Idaho Gov. Butch Otter on Jan. 3 halted a search for a new private firm to replace the company that has been running the troubled Idaho Correctional Center.
The 2,080-bed facility just outside Boise has been the subject of lawsuits over inmate violence and allegations of understaffing and contract fraud.
Otter said in a release that he asked the Idaho Board of Corrections to take over operations of the correctional Center.
Reviewing Idaho's experience and those of prison facilities across the country made it increasingly clear that state control of custodial functions is a better way to ensure best practices, public safety and public confidence, Otter said.
The governor, who called himself "a champion of privatization," said it was a tough decision to make in a letter to Robin Sandy, chair of the Idaho Board of Correction.
Considering the "heightened judicial oversight, it is apparent to me that our goal of consistently successful day-to-day operation is better served at this time by the State of Idaho taking a more direct management role at ICC," Otter said in the letter.
Sandy responded that the the board would meet as soon as possible to consider the governor's request, according to the release.
The governor's office said Otter has been meeting with legislators to gauge support for the significant funding and staffing needed to take over prison operations in six months.
The state's $29 million-a-year contract with Corrections Corporation of America expires on July 1, 2014. CCA already had announced it would not bid on another contract to run the prison.
