Who Benefits From Keeping Inmates Locked Up?
There’s lots of misinformation floating around inside prison walls, and these “facts” get used to justify observations made by the BOP. Inmates have nothing else to do, and think they know what they’re talking about, then start passing around theories as truth. We’re here to set the record straight when BS starts floating around.
No, federal prison wardens do not get bonuses or higher salaries when their prison population is kept high.
When we’re talking about private prisons, it’s a different story. They do, in fact, make more money by keeping a higher population in their prison system.
The BOP is having a hard enough time getting enough money to make necessary repairs at their existing institutions, such as Fort Dix and Coleman.
But, there is one group who does have a vested interest in keeping a higher headcount in the prison system. The ones pushing back against prison reform are typically those tied to the union.
Every federal prison in the country has a certain number of CEOs or unionized federal employees that they’re supposed to keep based on the inmate headcount.
A good warden couldn’t care less about this because it will never affect his or her pay. What does affect their pay is the prison’s character score, which will be discussed in another article. But, to be clear, no warden is getting bonuses by keeping you locked up.