Mahoning commissioners support keeping federal prisoners

Mahoning commissioners support keeping federal prisoners

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County commissioners passed this morning a resolution in support of the retention of federally convicted and sentenced undocumented immigrants at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center on Hubbard Road.

These inmates constitute about 75 percent of the approximately 2,000 prisoners housed at NEOCC, which is owned by the for-profit Nashville-Tenn.-based Corrections Corp. of America.

CCA’s contract with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to house the immigrants here at $69.72 per inmate per day for 1,507 inmates expires May 31, 2015.

CCA must submit a competitive proposal to the bureau by Aug. 15 if it wants to continue to house the immigrants at NEOCC.

The loss of the BOP contract would eliminate most of the 418 jobs at the Hubbard Road prison, which has an annual payroll of $21.7 million, CCA said.

A letter from CCA officials to Mayor Charles Sammarone said CCA fears BOP may consolidate NEOCC’s contract with another contract held by the Moshannon Valley Correctional Center in Phillipsburg, Pa.

The Moshannon Valley contract for 1,820 inmates at $65.22 per inmate per day, expires April 1, 2016.

Chris Burke, U.S. Bureau of Prisons public affairs specialist, said his agency is not consolidating contracts, but it needs about 2,000 inmate beds in the region, consisting of Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and New York.

Burke said BOP evaluates proposals to house prisoners on both price and non-price criteria and that award selection is based on the best value for the government.