I was forwarded your article. It was a very informative and well written article. It is very interesting that James Parkey of Corplan is interested in building a jail in Italy, Texas. Ellis County just built a county owned and county operated facility in Waxahachie which will be housing “contract inmates.” McLennan County just finished building a 816 bed facility that will house “contract inmates.” It was built with a program Parkey will be trying to convince Italy Council members is a sound investment and will stimulate the Italy economy. The same story he tells everyone. Ask Two Rivers Authority in Hardin, Montana (still without inmates) and McLennan County (may start moving inmates of their own inmates into the facility in June 2010).

Why would someone want to saturate an already exhausted market? It brings down the cost of housing inmates, which means less profit to be made. This is good news for counties/cities that need to house their overflow inmates because they can find a lower price. It is bad news for counties/cities that depend on revenue income from the project to make their bond payments. The bond payments start out small and increases with time. McLennan County will pay over $108,000,000 for a $38,000,000 jail. The McLennan County Public Facility Corporation (instrument of the County) Revenue Bond Agreement was for $49,015,000. Parkey is paid by the bond arrangement for building and coordinating the building of jails. His income does not depend on whether inmates are ever in the jail. In McLennan County, County Judge Jim Lewis, Ex-Commissioner Wendall Crunk, Commissioner Ray Meadows (lost in the primary and his term will expire 12-31-2010), Corporate Executives from the Community Education Centers (CEC), and Sheriff Larry Lynch, conspired to build this new jail even though the citizens did not want it by using a Revenue Public Facility bond arrangement that bypasses the citizens right to vote on the facility. If the a contract defaults, the County/City will eventually have to use tax dollars to pay the payments (25 years of payments) or they will endanger their credit rating.

Texas Commission on Jail Standards Executive Director Adan Munoz (www.tcjs.state.tx.us) can give you current estiments on inmate growth. We are experiencing a decrease in inmate groth in Texas

Sheriff Lynch is paid a salary enhancement of $1000 a month for onsite monitoring and to sign the yearly contract that allows CEC to operate. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott Opinion GA-0760 clearly shows that it is already the constitutional duty of the Sheriff to oversee all jails in his jurisdiction. Why should he be paid a kickback for something that is already his job?

It might be noted that Retired Texas Ranger Bob Prince is no longer the Marketing Director for CEC and he is now the Director of Governmental Affairs for Southwestern Correctional,LLC (now called LaSalle Southwest Corrections in Dripping Spring, Texas) an affiliate of LaSalle Corrections based in Rayville, Louisiana.

I find it strange that Bob Prince does not list his experience at CEC since he did work their since the late 1990’s. It may be because CEC is showing signs of internal problems. CEC pulled out of their contract in Johnson County, Texas and are being sued by Aramark (jail food vendor) for over $7,000,000.

Bob Prince – Director of Governmental Affairs
Mr. Prince joined LaSalle Southwest in 2010. He is responsible for business development and governmental affairs. Prior to joining LaSalle Southwest, Mr. Prince worked for a private jail management company in business development and government relations. Mr. Prince attended Texas Christian University on a football scholarship where he was a three-year letterman. After graduation, he spent six years coaching football and teaching school. Mr. Prince then entered the law enforcement field in the Texas Department of Public Safety as a State Trooper and Texas Ranger. He was honored as Officer of the Year for the Fort Worth area. As a Texas Ranger, he was a Forensic Hypnotist, Hostage Negotiator and rose to the rank of Captain. Mr. Prince served as the president of the Texas Ranger Association, a member of the Board of Directors for the Texas Jail Association and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Texas Ranger Museum and Hall of Fame.

There are several websites that can give you more information on the private jail scam:
www.thepatriotwriter.com
www.privateci.org
www.muni-source.com
www.texasprisonbidness.org
http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com

For more information on private jails contact Ken Witt at [email protected].

If I can be of any assistance to you feel free to contact me.

Thanks,

Ken Witt
McLennan County
Sheriff Officers Association
254-716-0506