Yo @mhjohnson all of these iterations of private prisons seem to spring from the Wackenhut Corporation out of FL. Big bucks and all the founders were spooks (former fbi swill).
Haven't read the book. Can tell you that the pay was bad for the guards in FL. They are how the contraband moves around the facilities, ya know, for the extra ducats.
Remember reading that if the gummit didn't keep the prisoner count high enough, the contracts called for fines to be paid to the private corporations