It’s not a sure thing that Vermont will re-up its contract for the ongoing placement of more than 200 inmates in a private Mississippi prison.
A decision is needed soon, as the current two-year contract with CoreCivic expires Oct. 1.
“We are having internal discussions about that right now,” Mike Smith, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, said in response to a question about whether the state will renew the pact.
“If we extend it, it would be for a year,” Smith said, speaking Friday during Gov. Phil Scott’s twice-weekly press conference.
Amanda Gilchrist, a CoreCivic spokesperson, declined comment in an email Friday and referred questions to its “government partner,” the state of Vermont.
Sending Vermont prisoners out of state has been a hot topic since the 1990s when there was a surge in inmates and the state ran out of space to house them. At one point, about 700 prisoners were shipped out of state.
Now, 219 Vermont inmates are housed in the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in the northwest Mississippi community of Tutwiler. Nashville-based CoreCivic, one of the largest private prison companies in the nation, operates the prison.
With time running short for contract talks with CoreCivic, the state may have little time to pursue any other options.
A little more than a month ago, Al Cormier, a corrections department facilities official, said talks were underway with CoreCivic for a one-year contract extension. Vermont wanted changes to the contract, including access to a Medication Assisted Treatment program, or MAT, for Vermont inmates.
But that was before a Covid-19 outbreak this month in the section of the Mississippi prison where Vermonters were held. Last week, 84% of inmates in the Tallahatchie facility tested positive for coronavirus.
James Baker, interim corrections commissioner, said earlier this month his level of trust with CoreCivic had waned because of the outbreak. He is concerned that the private prison did not take precautions to stem the spread of the virus.
State corrections staff recently traveled to Mississippi to evaluate the care of Vermont inmates, and since then Baker has said he feels more reassured about the state’s arrangement with CoreCivic. However, he said, the department is exploring all options.
Smith said the state is changing how it oversees Vermont prisoners now held in Mississippi and wants access to the prison’s camera system “so we can have eyes on that facility 24/7.”
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began earlier this year, the state’s inmate population has dropped from well over 1,600 to about 1,400 now. Several factors caused the decrease, including fewer people being arrested and jailed for lack of bail.
Despite the lower number, corrections officials have cautioned against bringing the Vermont inmates home, concerned that social distancing in the prisons will become more difficult.
The Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has pushed the state to stop sending prisoners out of state.
“We, and many others, have been calling for the end of out-of-state prisons for a long time,” said James Lyall, executive director of the Vermont ACLU. “We continue to urge that the contract be ended and that Vermont do far more to be smarter about who ends up in prisons and where.”
