Arizona severs ties with private prison operator over violent uprisings

Arizona will fire the private operator running a state prison after three major uprisings that caused extensive damage and forced more than 1,200 inmates to be relocated, Gov. Doug Ducey said on Wednesday.

The state has already begun the process of canceling its contract with Utah-based Management and Training Corp. in the wake of riots and violence inside two units at the Kingman prison last month, Ducey said.

The move follows a scathing report released on Wednesday that pinned the blame on the company, citing “a culture of disorganization, disengagement and disregard for state policies.”

The report by the Arizona Department of Corrections, or ADC, whose findings were criticized by the company, also faulted it for not providing adequate training and hiding it from state monitors, and failing to “promptly and effectively quell the riots.”

“What happened at Kingman was frightening, disturbing and completely unacceptable,” Ducey told reporters at a news conference. “It’s time for the state to take action.”

The Republican governor, who took office in January, said the company needed to be held accountable for how it had operated the 3,500-bed prison, the scene of a 2010 escape by three inmates. Two of the escapees killed a couple in New Mexico before all three were recaptured.

The company said in a lengthy statement that the allegations raised in the report were unfounded and contradicted the state’s own written audits.

“Over the last five years, ADC has expressed no significant concerns with our operation,” according to the statement. "We have provided a high level of service, comparable to other ADC facilities, and this has all been substantiated by ADC.”

The company said it had no chance to answer claims made by state staffers and inmates in the state report and that comments made by its staff were mischaracterized.

“We take significant issue with the conclusions in this report,” it said.

The series of violent outbreaks began on July 1, when a small group of minimum-security inmates attempted to injure another inmate, sparking a major disturbance.

The next evening, an unrelated riot erupted at a medium-security unit that took several hours to control. Two days later, it took prison officials about 90 minutes to control rampaging inmates.

Nine corrections officers and four inmates received minor injuries, and damage from the incidents forced inmates to be sent to other facilities.

Reuters