After 15 years of managing Alaska prisoners housed out-of-state, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) has lost its contract to Cornell Corrections.

Cornell's will charge the state about $19,446,000 a year to house 900 prisoners, while CCA's plan would have cost $18,724,000 -- $722,000 less a year.

Either way the state will realize savings over the $20,669,000 it now pays through a contract with CCA.

The 770 inmates serving time at CCA's Red Rock Correctional Center in Arizona will be moved late this year to Cornell's Hudson Correctional Facility in Colorado, a 1,250-bed center now under construction. The move -- via special U.S. Marshals Service planes -- is expected to cost Alaska more than $200,000, Alaska Department of Corrections spokesman Richard Schmitz said.

The Department of Corrections denied a protest of the award filed by CCA attorneys, who said they won't launch further appeal.

In the protest, CCA attorneys Charles Cole -- a former Alaska Attorney General -- and Stephen Williams argued that Cornell Corrections of Alaska lacks the basic experience the state requires, and that a preference system for Alaska-based bidders was misused.

Cornell's bid was more costly than CCA's for the three-year term, but a proposal evaluation panel awarded Cornell's plan more points because of the company's status as an Alaska entity.

Points matter as a committee rates the proposals in several categories. According to CCA's protest, the company gained more points than Cornell in five other evaluation categories.

In denying the protest, the state said Cornell Alaska qualifies for two perks as an in-state company -- a bidder's preference and an offeror's preference -- and that Cornell meets experience standards.

CCA's attorneys argue that Cornell's Alaska enterprise manages halfway house centers and lacks experience housing federal prisoners. In its bid, Cornell turned to its parent company, based in Houston, as the qualified service provider. CCA's attorneys took issue with the state awarding Alaska preferences to a business that would turn the contract over to its Texas parent company to manage.

Alaska has contracted with CCA since 1994 to house sentenced prisoners out of state. Currently 770 Alaska inmates are serving time away, but there have been as many as 1200 at a given time.  Most have at least year-long sentences.

Meantime, the $240 million, 1,536-bed Goose Creek Correctional Center is scheduled to open in 2012 at Point MacKenzie. The medium-security men's facility, which is expected to alleviate Alaska's prison space shortage, is being funded through bonds issued by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The state will pay off the bonds by leasing the facility from the borough, and will take ownership once the bill is settled.

Cornell has tried for years to solidify support for a private prison in Alaska, and became wrapped up in a far-reaching probe into political corruption. The company's former lobbyist, Bill Bobrick, pleaded guilty on charges he tried to bribe Rep. Tom Anderson -- who is now serving time in federal prison himself -- to advocate for a private prison. Cornell was not implicated.

Contact Rena Delbridge at rena_alaskadispatch.com.