Change in Management for Ohio Facilities
MARION, Ohio — Ohio is expected to save more than $13 million with the changes put in place to consolidate and privatize its correctional facilities.
Three Ohio state prisons have a change in management or operations as part of a consolidation and privatization effort by Gov. John Kasich.
The previously private North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in Lorain County was merged with Grafton Correctional Institution and will now run as a single prison camp. The privately run 1,798-bed Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut, Ohio has been sold to Corrections Corporation of America for approximately $73 million.
“We are excited to have begun a new partnership with the state of Ohio and look forward to developing a long-standing relationship with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and the Conneaut community,” said CCA President and CEO Damon Hiniger.
The sale of the Lake Erie Correctional Institution marks the first sale of a state-owned correctional facility to the private sector and the first contract CCA has had with the state of Ohio.
The contract with CCA has an initial term of 20 years with unlimited renewal options subject to appropriations and mutual agreement. The contract also provides a guaranteed occupancy of 90 percent at Lake Erie Correctional Institution.