Lea County Correctional Center

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Lea County Correctional Center
Location6900 West Millen Drive, Hobbs, New Mexico
Security classmedium security
Capacity1200
Opened1998
Managed byGEO Group
DirectorDwayne Santistevan

The Lea County Correctional Facility (LCCF) is a medium-security prison for men located four miles north-west of Hobbs, New Mexico, opened in 1998 on 60 acres of the former Hobbs Army Airfield, now adjacent to the Lea County Regional Airport. [1] The facility can house 1200 state inmates of the New Mexico Corrections Department, and is operated by the private GEO Group under a contract administered through the county.[2][3]

In its first year, LCCF was "the site of three fatal inmate stabbings, six nonfatal stabbings, a 'near-riot' and allegations of guards using excessive force, according to reports in both the Albuquerque Journal and Albuquerque Tribune."[4]

In April 2002 the U.S. Department of Justice found three LCCF guards guilty of civil rights conspiracy and obstruction charges after assaulting a prisoner, then falsifying reports and lying to investigators.[5]

In November 2011 the state of New Mexico imposed fines of $1.1 million against GEO Group for failing to maintain adequate staffing levels at LCCF.[6] In March 2012 the state imposed another fine of nearly $300,000 for the company's failure to properly staff guards and health care workers; some positions had remained vacant for two months or longer.[7]

References[]

  1. ^ http://www.corrections.state.nm.us/apd/lccf.html
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2014-02-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ http://amarillo.com/stories/102298/new_LG3450.001.shtml
  4. ^ ""A Record of Dishonesty"".
  5. ^ http://www.sourcewatch.org/images/1/1e/DOJ_Press_Release-lea-county.pdf
  6. ^ http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/nov/15/new-mexico-fines-private-prison-operator/?print=1
  7. ^ "NM Gets Tougher on Private Prisons".

Coordinates: 32°45′51″N 103°13′25″W / 32.76408°N 103.22368°W / 32.76408; -103.22368

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