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NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JANUARY 2015
County jails and privatization: the battle continues
This week, the Appellate Division issued a major
decision regarding the privatization of the Essex
County jail, and effectively all other jails in the State.
In PBA Local 382, et als. v. County of Essex, the NJ
State PBA and Essex County PBA 382 jointly filed
suit to end the 20-year practice of Essex County
sending its inmates to Delaney Hall and Logan Hall,
which are operated by the for-profit Community
Education Center. A trial court judge had previously
ruled that the county has the authority to send its
inmates to privately operated jails, on the theory
that counties have the authority to do so unless
specifically prohibited by statute. We appealed, and
the Appellate Division reversed the trial court’s decision.
The Appellate Division agreed with us that the trial judge got it
wrong. Contrary to the trial court’s analysis, in the absence of a
statute specifically authorizing the privatization of jails, such a
practice is prohibited. As the Appellate Division stated:
Plaintiffs make a strong argument that the confining of
inmates, and the concomitant responsibility fo