Walnut Grove Correctional Facility

See also: Operation Mississippi Hustle

Walnut Grove Correctional Facility
Map
Location1650 MS-492
Walnut Grove, Mississippi
StatusRe-opened in 2021
Capacity1496 [1]
Opened2001
ClosedSeptember 16, 2016
Managed byMississippi Department of Corrections (2021-)
Management and Training Corporation July 2012-2016

The Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, formerly the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility (WGYCF), is a state prison in Walnut Grove, Mississippi. It was formerly operated as a for-profit state-owned prison from 1996 to 2016. Constructed beginning in 1990, it was expanded in 2001 and later, holding male youth offenders. It had an eventual capacity of 1,649 prisoners, making it the largest juvenile facility in the country.[2] Contracts for the facility's operations and services were among those investigated by the FBI in its lengthy investigation of state corruption known as Operation Mississippi Hustle.

The prison was one of six for which the state had contracts in the early 21st century with for-profit prison operators; this facility had a record of management problems. A 2010 federal prisoner class-action suit was filed over poor conditions and mistreatment here; it was settled in 2012. Settlement required immediate transfer of youth offenders to a state-run facility meeting juvenile justice standards. The court decree prohibited the state from subjecting any youthful offender to solitary confinement, the first time a federal court had so ruled. In addition, the state changed the mission of WGCF to hold adult prisoners only. The prison had been accredited twice by the American Correctional Association, most recently in 2012.[2][3]

MDOC terminated its contract with GEO Group, replacing it in 2012 with a 10-year contract with another for-profit operator, Management and Training Corporation (MTC), based in Utah.[4] MTC's contract included operation of two other private prisons previously operated by GEO Group. This facility continued to be overseen by a court monitor; oversight was extended by the court after two riots occurred at the prison in 2014. The state closed the prison in September 2016 and is considering its adaptation for other purposes.

From 2003 to 2010, the prison was operated for the state by Cornell Companies as a facility for youthful offenders. In 2010 Cornell was acquired by the GEO Group. GEO operated the facility, which housed juvenile prisoners convicted of felonies and sentenced as adults.[5] Two-thirds of the prisoners had been convicted of non-violent offenses.[6]

In October 2010, the Department of Justice announced an investigation by the Civil Rights Division into conditions at WGYCF. A separate FBI investigation was started later into the Mississippi prison system related to contracts; extensive corruption was found. As a result of the latter investigation, in November 2014 Christopher Epps resigned as commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), which he had headed since 2002.[7] The next day he and businessman Cecil B. McCrory, a former state legislator, were indicted on 49 federal counts of bribery and receiving kickbacks from for-profit companies operating and serving Mississippi prisons. In 2015, both men pleaded guilty; they assisted the investigation, under which numerous additional indictments and convictions have been achieved. In early 2017, McCrory was sentenced to 8+1⁄2 years in federal prison. Epps was sentenced in May 2017 to nearly 20 years in prison; he had previously been indicted for receiving $1.47 million in bribes and kickbacks.[8] In February 2017 the Mississippi State Attorney announced a civil suit against MTC, GEO Group and 13 other contractors and several individuals, seeking damages and punitive damages related to contracts made by figures convicted in the corruption case.[citation needed]

As of 2016, the state owes $121 million in bonded indebtedness for the construction and subsequent expansions of the Walnut Grove correctional facility. The MDOC has an "absolute and unconditional" obligation to pay that debt.[9]

  1. ^ "Walnut Grove Correctional Facility | Mississippi Department of Corrections". www.mdoc.ms.gov.
  2. ^ a b Five Private Prisons." Mississippi Department of Corrections. Retrieved on November 21, 2010.
  3. ^ "Walnut Grove Correctional Facility" (PDF). Management and Training Corporation. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  4. ^ "Mississippi Corrections Archived 2013-06-25 at the Wayback Machine." Management and Training Corporation. Retrieved on March 23, 2013.
  5. ^ Burnett, John. "Miss. Prison Operator Out; Facility Called A 'Cesspool'". NPR.org. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  6. ^ Byrd, Sheila. "Suit attacks conditions at Miss. juvenile lockup." Associated Press, The Washington Post. November 16, 2010. 1[dead link]. Retrieved on November 22, 2010.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference resign was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ ex-MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps, wife must pay $69,489 in state taxes[permanent dead link], The Clarion-Ledger, Jimmie E. Gates, May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  9. ^ "Municipal prison bonds turn to junk as inmate population falls", Bloomberg News, Amanda Albright and Darrell Preston, October 3, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016.