to this issue. Inmates don't vote, and the public doesn't
see the inmates. They are out of sight, out of mind."

Ash, who is running for a justice of the peace position and will not
return to the 2013 Legislature, is one of the few Republicans who have
publicly opposed adding private prison beds, saying they waste
taxpayers' money. Other outspoken opponents include the American Civil
Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People and the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group and
watchdog organization.

"For-profit prison corporations are not accountable to Arizona
taxpayers," said Caroline Isaacs, American Friends Service Committee
program director.

She also contends they are not subject to the same transparency,
reporting or oversight requirements as government agencies, and she
believes the for-profit prison industry is getting a contract because it
has exercised its political musclein Arizona by hiring a cadre of
lobbyists and made campaign contributions to influential legislators.

At least one of the companies, Corrections Corporation of America,
employs one of Gov. Jan Brewer's key advisers as a lobbyist, and former
Arizona U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini serves on the company's board.

Who's bidding

Arizona got into the private prison business in 1993, with a facility in Marana in southern Arizona.

Today, about 6,500 Arizona inmates or about 16 percent of the inmate
population are in private prisons. The state houses roughly 33,000
inmates in 10 complexes across Arizona. The overall Corrections budget
is about $1 billion.

Following steady growth in the inmate population, the Department of
Corrections in 2009 sought bids from private prison operators for an
additional 5,000 beds in Arizona.

During the bidding process, three inmates escaped July 30, 2010, from
Management & Training