CALIFORNIA CITY PRISON OPENS, CHECKS OPTIONS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

The California City prison is in business, but not with the hundreds of state prisoners its owner had envisioned.

On Wednesday night, 16 inmates from the U.S. Marshal's Office in Los Angeles arrived at the prison. Corrections Corporation of America, the builder and operator of the prison, is housing the inmates as a supplement to Kern County's contract with the Marshal's Office.

``We will fill it incrementally - one cell block at a time,'' said David Myers, the company's president of West Coast operations.

The arrangement allowing for the prisoners to be housed at the California City prison is being done on a month-by-month basis. The contract can go up to $100,000 a month and allow for the housing of 55 to 60 inmates.

CCA has also indicated to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service that the prison could be made available to house its inmates.

The arrangement with the Marshal's Office, however, could be just temporary. CCA submitted a proposal to the federal Bureau of Prisons to provide housing for low-security risk inmates who have less than five years remaining on their sentences.

Prison bureau officials say they are looking for an institution to award a three-year contract with seven one-year options for the housing of at least 1,000 inmates.

CCA believes a contract with the prison bureau will likely require the facility be strictly for its use and won't allow the company to pursue other contracts. CCA officials say they expect to hear from the prison bureau in early 2000.

CCA originally expected to land contracts to house state inmates, but recent legislation and objections from the California correctional officers union have eliminated that possibility.

``There's a lot of work to be done,'' Myers said. ``In my mind it wasn't a matter of if, but a matter of when.''

Completed this summer, the prison now has a staff of about 100 people - workers that were kept on for months even though the prison hadn't had any inmates, Myers said. The prison is eventually expected to provide as many as 400 full-time jobs and generate a payroll of $15 million annually.

The $94 million, 2,304-bed prison is capable of housing inmates from various agencies. CCA does have experience with multiuser facilities, including one CCA prison in Arizona that has contracts with the U.S. marshals, INS and the states of New Mexico and Arizona.