Overcrowding Leads Kentucky to Reopen Private Prisons

Overcrowding leads Kentucky to re-open private prisons.

Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary John Tilley signed a contract Thursday with Core-Civic, the Tennessee-based private corrections company. 

The state plans to move about 800 inmates from the 80-year-old Kentucky State Reformatory to the Lee Adjustment Center in Beattyville within the next four months.

The contract will cost about $16.8 million per year, or around $57 per inmate per day, which is about $6 less than it costs the state per inmate per day at a comparable facility.

Tilley said Core-Civic must follow all of the state’s policies, including hiring the same number of officers used at other prisons in the state, and using the same training, safety, and security protocol.