PRIVATE PRISON PITCH GETS CHILLY RECEPTION

CALIFORNIA CITY City officials were in Sacramento this week making a
case for what they believe is this city's economic future the private
prison scheduled to open in July.

City Manager Jack Stewart, California City Correctional Center Warden
Dan Vasquez and Councilman Harry Bailey hoped to convince state
lawmakers the prison should be operated as a state facility.

From the beginning, when Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of
America (CCA) revealed plans in July 1997 for the 2,300-bed prison,
project officials have had a "build it and they will come" attitude.

But the California Department of Corrections has said it has no
interest in contracting with CCA to house state prisoners in the facility.

"The California Department of Corrections has no plans to use the
private prison in California City," said department spokeswoman Terry
Thornton. "There are no contract negotiations under way."

This isn't the first time CCA has built a prison without prior state
assurance of inmates. It has done so in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico,
Tennessee and Ohio. This would be the first such prison CCA has built
in California, a company representative said.

The chilly reception from the state Department of Corrections isn't
the only hurdle CCA faces in California.

Assembly Bill 1222, introduced in February by Assemblywoman Sheila
Kuehl, D-Encino, would prohibit private corrections companies from
bringing inmates into the state, or incarcerating them, without state
approval. If approved, the bill would take effect Jan. 1, 2000.

"Incarcerating people without state permission is false imprisonment
or kidnapping," said Ryan Sherman, a legislative analyst with the
California Correctional Peace Officers Association. "And they can't
rely on another state's authority as a way to house inmates in
California."

Sherman said the state is projected to run out of prison bed space by
2002.

But CCA West Coast Region President David L. Myers said he isn't
worried.

"Interstate commerce laws clearly allow for businesses to do
business," said Myers. "Inmates are a commodity in this line of business."

In the past, Myers has said CCA can contract for federal inmates or
Immigration and Naturalization Service detainees if it doesn't have a
state contract.

Senate Bill 1042, introduced last month by state Sen. William J.
"Pete" Knight, R-Palmdale, calls for the state to authorize up to
10,000 community correctional facility beds.

If approved, the bill would let the California City prison operate as
a huge community correctional prison, which are typically built by
private companies and operated under a state contract, said Sherman.

The city's need for jobs for its nearly 9,000 residents has led it to
seek the prison to bolster the economy.

"I hope we can have the 500 prison jobs filled by California City
residents," said Mayor Larry Adams. "CCA is a huge corporation and
they're going to live through this (current lack of a contract), but
California City might not."

Between 500 and 600 applications have been made to the prison to date,
said Warden Dan Vasquez, a retired warden from the California
Department of Corrections.

Vasquez said most applicants have come from within the city, although
there are job seekers from Mojave, Bakersfield and the Antelope Valley.

A job list for the facility describes 445 openings, including 262
regular correctional officers, plus several senior officers and a
variety of support jobs.

Vasquez is scheduled to discuss the prison at the council's April 6
meeting.