Taft Correctional Institution

Coordinates: 35°06′35″N 119°23′08″W / 35.109776°N 119.385469°W / 35.109776; -119.385469
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Taft Correctional Institution
Map
Location1500 Cadet Road
Taft, California
StatusClosed
Security classLow-security (with minimum-security prison camp)
Capacity2500[1]
Population2187 (360 in prison camp)
OpenedAugust 20, 1997
ClosedApril 30, 2020
Managed byManagement and Training Corporation

Taft Correctional Institution was a low-security federal prison for male inmates located in Taft, Kern County, California, owned by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and operated by Management and Training Corporation under contract with the BOP.[2] It also included a satellite prison camp for minimum-security male inmates.

The facility opened in 1997 as the first private prison contract of the BOP; the contract was awarded to Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, and then operated the facility under the name of The GEO Group. In August 2016, Justice Department officials announced that the BOP would be phasing out its use of contracted facilities, on the grounds that private prisons provided less safe and less effective services with no substantial cost savings. The agency expects to allow current contracts on its thirteen remaining private facilities to expire.[3]

The facility was slated to close in 2019, but was extended several times into 2020.[1][4] The congressman for the area, Kevin McCarthy, opposed the closure.[4] The correctional institute closed on April 30, 2020.[5]

Notable inmates

References

  1. ^ a b Joseph Luiz (24 March 2020). "Taft prison notifies county more than 300 employees could be laid off after April 30". KGET 17. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Taft Correctional Institution". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  3. ^ Zapotosky, Matt (18 Aug 2016). "Justice Department says it will end use of private prisons". Washington Post. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  4. ^ a b "DOJ halts prisoner removal from Taft Correctional Institution". KGET 17. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  5. ^ Rust, Susanne (May 6, 2020). "Kern County city gets hit with triple whammy: Lockdowns, oil slump and prison closing". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  6. ^ a b McLaughlin, Tim (2007-09-26). "'Wolf of Wall Street' seeks redemption". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  7. ^ Ferran, Lee; Khan, Mariam (2016-05-12). "Coal King Reports to Low Security California Prison". ABC News. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  8. ^ "Sunny Garcia's Last Days in Prison". SURFER Magazine. 2007-04-09. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  9. ^ Mauer, Richard (2009-06-14). "Despite his lockup, Kohring still supports private prisons". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  10. ^ Stempel, Jonathan (2017-09-18). "Wine maven Kurniawan, convicted of fraud, loses bid for freedom". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  11. ^ Cohen, Marshall (2019-05-14). "California man who unwittingly helped Russian meddling released from federal custody". CNN. Retrieved 2022-10-18.

35°06′35″N 119°23′08″W / 35.109776°N 119.385469°W / 35.109776; -119.385469