Bed brokers

"bed brokers" work to recruit prisoners from out of state, or within a state, to fill vacant beds in prisons. According to one source, "By the mid-1990s thousands of inmates from across the United States were being transported from overcrowded prison systems to rent-a-cell facilities." In fact, in some jail or prison communities, local county or state prisons can either sustain facility expenses or "grow" into larger, more modern facilities by renting out cell space.

Other Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Prison-industrial complex