Bill privatizing Ohio prisons

Ohio Senate Bill 269 would create a regional council of governments; consolidation of boards and commissions for purposes of Central Service Agency support services; privatization of governmental functions; and restructuring of state government, but a Dayton Daily News article yesterday says it's already drawing fire from corrections employees in that city.

Provisions of SB 269 would "create a State Correctional Institution Privatization Commission, consisting of fifteen members, appointed by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Governor, and the Auditor of State.

"Members of the Commission," the bill says, "shall be qualified by education or experience in corrections, finance, or any other subject that relates to the duties of the Commission as described in division (B) of this section, and shall serve without compensation or reimbursement for any expenses incurred in the performance of their duties on the Commission..."

The Commission will study the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's operation and management of this state's correctional institutions, and that of private entities of correctional institutions in this state and in other states, developing a plan for the transfer of those operations and management by December 31, 2011, of at least one-half of this state's correctional institutions that currently are operated and managed by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to a private entity…..

The Dayton correctional employees, above, opined that "private corporations are not held to the same standards as a publicly run institution, and privatizing prisons would lower the quality of the facilities and create a less safe environment for everyone involved."