the contract with Vermont. “I have no further comment on the Vermont prisoners,” he said in an email.
Vermont inmates have been at Camp Hill State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania since December 2016. A three-year contract with Camp Hill was terminated early amid a number of concerns from prisoners about poor treatment.
Four Vermont inmates have died at Camp Hill, including Roger Brown, Herb Rodgers, Tim Adams and most recently, Michael Senna. Senna, 63, died Sept. 1. The cause of Senna’s death is still under investigation. Brown died of lung cancer after receiving no treatment or palliative care.
Vermont Defender General Matt Valerio was waiting for an autopsy report from Pennsylvania to conduct an investigation.
Valerio, who had only heard rumors that Vermont prisoners were going to Mississippi, was looking forward to the transfer, calling Camp Hill guards and administration “awful” to deal with.
However, some are questioning if the Tallahatchie facility will be any better.
The South Carolina Department of Corrections recently transferred 48 of its most problematic inmates to Tallahatchie following a prison riot that left seven dead and 22 inmates injured at the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina in April.
Some of the inmates transferred to Mississippi from South Carolina were serving life sentences for violent crimes. South Carolina resident Stanley Oliver, for example, was convicted of three counts of murder, kidnapping and burglary in 2005, according to news reports.
Recent audits from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation also found the quality of medical care at Tallahatchie lacking. One audit called the facility “undesirable” and “not meeting the target performance benchmark” after California inmate Tyrone Madden, 30, died in the facility in 2015.
Vermont has a history with CoreCivic.
Inmates were held at CoreCivic facilities in Kentucky and Arizona until 2015. This January, CoreCivic lobbied Vermont lawmakers to build and lease a new 950-bed facility to the state.
DOC Facilities Operations Manager Shannon Marcoux visited the CoreCivic facility in Mississippi about that time. Marcoux praised Tallahatchie in a former interview, saying it seemed well-run and clean.
State officials have said inmates will be moved in October, though they won’t give a date.
Touchette, the DOC deputy commissioner, declined to discuss details of the contract, including how much it will cost to house prisoners at the new facility.
CoreCivic, the largest private prison company in the U.S., posted second quarter profits of $45 million, according to Prison News Today, a trade magazine.
Pennsylvania charged $72 per inmate per day for a minimum of 250 prisoners.
Touchette said no prisoner would be moved until the contract is signed. He said a number of state officials, including the Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan and lawyers representing both parties, need to sign the contract.
“Once that is done, it will be public,” he said, estimating his office would make an announcement in the coming weeks.
Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, who serves on the Justice Oversight Committee, was hoping to see the contract before the committee meets Sept. 20. He has anticipated that inmates would be transferred to Mississippi.
“Frankly we don’t have many choices,” Sears said.
