By RODNEY RICHEY
April 24, 2007 09:21 pm
—
rodney.richey@heraldbulletin.com
The private firm that assumed control of the New Castle Correctional Facility in 2006 — The Geo Group Inc., formerly Wackenhut — signed the agreement at the end of September 2005. The contract covered an initial term of four years, with three two-year extensions.
The 2,416-bed, medium-security facility was taken over by GEO in January 2006. For many years, the site itself had been occupied by the New Castle State Developmental Center. In its history, that facility had also been known as New Castle State Hospital and the Indiana Village for Epileptics.
The $123 million medium-security prison, which opened in 2002, was designed to house more than 1,800 inmates and employ about 750 state workers.
Florida-based GEO Group describes itself as “a world leader in the delivery of correctional, detention and residential treatment services to federal, state and local government agencies around the globe. GEO offers a turnkey approach that includes design, construction, financing and operations.”
The corporation also reportedly serves governments in Australia, South Africa, Canada and Great Britain, operating 63 correctional and residential treatment facilities in North America.
GEO changed its name from Wackenhut — a company that had been the target of some criticism for its stern procedures in operating prisons, including a scathing 2002 report on CBS’ “60 Minutes II” — in November 2003. Wackenhut reportedly still operates security guard services in many states, but is no longer connected with GEO.
(Information supplied by the Indiana Department of Correction Web site, the GEO Group Web site and the CBS News Web site, as well as other Internet sources.)
---
New Castle Correctional Facility glance
By The Associated Press
DETAILS: Medium-security prison opened in 2002 in city about 45 miles east of Indianapolis
MANAGEMENT: GEO Group of Boca Raton, Fla., since 2006. Company operates more than 60 prisons across North America.
INMATES: Currently housing 630 inmates from Arizona who began arriving in the past two months, along with about 1,050 from Indiana. Average daily population of 450 in 2005.
CAPACITY: 2,416 adult men.
OTHER FACILITIES: Psychiatric facility that treats Department of Correction inmates who are bused in from other prisons.
Source: Indiana Department of Correction, GEO Group Inc.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.