Ohio won't follow federal lead in ending private prison contracts

Ohio officials do not intend to follow the lead of the federal government in abandoning private prison operations.

The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday it will phase out using private prisons for federal inmates, citing findings that 14 privately operated facilities around the country had more safety and contraband issues than government-run operations.

"They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Department’s Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security,” Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates wrote in a memo.

The federal government began tapping private prisons about 15 years ago because of overcrowding. Private facilities housed 22,000 prisoners at the end of last year, roughly 12 percent of the total federal prison population, an inspector general report said.

Read more: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/08/18/ohio-wont-follow-federal-lead-in-ending-private-prison-contracts.html