Posted on: Thursday, April 14, 2005
Wyoming ends deal with private prison
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
Wyoming will remove its women inmates from a privately run Mainland prison that also houses Hawai'i women inmates, the same prison where staff members were accused of sexual misconduct involving Hawai'i, Wyoming and Colorado inmates.
Melinda Brazzale, spokeswoman for the Wyoming Department of Corrections, cited a recent series of problems at the prison in the decision to remove the Wyoming inmates from the Brush Correctional Facility in Colorado.
Those problems included criminal charges filed against staff members and the former warden in connection with the sexual misconduct allegations, and revelations that the prison allowed five convicted felons to work there because their background checks had not been completed.
"We just feel that it would be in the best interest of the inmates to move them out of Colorado," said Brazzale. The 38 Wyoming inmates at the Brush prison will be returned to Wyoming or sent to another private prison in Texas within the next 45 days, she said.
Hawai'i has 80 women inmates at Brush, and there are no immediate plans to move the Hawai'i inmates out of the prison, said Michael Gaede, spokesman for the Hawai'i Department of Public Safety. However, Hawai'i's two-year contract with GRW Corp to house inmates at Brush ends on July 31.
Gaede said Hawai'i officials have been working closely with Colorado and Brush prison officials, and "we still feel satisfied that our 80 female inmates in Brush are safe and secure. We will continue to keep a close watch on the situation as we consider our options."
Two former corrections officers at Brush have been charged with sexual misconduct with inmates, the former warden at Brush has been charged in connection with one of those cases, and prison officials said a prison counselor also is under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct.
Former Corrections Officer Russell Rollison, 31, was charged with two counts of sexual conduct in a penal institution, which is a felony. The case involved a 35-year-old and 31-year-old Hawai'i inmate. Both women have been returned to the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua.
Colorado officials say their investigation showed the sexual contact was consensual, but a lawyer for the Hawai'i inmates says the women were coerced. It is a felony in Colorado for prison staff to have consensual sexual contact with an inmate.
Another former corrections officer, Fredrick Woller, has also been charged with one count of sexual conduct in a penal institution in a case involving a Wyoming inmate, and former Brush Warden Rick Soares was charged with a felony as an alleged accessory.
Investigations by Colorado state prison officials concluded prison staff had been involved in alleged sexual misconduct with two Hawai'i inmates, two Colorado inmates and four Wyoming inmates.
Two other members of the prison staff were charged in an alleged cigarette smuggling ring.
Five women inmates from Hawai'i and two family members of Hawai'i inmates have also been charged in that case.
Colorado state prison officials also revealed last month that background checks of 60 to 70 employees at the Brush Correctional Facility showed eight had "questionable" backgrounds, including five with felony convictions and three who had arrest histories. All of the felons and two of the staff members with arrest histories no longer work at the prison.
Colorado also holds about 70 convicted women felons at Brush, and Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Alison Morgan said there are no plans to move the Colorado inmates.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.
