PHOENIX—Arizona’s reliance on other states to house thousands of inmates is over, with the remaining 43 prisoners now being bused back to the state.
The state has ended its use of so-called “provisional” beds, a change made as a cost-cutting measure that Gov. Jan Brewer’s January budget proposal said would save the state $86.5 million.
An Arizona Department of Corrections spokesman said Wednesday the final group of out-of-state inmates left the Great Plains Correctional Facility in Hinton, Okla., on Tuesday.
Arizona had nearly 4,500 male prisoners in three out-of-state prisons under short-term contracts as recently as a year ago. Those included 1,760 at Great Plains; 2,054 at Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, Okla.; and 677 at Huerfano County Correctional Center in Walsenburg, Colo.
The state’s prison system remains crowded but can now accommodate the prisoners formerly sent out of state after expansions were launched in 2007 because of overcrowding. Thousands of beds at Tucson and Yuma state prisons for male inmates were added, as well as bed space in a new privately operated state prison near Kingman.
The Perryville prison for women also was expanded, but the out-of-state placements did not involve female prisoners.
Even with the expansion projects, however, the state still has to cram prisoners into its facilities. Arizona’s system has approximately 40,300 inmates, including approximately 34,600 in state facilities and 5,700 in privately operated prisons.
The design capacity is just under 37,200.
Thousands of prisoners are housed in pairs in cells designed for one inmate. Food serving areas and classrooms are used for dorm-style housing.
The Kingman prison, which now houses 2,600 prisoners, was the site of a July 30 escape involving three violent offenders who were recaptured after a manhunt across much of the West. Two are accused of a double-homicide in New Mexico.
The use of out-of-state prisons was not without trouble. A riot in April 2007 at the New Castle Correctional Facility, a privately operated prison about 40 miles east of Indianapolis, resulted in hundreds of prisoners burning mattresses and breaking windows.
An Indiana Department of Corrections report on the disturbance concluded, among other things, that authorities moved too fast to transfer Arizona inmates to the Indiana prison.
That report said the transfer schedule was unrealistic because the side of the prison occupied by the Arizona inmates had not been used or staffed.
A “longer, more staged transfer of inmates” was needed to allow time to hire and train guards and other staffers, it said.
When Arizona’s agreement with Indiana was announced, the Arizona department said it was necessary because of a need to quickly add more beds. A spokeswoman also said it was regrettable to house prisoners so far from family and friends.
The Indiana prison is approximately 1,800 driving miles from Phoenix.
