Private prison in McRae finally getting inmates

Posted 9:23PM on Friday 31st May 2002 ( 23 years ago )

McRAE - The new $45 million privately owned McRae Correctional Facility, vacant since construction was completed nearly two years ago, is finally getting some inmates. The Federal Bureau of Prisons awarded a contract Thursday to Corrections Corporation of America to house low-security criminal aliens at the prison in south Georgia's Telfair County. The prison is expected to bring an estimated $10 million payroll and 455 jobs to the area which has lost nearly 1,500 jobs during the past four years. ``We were absolutely dying here,'' said Carol Lavely, president of the Telfair County Chamber of Commerce. ``Folks losing their homes ... It's been horrendous.'' State Rep. Terry Coleman, D-Eastman, called the announcement ``tremendous news.'' ``It will have a major impact on the area, as you can imagine,'' Coleman said. ``It's something we've been waiting on for two years.'' The McRae prison was chosen from 19 sites seeking the three-year, $103 million contract. The first inmates should arrive at the prison Dec. 1, said Louise Green, CCA's vice president of communications. CCA already has 1,000 applications on file for jobs at the McRae prison and will begin screening applicants in about two weeks. Starting salary for correctional officers should be at least $12 an hour, officials said. ``We think we're going to have a pretty good pool to choose from,'' said Loy Hayes, CCA's vice president of human resources. Bilingual candidates could have an advantage. The 1,500-bed prison will house low-security criminal aliens of various nationalities. ``You'll have language issues,'' CCA's Green said. ``We expect the language of the majority will be Spanish.'' The prison was to open in the summer of 2000, but previous negotiations to bring inmates to the facility failed. CCA built it and another facility in Stewart County without state contracts, and Georgia officials balked at putting inmates in the prisons, despite already having working agreements with CCA prisons in nearby Alamo and Nicholls. The McRae prison was picked last June as finalist for the federal contract, but the selection process bogged down in red tape and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The prison will be the third in Telfair County, which has state prisons in Helena and Milan.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/5/194088