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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Gov. Otter orders investigation of private prison

Rebecca Boone Associated Press

BOISE – Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has ordered the state police to conduct a criminal investigation of understaffing and falsified documents at a private prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America.

The governor made the decision – a reversal of his previous stance – on Tuesday after meeting with Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden. Otter wrote in a letter to Idaho State Police Col. Ralph Powell that after reviewing the available information, including an audit completed by the forensic auditing firm KPMG, he now believed the public would benefit from a formal criminal investigation.

“After reviewing available information, including the KPMG audit report, I believe the public interest would benefit from a formal criminal investigation into the acknowledged falsification of Corrections Corporation of America’s staffing records at the Idaho Correctional Center during 2012,” Otter wrote in the letter to Powell. “Please accept this letter as my direction for the Idaho State Police to undertake such an investigation immediately, and to put whatever time, personnel and resources are necessary at the disposal of conducting it in a thorough and timely manner. I look forward to your findings and conclusions.”

CCA spokesman Steve Owen said the company believes the report contains major errors. CCA has hired an attorney and is trying to get KPMG to declare the audit findings inconclusive.

“We have been on the record since the beginning with numerous, detailed concerns about KPMG’s flawed report,” Owen wrote in an email Tuesday night.

Otter had previously supported Powell’s decision not to investigate the company.

CCA has operated Idaho’s largest prison for more than a decade. The Idaho Department of Correction asked the Idaho State Police to launch a criminal investigation into CCA last year after an Associated Press investigation showed that the Nashville, Tenn.-based company’s staffing reports given to the state listed some guards as working 48 hours straight in order to meet minimum staffing requirements. CCA then acknowledged that its employees falsified the documents to hide understaffing at the prison in violation of the $29 million state contract.

For the past 12 months, state officials have said the investigation was underway. But after the AP filed a request for the Idaho State Police investigation documents last month, the law enforcement agency revealed no investigation ever occurred.