9 Private prisons also cut labor costs by employing fewer workers. A NC private prison has 50 percent fewer correctional officers than a state-run prison of the same size. In 1999, the State of NC withheld money from the private prison because the company had not lived up to its staffing and job obligations. The prison had not provided psychiatric care for almost a year. 11 Privately operated prisons also seem like bargains because they do not bear many of the expenses that the state prisons do.
Private prisons take only the inmates who have no serious medical or behavioral problems.
These inmates are able to work and provide cheap labor for the prisons. If an inmate at a private prison has large medical expenses, the inmate will be transferred to a state facility or the State will pick up the tab for some of the medical costs. The State even pays to transport prisoners back and forth to private prisons. If there are escapes or riots, private prisons turn to the government, which uses its resources like the National Guard to handle such situations. Politics, Profits, and Prisons With the questionable quality of services provided by private prisons, local law enforcement officials have expressed reservations about prison privatization.