Okay, this is the part that makes the least sense to me, and I don't think it has ever been fully addressed: How the hell does a private corporation "get" prisoners???

I mean, what the hell? The state has a monopoly on incarceration, as far as I know. Taking away people's freedom is not something that can be fully privatized within constitutional limits (I mean, prison operations can be run by subcontractors, but they don't "get" the prisoners). And it makes no difference whether you're talking about citizens or undocumented immigrants -- they get at least *some* due process of law and are not subject to arbitrary kidnapping and imprisonment by a for-profit enterprise.

If we're talking about federal, state, or local governments transferring prisoners to the site and paying for that service, then it makes sense -- but it also means APPF isn't offering Hardin anything "special" in that regard.

I can't stop looking for that parent company. Worth checking into:

Managment and Training Corporation, Utah

Office in Youth Corps building at:
2830 North Ramshorn Dr
Mt. Laurel MT 59044
406-628-7850

They are the largest contractor for the Department of Labor. Specialty: Training and employment, but they got into the prison business in the 1980's. It LOOKS as though the MTC (has?) had a contract to run the Southwest Detention Center (Riverside County CA), which I THINK was on the list of early private detention centerss(sorry I don't have my notes with me right now). Having a really hard time figuring out when the Southwest Detention Center was established, but it was one of the original illegal immigration facilities.

How I found them: That would make this comment too long, BUT! Suffice it to say I looked up the original owners of privatepoliceforce.com (now defunct, but the registration showed some Oct 1 2009 activity, don't know if it's meaningful), saw the county they were from (Riverside) and through some windy road ended up with MTC.

Why MTC is an interesting candidate: One of their top executives, Lane McCotter., Lt. Col (Ret), Military Police, ran Leavenworth and a few state prison systems, and was appointed by Ashcroft to design a prison system in Iraq (aka Abu Graib). His involvement might be controversial enough to make the TRA keep mum about the parent company.

MTC doesn't have any Homeland Security contracts directly, (that I can tell, at least) but indirectly though partnerships with other entities.

I'll check this particular rabbit hole later this evening. I'll let you know if it's empty.

From that Gazette article:

... a banquet for several hundred members of the Montana Association of Student Councils, meeting for their state convention in Hardin on Oct. 19-21, is still scheduled in the empty jail on Oct. 20.

Hmmmm.... this joint is never going to operate as a jail.

But a convention center, hmmmm. Maybe operate a boutique theme hotel - "Jailhouse Rock". Looks like Hardin's students have a ready-made theme for the prom.

Are those kids attending the banquet going to spend the night in the pokey too?

Sep.20, betting on mystery company, BG, Becky Shay
> Shay says, in effect, APF will be the Hardin PD
> City Council to meet [Sep24].
"That hearing... ...is to gauge public opinion on the city breaking from the county for law enforcement services. The city and county have been at odds for years about the law enforcement presence provided by the Sheriff's Office."
> Hilton says if Hardin creates PD then APF will "provide" chief of police, police cars, "training center" officers "to support the city", and "Hilton said that during a trip to Hardin... ...he was shocked to see people selling and using drugs, so he wants to have two narcotics agents in Hardin".
http://www.billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_babd814e-a591-11de-8891-001cc4c002e0.html

October 8, 2009 7:55 PM

We broke the story on Hilton as a fraud on the 10th, four weeks ago.

We broke the story on his criminal record and regular losses as a defendant in fraud, breach of contract and eviction proceedings, and bogus bankruptcy filings on the 25th, two weeks ago tomorrow.

The media has followed in our path.

We have seen nothing to date to convince us that he was anything but a one-man sting operation, with a few extras in the cast as needed. Becky Shay passed her screen test by failing her intelligence test.

I wonder if he had someone call posing as an "investor?" He had the lawyer whom he gulled in Santa Ana meet with dullards from Hardin and introduced him as a "Major," in the "APF." He had a "Sgt. Martin" with him as well, in Orange county as well as Hardin. He tosses out "commissions" like cheap beads at Mardi Gras, including creating himself as a "Captain."

So was this mysterious "investor" "Hilton's" two-bit thespian doing "Daddy Warbucks," playing his role to the wretched and hopeless officials in Hardin, or just some prankster adding fuel to the fire?

For-profit prison get their prisoners from states and municipalities, and from Federal agencies. They have been frequently convicted of corruption, as it is a pervasively corrupt enterprise. Dozens of executives, legislators, lobbyists and other elected and appointed officials languish in jails and prisons.

Selling these prisons as "economic development" to desperate cities with naive or corrupt officials' cooperation is where the real fraud is at. "Hilton" is but a sideshow.

More material than anyplace in the world on this sordid industry can be found at: www.privateci.org

Sep.24, BG -Becky Shay
> They are trying to say Hilton is/was not the owner? Becky Shay said he was.
"As part of the offer, APF owner Michael Hilton said he'd help launch the police force by helping with hiring and providing the first vehicles."
http://www.billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_9215c76a-a98d-11de-8127-001cc4c03286.html