RAYMONDVILLE, Texas — Security personnel have regained control of a South Texas prison where inmates had set fires and caused significant damage after taking over part of the facility.
The private contractor that operates the Willacy County Correctional Center for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons says about 300 of the 2,800 inmates were moved Sunday to other federal facilities.
Issa Arnita, spokesman for Management & Training Corp., says a few hundred more will be transferred before the day is out, and that the transfers will continue over the next several days until all inmates are relocated.
Arnita says repairs to the correctional center will then begin. Initial assessments indicate extensive damage to plumbing and heating and cooling systems from the unrest that began early Friday.
He described inmates as "cooperative" with the relocation.