The Nation - News from April 21, 1988

Gov. Bill Clements signed contracts for the first privately built and operated prisons in Texas, calling it the largest private prison project ever undertaken by a state. The agreement with Becon-Wackenhut Inc. of Coral Gables, Fla., calls for the construction of two 500-bed minimum-security pre-release centers to help alleviate overcrowding in Texas prisons that forced the system to stop admitting inmates more than 20 times last year. The units will be built and operated by the company for the agreed price of $34.79 per inmate per day--more than 10% under what it would cost the state to run them--with slight escalations during the next few years. David M. Cornell, president of Becon-Wackenhut, said construction on the centers in Kyle and Bridgeport will begin in July and that the facilities should be open by early next year.