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Posted: Monday, November 5th, 2007 5:37 AM HST

Senator: Arizona prisons are progressing

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) _ A Hawaii senator says he's pleased with two privately run Arizona prisons that house island inmates. The prisons have been criticized for an accidental release of seven inmates in August and complaints by former employees who say the facilities are mismanaged. Senator Will Espero says the prisons run by Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America are moving in the right direction. He is the chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee. He inspected the prisons with two other senators and a Public Safety Department deputy director on Friday and Saturday. Plumbing and college courses still haven't started at the prisons, and officials want video conferencing to become available so inmates can keep in touch with their families at home. Hawaii holds almost half of its prison population out of state because it lacks enough prison space in the islands to detain them here. (Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved)