A Utah-based private prison company has returned $5.1 million to the Mississippi Department of Corrections after an investigation found it failed to provide enough workers at one of the prisons it was operating, state Auditor Shad White said Monday.“Every penny must be accounted for,” White said in a news release.
MTC communications director Dave Martinson said in November that the company paid vacancy penalties under the terms of the Marshall County Correctional Facility contract, which was amended by the state in December 2017. Martinson said the penalties were deducted from the company’s monthly invoices to the department.
Lawhead said the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated staffing challenges in prisons and the department gave MTC permission to use staffing money to increase wages, pay incentive bonuses and for “other alternatives to deal with the situation.”