Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By W. Zachary Malinowski
Journal Staff Writer

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. -- Is the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility on the market?

Mayor Charles D. Moreau, an outspoken critic of the city-owned, privately managed operation, confirmed today that Corrections Corporation of America has shown interest in buying the jail, which can house about 700 detainees.

Moreau said five representatives of CCA, whose headquarters are in Nashville, Tenn., are expected to tour Wyatt on Thursday, accompanied by the mayor, Warden Wayne Salisbury and members of the board of the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation.

"Everything is on the table,'' said Moreau, adding that he has no idea what the jail is worth, or whether it would be sold or leased. He said that other companies that own or manage prisons also have made inquiries in recent weeks.

The Wyatt board is expected to discuss the possible sale of the jail when it meets at 6 p.m. tomorrow in City Hall.

Last month, Moreau, upset with the operations at the Donald W. Wyatt Federal Detention Center, replaced three members of the jail's five-member corporation board.

The moves were the first in a series of changes designed to appease federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to get immigrant detainees returned to the jail as quickly as possible.

The federal agency abruptly removed 153 detainees from the prison in December pending completion of an investigation into the death of a Chinese national who spent about a month at Wyatt last summer awaiting deportation.

 Tags  Wyatt Detention Facility

Comments

donaldptwohig@yahoo.com said:

Get what its worth. lets not sell our last assit as we have everything else.

Link | February 3, 2009 11:12 PM
Report Abuse

---

Leave a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.