APNewsBreak: Former heads of embattled Idaho prison transferred to federal posts in Kan., Nev.

APNewsBreak: Former Idaho prison heads transferred

BOISE, Idaho — A private prison company being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union amid allegations of extreme violence at an Idaho lockup has shuffled Idaho’s ousted warden and assistant warden to top posts at federal prisons in Kansas and Nevada.

Phillip Valdez, the former warden at the 2,104-bed Idaho Correctional Center near Boise, has been named assistant warden at the Leavenworth Detention Center, a prison CCA runs for the U.S. Marshals Service in Leavenworth, Kan.

The company didn’t have any open warden positions, so Valdez opted to take the assistant warden spot at the 1,033-bed Kansas prison rather than leave the company, said Corrections Corporation of America spokesman Steve Owens.

ICC’s former assistant warden, Dan Prado, has been named assistant warden at the new Nevada Southern Detention Center, a 1,072-bed facility currently being built at Pahrump, Nev., for the Office of Federal Detention Trustee, an agency under the U.S. Department of Justice.

Neither Valdez nor Prado could be reached by The Associated Press.

CCA announced that Valdez and Prado would no longer be leading the Idaho prison after the $155 million lawsuit was filed earlier this year.

The ACLU and inmates at the prison are asking for class-action status, contending the prison is so violent that it’s been dubbed “gladiator school” by prisoners and that guards expose inmates to beatings from other prisoners as a management tool. The lawsuit also contends CCA has denied adequate medical care to injured inmates as a way to reduce the appearance of injuries.

Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Daryl Ingermanson in Topeka, Kansas, had not yet learned of Valdez’ appointment when contacted by The Associated Press. But he said the contract between the U.S. Marshals Service and CCA doesn’t give the federal agency any control over who CCA hires to run the Leavenworth Detention Center, as long as that person passes a full background check.

Ingermanson also said the agency has not had any problems with the way CCA runs the Leavenworth lockup.

“It has always been a very professional facility here. We’ve not had any issues that have been unresolved so far — we just have the typical complaints from the inmates, but we’ve gone up and done our own independent investigations and everything we’ve found, other than just some minor stuff, is unfounded,” Ingermanson said. “Any issues I’ve ever had and addressed with them up there, they’ve answered them right away.”

Charles Miller, spokesman with the U.S. Department of Justice, said CCA’s contract with the Office of Federal Detention Trustee also doesn’t allow the government to reject CCA’s employees, as long as they pass FBI background checks.

Idaho’s contract with CCA does allow the Idaho Department of Corrections to call for a new warden and to approve of the people placed in top posts at the Idaho Correctional Center. However, that isn’t what happened when Valdez and Prado were removed from their posts in March, according to a statement from CCA released at the time.

“With the support of the Idaho Department of Correction, CCA has initiated a management change at the Idaho Correctional Center which will result in the assignment of a new warden and assistant warden,” the statement read.

The state has found several problems at the Idaho Correctional Center since the ACLU lawsuit was filed in January. An audit of medical services at the prison that started in February found that CCA had a host of problems administering medical care at the prison, including inadequate records, delays in providing medications and a lack of follow-up when prisoners are returned to the lockup after being hospitalized.

Idaho also began fining CCA more than $2,600 a day in May after learning that 10 of the 13 drug and alcohol counselors at the prison aren’t qualified to provide treatment under CCA’s contract with the state.