Original Abstract

The state of Louisiana built three identical medium-maximum security prisons in the late 1980s. The first to open was the state operated Avoyelles Correctional Center on June 19, 1989. Winn Correctional Center, operated under contract by Correctional Corporation of America to the Louisiana Department of Corrections, was the next to open on March 19, 1990. Last to open was Allen Correctional Center on December 4, 1990, operated by Wackenhut Corrections Corporation under contract to the Louisiana Department of Corrections. In effect, the state of Louisiana created a field experimental laboratory for the study of privately operated versus publicly operated prisons. However, the state did not plan for any systematic collection of data that could be used to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of these three prisons. Consequently, in order to structure a costeffectiveness evaluation of these three prisons, it was necessary to use secondary data which were derived from formal reports submitted by each prison to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections and from budgetary/auditing records of the DOC.

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