CoreCivic: Federal Bureau of Prisons will not renew contract with Adams County Correctional Center

Published 10:52 pm Thursday, May 2, 2019

NATCHEZ — CoreCivic announced Wednesday that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has elected not to renew its contract at the Adams County Correctional Center, which opened in 2009 on U.S. 84 east of Natchez.

CoreCivic owns and operates the 2,232-bed facility that houses mostly prisoners who are illegal immigrants charged with re-entering the United States after deportation.

CoreCivic employs approximately 380 people at the Adams County Correctional Center, company officials said.

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“We were disappointed to learn that CoreCivic was not a successful bidder in the recent Bureau of Prisons procurement (for the contract),” said Amanda S. Gilchrist, CoreCivic director of public affairs said. “We are proud of our longstanding track record of delivering high-quality, safe, cost-saving secure corrections and meaningful reentry programs in partnership with the BOP.”

Geo Group of Boca Raton, Florida, says it has won contracts for 5,000 beds for the next 10 years, including plans to reopen the 1,800-bed North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan. The other 3,200 beds are in two Geo-managed prisons in Reeves County, Texas, according to the Associated Press.

CoreCivic said the BOP has not determined when it will begin transferring inmates out of the Adams County Correctional Center. The current contract expires on July 31, 2019.

“CoreCivic will work closely with the BOP to ensure a safe and seamless transfer of inmates out of Adams County Correctional Center,” Gilchrist said. “We are assisting our employees impacted by the closure, and will be working to provide them opportunities for transfer to other CoreCivic facilities and access to community employment resources.”

CoreCivic said the company will begin marketing the facility to other potential government partners.

“We will continue to offer Adams County Correctional Center as a potential solution to meet the needs of other government partners,” Gilchrist said.

In August 2016, the United States Justice Department officials announced that the Bureau of Prisons would be phasing out its use of contracted facilities, suggesting that private prisons were less safe and did not offer substantial cost savings for the government.

In May 2012, Corrections Officer Catlin Carithers was killed during a riot at the facility. During the riot, 16 other staff members and three other prisoners were injured. Employees were taken hostage during the disturbance, which ended when officials from the Mississippi Highway Patrol and BOP were able to end the situation.