Delta Correctional Facility was a

Mississippi Department of Corrections The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) is a state agency of Mississippi that operates prisons. It has its headquarters in Jackson. Burl Cain is the commissioner. History In 1843 a penitentiary in four city squares in central Jackson ...

state prison for men, one of opened in the late 20th century and early 21st century in the state, and operated by for-profit corporations. Located in Greenwood, Leflore County, Mississippi, in the largely rural Mississippi Delta region, it was initially operated by

Corrections Corporation of America CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasle ...

, which changed its name to

CoreCivic CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasle ...

in 2014. The facility opened in 1996, with a capacity of 1172."Corrections Corporation of America Announces Contract to Resume Management of the Delta Correctional Facility and Closure of T. Don Hutto Correctional Center"
press release, 23 March 2004, CCA website, investor relations This facility was closed by the state in 2002, then re-opened in 2004. The facility was closed on January 15, 2012, due to excess capacity in the state.Archive
] Prior to closing, the facility also housed about 125 county prisoners from Leflore County, Mississippi. As a result of the closing, the Mississippi DOC claimed $118 million in cost savings and cost avoidance.

Management incidents

In 2009, Joseph Jackson, serving a life sentence at Delta Correctional Facility, escaped custody while on a supervised visit to an eye doctor. Jackson's cousin, Cortney Logan of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, used a firearm to free Jackson, and the pair fled in a rental car. When stopped approximately northeast in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

by police Sergeant Mark Chesnut, Jackson shot the officer in the abdomen, five times. Chestnut survived and later sued Corrections Corporation of America. The suit was settled for an undisclosed amount. Logan was found guilty as an accomplice in the shooting of Chesnut. Convicted felon Cedric Gordon was mistakenly released from Delta in mid-August 2009; his mother returned him to prison. A gang fight among inmates on July 7, 2011 left six inmates injured and 26-year-old inmate Derek Criddle fatally stabbed. The warden at the time of closing was Raymond Byrd, who then became warden at Wilkinson County Correctional Center, also in Mississippi, until the contract was lost to

Management and Training Corporation Management & Training Corporation or MTC is a contractor that manages private prisons and United States Job Corps centers, based in Centerville, Utah. MTC's core businesses are corrections, education and training, MTC medical, and economic & soci ...

, in July 2013.Raymond Byrd
''

Correctional News In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and ...

'', March 13, 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delta Correctional Facility Prisons in Mississippi Private prisons in the United States Buildings and structures in Leflore County, Mississippi CoreCivic 1996 establishments in Mississippi 2012 disestablishments in Mississippi