Decatur County thinks it's getting the CCA private prison

Jeff Findley wrote in the Post-Searchlight on 25 January 2011 about Economic activity picking up:

Engineers with Corrections Corporation of America, the private prison company that signed a memorandum of understanding almost a year ago with the Authority to construct and operate a prison in the industrial park, will be in Bainbridge on Feb. 18 to begin site work preparation.

Officials from Decatur County and the Development Authority with meet with CCA officials and tour the site where the prison will be located.

“They’re anxious to get it going, but very guarded on making any kind of projections about when things might start, but all indications are it would be sooner rather than later,” said McCaskill.

Initial projections have the capital investment by CCA in the neighborhood of $150 million and, when fully staffed, the facility would employ up to 600 people.

Findley wrote that Rick McCaskill is the "executive director of the Development Authority of Bainbridge and Decatur County."

So in Decatur County CCA has gone from an announcement last July to a site visit six months later this January. According to Col. Ricketts at the 15 March 2011 VLCIA board meeting, CCA was coming to do a site visit in Lowndes County two months later on 16 March 2011. And according to Brad Lofton at that same meeting, Lowndes County is CCA's primary site. What's going on here (and there)?

The story continues in later posts.

-jsq