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House Bills 5174 and 5177 have been introduced in the Legislature, passed out of the House Appropriations Committee, and now await a vote by the full House. If passed, these bills would allow the DOC to contract with the GEO Group to re-open the closed facility in Baldwin to hold MDOC inmates as long as the contract reflects at least a 10% annual savings.
As you may recall, the facility in Baldwin was run by the GEO Group from 1999 to 2005 to house MDOC youthful offenders. Funding for that contract was cancelled in 2005 because a study by the Michigan Auditor General showed that the daily cost per inmate at the facility was greater than 33 of the State’s 37 other facilities run by the DOC.
= More Costly
The facility in Baldwin has undergone extensive renovation and now can house upwards of 1700 inmates. HB 5177 would change current Corrections Code to allow the housing of inmates of all ages and levels at the facility. MDOC incarceration rates have been declining for several years. These factors combined mean that entering an agreement with the GEO Group in Baldwin would equate to the closure of at least two MDOC operated prisons.
=State Employee Layoffs
Public Safety is inherently a government function. When the State takes action to incarcerate an individual and restrict their rights (to the point of physical force if necessary) during their confinement, the State should maintain responsibility for those actions. That “power” should not be contracted out to private, for profit organizations who are held to different standards for transparency and liability.
= Loss of Accountability
It didn’t work then, so why would the Legislators expect a different outcome this time? The Legislature seems determined to see history repeat itself… all at the expense of taxpayer dollars, state employee jobs, and accountability.
Apparently we need to remind them of just why it is the contract with the GEO Group was cancelled the first time around, and why privatization is not the answer when it comes to Corrections Policy.
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