CCA Tries Another Town for It's 5000 cage prison

February 12, 2010
Private prison interested in Camp Verde
By Steve Ayers
Staff Reporter

CAMP VERDE - Mayor Bob Burnside has confirmed that the Corrections Corporation of America has made a preliminary inquiry regarding the construction of a private prison in Camp Verde.

Burnside said he and Town Manger Mike Scannell met on Monday with CCA representative Bill Feldmeier to discuss issues related to zoning and permitting.

"It's an interesting concept that I have begun researching," Burnside said. "At face value it has a massive economic potential, but we will have to see how the public feels about the idea."

CCA had previously proposed a private prison in Prescott Valley. However, those talks did not get past the early discussion stage, according to Feldmeier.

"Right now we are simply asking questions and seeing if the Town is interested in having a discussion," he said.

CCA is one of several companies that operated private prisons making inquiries statewide in response to a request from the State of Arizona to build a 5,000-bed prison.

"The State is doing an RFP [request for proposals] to bring back Arizona prisoners being held in other states and house them in a facility in Arizona, which they believe will be a lot less expensive than transporting them out of state," Feldmeier said.

He said the company has a particular interest in Yavapai County, for several reasons.

"They like Yavapai County. They just like it. They feel it meets their needs of an employment base, employee satisfaction and what I would call 'livability,'" he said.

Burnside said CCA has expressed an interest in property near the county jail facility off Cherry Road and State Route 260.

http://campverdebugleonline.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=991&Articl
eID=25683