Arizona prison to begin accepting inmates

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- A new $127 million prison complex about 15 miles south of Kingman will begin taking inmates this week .

The 2,000-bed Cerbat Unit of the Arizona State Prison complex is operated by Utah-based Management & Training Corporation (MTC), which opened the 1,400-bed Hualapai prison unit in 2004.

MTC houses inmates under a contract with the Arizona Department of Corrections. State agency spokesman Bill Lamoreaux said the inmates who will be transported to MTC's new unit will be from other Arizona prisons.

Darla Elliot, complex administrator for the private prison located off Interstate 40, said new inmate arrivals are expected to continue until mid-June, when the units are expected to be at 97 percent capacity.