By one estimate, 65,000 inmates are currently housed in privately managed
prisons around the country.
It's not exactly Field of DreamsII. Kevin Costner is nowhere to be found,
and the extras would be garbed in prison stripes rather than ball
players' pinstripes.

But the announcement yesterday by Corrections Corporation of America
(CCA) that it will erect a private prison in California City, north
of Los Angeles, without any preexisting contract to house prisoners,
raises a compelling ques tion: If the company does indeed build this
facility, will governmental juris dictions come, bringing convicts
in need of bed space?

If the matter were framed in strict terms of fact and
experience,CCA's gam ble could be viewed as a sure thing.At least 18
0ther statesand some federal agencieshave moved to a significant
degree to contract with private firms for construction or management
of prisons, and there are positive results to report. By one
estimate,65,000 inmates are currently housed in privately managed
prisons around the country. Florida,for instance,is building and
operating privately run prisons more quickly and cheaply than
staterun compounds under a program over seen by a separate
corrections commission for private incarceration facilities. Savings
are realized in construction costs,streamlined management and
liability from inmate and employee lawsuits.

Unfortunately,the politics of the issue don't always respond to the
logic of the case.For example,Orange County state Sen.John Lewis was
unsuccessful last year in trying to get the Legislature to emulate
the Florida program in California.Even though the Lewis plan would
have capped costs in the private prisons it envisioned at $75,000 per
cellnearly $50,000 less than the price tag for staterun facilities
his bill failed(narrowly),with "No"votes coming from members of both
parties.Its defeat,more than anything,was testimony to the power of
the prisonguards' union,one of the states biggest political donors.

The 2,000bed facility that CCA will build should be seen as a
strategy to move the privateprison debate in California off dead
center."It's a bold challenge to spend dollars with as much prudence
as possible,"says Newport Beach entrepreneur Buck Johns,whose
company,Corrections Facilities Development,LLC, is the exclusive
California agency for the Tennesseebased CCA."there's a shortage of
prison beds in California,and it's projected to get worse,"Mr. Johns
told us yesterday."The Department of Corrections already contracts
for the placement of some community corrections inmates,but the new
CCA prison will be a standing opportunity for the agency to go this
route in a much bigger waywith either lowsecurity or higher
security convicts."

Even if California officials don't seize the opportunity,the
facility could be used by U.S. immigration authorities or the federal
Marshall's service,along with corrections agencies in other states.
So CCA isn't likely to go wanting for business.

Orange County's local politics could be indirectly affected by CCA's
challenge to state prison officials to the extent it stimulates a
more general discussion of pri vate incarceration options. County
Marshall Mike Caronaa candidate for sheriff in next year's
electionhas said he is open at least to considering the pros and
cons of privatization in some aspects of the county's correctional
system.If incumbent Sheriff Brad Gates decides to seek
reelection,the issue could thus figure prominently in debate,because
the sheriff has always rejected jail privatization out of hand.

Taxpayers deserve an openminded exploration of the issue,and they
get one,thanks to the energetic business strategy of CCA,,and,in
Orange County,the dynamics of the local electoral process.