Source: Houston Chronicle, page 30A
(http://www.chron.com/cgibin/auth/story/content/chronicle/page1/
97/08/21/spurprison.20.html)
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com

Justice Department plans probe of private prison in West Texas

By MARK BABINECK, Associated Press

SPUR Federal investigators have notified Dickens County
officials of a pending investigation into unspecified allegations
related to their private prison, officials said Wednesday.

The U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division sent County
Judge Woody McArthur a letter last week revealing its plans,
though it did not elaborate on the focus of the investigation.

"We have a copy of the letter they sent to Judge McArthur, and it
did not deal in specifics," said Ben Flusche, spokesman for the
Austinbased Bobby Ross Group, which operates the Dickens County
Correctional Center.

McArthur was hopeful that the investigation notice was a routine
matter.

"If my information is correct, this is something not highly
unusual," he said. "If they get a complaint from an inmate,
they're obligated to investigate it."

There was no answer Wednesday evening at Justice Department
headquarters in Washington.

The private prison, located about 60 miles east of Lubbock,
incarcerates inmates from Montana and Hawaii. Colorado moved out
about 140 inmates last month, and officials were looking to fill
those beds with Missouri convicts.

Missouri this week removed 200 inmates from a Brazoria County
unit after a videotape showing guards abusing prisoners surfaced
and was shown on television nationwide.

Among the problems the Dickens County prison had over the past 12
months:

* Aug. 26, 1996 Less than a week after the last of the Montana
inmates arrived, guards used warning shots to control a protest
over conditions at the prison that involved 120 inmates from
Montana and Hawaii. The prisoners had refused to go to their jobs
or return to their cells.

* Aug. 28, 1996 Hawaii prisoners complained about strip
searches.

* Aug. 30, 1996 Warden George Fry was fired for violating
prison policies in dealing with the protest.

* Feb. 7, 1997 An audit by the Montana Corrections Department
found the prison had inadequate medical care, food and counseling
programs.

* May 9, 1997 A fight between Hawaii and Montana inmates
erupted, leaving Montana prisoner Neal Hage dead.

Additionally, three Montana prisoners have escaped since last
August. One was captured the next day, but the others remain
fugitives.

Montana is currently reviewing its contract with Bobby Ross after
a semiannual audit this summer. Corrections Department spokesman
Mike Cronin said Wednesday that the report will be released
within the next three weeks.

Hawaii officials have said this week that they are satisfied with
conditions at the prison.