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Most prisons are operated by government agencies. However, some private companies have seen the potential for profit in owning and operating private prison facilities under contract to local governments.

In the United States, private prisons are given a certain amount of money for each prisoner, usually the same amount it would cost the state to house a prisoner in a state-run facility. This saves the states money because they do not have to build the facility or hire the guards.

The private prison industry is controversial. To provide prison services and make a profit, the private prisons find programs to cut. These include medical programs, training programs for correctional officers, food quality, and so on. Many have argued that the cuts in these programs are inhumane. Some have correlated the rise in prison violence, escapes and prisoner deaths in private prisons to a lack of adequate training for the correctional officers.

One major private prison company is Wackenhut Corrections Corporation. Another is Corrections Corporation of America.

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