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Napolitano still wants to 'invest' in Arizona

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PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is pushing legislation that would prevent private prisons from importing murderers, rapists and other dangerous or seriously ill felons into the state.

The law drafted by the Governor's Office and introduced by Republican Sen. Robert Blendu of Litchfield Park would also require private prison companies to share security and inmate information with state officials.

The growing industry is now virtually unregulated by the state.

"It is a matter of public safety," said Dennis Burke, Napolitano's chief of staff. "(Other states) are exporting their worst criminals to Arizona, and we can't even know what they are doing and what steps they are taking to protect Arizonans."

Napolitano's push was spurred in part by the September escape of two convicted killers from Washington state from a private prison in Florence. Brandishing a fake gun and using ladders stolen from a maintenance building, the men climbed onto the roof and over the prison walls, outmaneuvered security patrols and eventually escaped, an investigative report shows.

One was caught within hours. It was nearly a month before the other was captured hundreds of miles away in his home state of Washington.

The bill is opposed by private-prison officials and other industry supporters, who say it could threaten an industry which is the largest employer in Pinal County.

"We were welcomed to the state 15 years ago. We answered the call to help with economic development in Pinal County," said Tony Grande, a senior vice president for Corrections Corp. of America, the largest private-prison firm in the nation.

The firm runs five Arizona prisons, including the one in Florence where the escape took place. He said the company has a good track record and doesn't do business in states with tight restrictions.

"If you change the rules of the game midstream, we are going to resist it because we invested based on the current rules," he said.

The first private prison opened in Arizona in 1994. More than 9,000 felons from Alaska, Hawaii, Washington and other states and the federal government are now housed in six of 11 privately run prisons in Arizona.

Most are in CCA facilities in Pinal County, according to information collected by the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Arizona doesn't restrict the kind of out-of-state inmates allowed here, nor require reports in inmates, staff or security, unlike some other states that allow private facilities.

Of the 15 states that expressly authorize private prisons, Arizona is one of the least restrictive, said Dora Schriro, director of the state prison system.