200 prisoners to be transferred to Berlin as part of federal private prison phaseout
Facility to receive inmates from Texas as a result of Biden administration decision
The Federal Correctional Institute-Berlin
About 200 federal inmates are being transferred to the federal prison in Berlin as a result of the Biden administration’s decision to phase out the use of private prisons.
The Berlin Sun reported that Aaron Posthumus, executive assistant at the Federal Correctional Institute-Berlin, said the prison is absorbing about 200 inmates who were being held at a private prison in Texas. For security reasons, he said the Bureau of Prisons does not provide specific transfer plans.
Posthumus said the decision to move the inmates to the Berlin was made after the determination was made that “sufficient bed space exists” in the Bureau of Prisons’ own facilities. As a result, he said, the bureau decided not to exercise a contract renewal option for some of these private facilities.”
Posthumus said there are currently a total of 741 inmates at the men’s prison. When it opened in 2012, the capacity of the prison was reported as 1,152 medium-security inmates and 128 minimum-security inmates.
Asked if the prison had sufficient staff to handle the additional inmates, Posthumus said the bureau is actively recruiting correctional officers and has been for several years.
