I'm not sure about how the contracts are but some contracts (I've heard of UK ones) it's a cost per prisoner. So if the prison holds 300 prisoners the company i

I'm not sure about how the contracts are but some contracts (I've heard of UK ones) it's a cost per prisoner. So if the prison holds 300 prisoners the company is owed money for 300 prisoners. I've heard of some that are run a prison for a certain amount of time for x amount of money. So depending on what the contract is for a private prison, it could actually be a case of it costs x for a prisoner.