Idaho inmate at large after Texas prison break

BOISE – An Idaho inmate who fled a private Texas prison four days ago remained at large Wednesday while authorities searched with helicopters and tracking dogs, the Idaho Department of Correction said.

Scot Noble Payne, 43, escaped Sunday evening from the Dickens County Correctional Center, run by Florida-based Geo Group Inc.

Payne, serving time for aggravated battery and lewd and lascivious conduct, is one of 463 Idaho inmates who have been shipped to Texas, Minnesota and other out-of-state facilities since last year because of overcrowding in prisons at home.

Idaho inmates at private prisons in Texas have been the subject of controversy, with a previous breakout in June and allegations of abuse that preceded the firing of some Geo Group staff and the transfer of inmates to other prisons – including Dickens County.

Payne apparently escaped in temperatures in the mid-20s without any extra clothing. Prison staff believe he scaled the facility’s fence.

This year, one warden resigned and another worker was fired from the Geo Group-run Newton County Correctional Center in Newton, Texas, after run-ins with Idaho inmates in April and May. Inmates alleged they’d been abused, sprayed with pepper spray and punched, and Idaho Correction Department officials conceded problems had been exacerbated by rancor that arose from “cultural differences” over prison food and staff.

In June, two prisoners from Idaho escaped but were recaptured.