Gov. Polis said he wanted to close a private prison in Colorado; GEO Group beat him to it
After months of saying it wanted to close a private prison in Colorado Springs, the Polis administration got the surprise news on Tuesday that GEO Group will be shuttering the facility on its own, leaving hundreds of inmates and employees in limbo.
GEO announced it will close the Cheyenne Mountain Reentry Center in just 60 days.
The move likely will cause jail backlogs, parole releases and prison crowding, said Colorado Department of Corrections Executive Director Dean Williams, adding that the situation is not ideal and noting a list of “undesirable consequences.”
“I knew that this certainly was going to be a possibility,” Williams told The Colorado Sun, explaining that his agency has been planning for the outcome. “We knew that this could possibly turn south. I thought we were on track, however, that we would continue to work this situation out.”
Williams said his agency had been working with GEO Group for months to address issues at the Cheyenne Mountain Reentry Center around staffing and programs offered to inmates there. He had hoped that the facility would stay open through at least June so the state could find a solution for its inmate population.
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