CCA admits falsifying prison guard staff hours at ICC Idaho lockup
The Corrections Corp. of America, the for-profit private prison firm that operates the Idaho Correctional Center state prison south of Boise, has acknowledged falsifying prison staffing records last year, violating its contract with the state and overcharging the state for nearly 4,800 staff hours during a seven-month period, telling the state correctional officers were staffing security positions at ICC during those hours, when in fact those posts were vacant. Click below for the Idaho Department of Correction's full news release. CCA also issued its own news release; you can read it here.
Idaho Department of Correction
News Release
CCA acknowledges falsification of staffing records at ICC
BOISE, April 11, 2013 – The private contractor operating the Idaho Correctional Center (ICC) south of Boise has acknowledged that employees at the prison falsified staffing records last year in violation of Corrections Corporation of America’s (CCA) contract with the State.
Idaho Board of Correction Chairman Robin Sandy and Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke said the findings of an internal review by CCA would be included in the agency’s own continuing investigation of contract violations at ICC.
Nashville, Tenn.-based CCA said it deeply regrets the violations, and that it will compensate the State for the nearly 4,800 hours during a seven-month period that records indicate correctional officers were staffing security positions at ICC when in fact those posts were vacant. That represents a small fraction of the total staffing requirements at the 2,104-bed ICC from May through November 2012, and that there was no significant increase in violence or other security incidents during the period in question.
The Department of Correction announced in early March that it had asked the Idaho State Police to review whether a criminal investigation was warranted after discovering significant discrepancies in ICC’s staffing records.ISP Colonel Ralph Powell said the new information from CCA would be reviewed by investigators and compared with the Department of Correction’s own findings.
The company said it would take appropriate disciplinary action with the ICC personnel involved, and that staffing, training and recordkeeping processes would be improved.
Chairman Sandy and Director Reinke said they would work with the Department of Administration to determine what steps to take regarding CCA’s $29 million annual contract with the State. It expires on June 30, 2014, with the option for up to two two-year extensions.
