LAS CRUCES - A bill that would phase out private prisons in the state advanced in the New Mexico House of Representatives on Thursday, Jan. 28, despite dire warnings from local leaders in Grants and Estancia.
House Bill 40, sponsored by Rep. Angelica Rubio, D-Las Cruces, and others, would make it unlawful to operate a private detention facility in New Mexico. It would also prohibit the state or any county, sheriff’s office or other government entity from entering into a new agreement or renewing an existing agreement. Detention facilities now operating would be allowed to complete the terms of existing contracts.
During the public comment section, more than 20 people spoke in favor of the bill, none in opposition. It passed on a 3-2 vote in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee, but both Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, and Randall Pettigrew, R-Lovington, made it clear that their votes against the bill should not be seen as a defense of private prisons.
Lord said she received a phone call from Estancia Mayor Nathan Dial, who told her the town of about 1,600 people gets about two-thirds of its tax revenue from the Torrance County Detention Facility, which is owned and operated by CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America. The 910-bed facility houses federal prisoners, immigration detainees and county inmates, according to the town’s website.
“If this passes, we can say goodbye to the town of Estancia. There will be no town,” Lord said. “I understand the other points of view, but we are going to lose an entire city.”
Rep. Harry Garcia, D-Grants, who is not a committee member and did not vote, expressed similar concerns for his hometown, where the Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center is located. The facility, which can hold up to 744 inmates, is also owned and operated by CoreCivic.
He said if the prison were shut down the town would lose 250 jobs. That would come on top of the recent closure of the Marathon Petroleum refinery in nearby Gallup, which resulted in more than 200 workers losing their jobs.
“I understand the concerns, and we do need to have a plan, but we are in great danger of losing everything in that town if this happens,” Garcia said.
Michael Eshleman, county attorney for Otero County, said there should be a grandfather clause for existing facilities. The Otero County Prison Facility and the Otero County Processing Center for immigration in Chaparral are both operated by Management and Training Corporation, but owned by the county.
Eshleman said the county has outstanding bonds on the facilities that won’t be paid off until 2028.
“Whether or not we should have these facilities, Otero County has them,” he said, adding that the only revenue they have to pay off the bonds is from the prison.
But former Chaparral resident Uriel Rosales said the private prisons have worked to limit the opportunities for residents there.
“People in Chaparral have little control over how this industry is affecting its development,” he said. “My community can’t take any more years of being forced to work in inhumane jobs, using human suffering as a business model.”
New Mexico has the highest percentage of private prisons in the nation, according to a 2019 report by The Sentencing Project. More than half of the prisoners in the state are being held in private facilities. The national average is just over 8 percent.
Many of those commenting on the bill argued that private prisons routinely have poorer services and living conditions for inmates and lesser pay and more dangerous working conditions for staff. They provide an incentive for increased incarceration and a disincentive for rehabilitation.
“Some things I don’t believe should be for-profit, and corrections is one,” said House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee Chair Liz Thomson, D-Albuquerque.
State Corrections Secretary Alishia Tafoya Lucero said the administration opposes the bill “in its current form” because the state would lose 3,000 beds, and doesn’t immediately have the capacity to replace them.
“I want to be very clear, when it is safe and reasonable to convert from private to public, we will,” she said. “But to do so requires planning.”
The bill now goes to the House Judiciary Committee. A similar bill introduced by Rubio in 2019 failed to clear that committee. And, given the opposition by the Corrections Department, it is not certain that the bill would be signed by the governor this year even if it were to pass.
But Rubio made it clear to leaders in the towns that now house private prisons that they need to start planning now for whatever will come next.
“Private prison will end. That’s my promise as a legislator. If not this year, it will happen,” she said. “So, we need to start working on a transition plan for these communities.”