Editing Beattyville, Kentucky (section)

==Economy==
The town's economy used to be based on [[coal mining]], but this industry has pulled out of the area.

In the 21st century, major employers in Beattyville and Lee County include:
* Three Forks Regional Jail (multi-county jail serving the east-central area of Kentucky, including [[Powell County, Kentucky|Powell]], [[Wolfe County, Kentucky|Wolfe]], [[Owsley County, Kentucky|Owsley]], and [[Breathitt County|Breathitt]] counties)
* ACS, [[Affiliated Computer Systems]] (data and transaction processing)
* Lee County Public Schools, the largest employer in Beattyville
* Lee County Wood Products (sawmill)
* Kentucky River Community Care (mental health facility serving the east Kentucky region)
* People's Exchange Bank. Previously, the bank had its headquarters and two locations in Beattyville. The bank closed its downtown branch and moved its headquarters to Winchester, keeping one branch open in Beattyville. 
* Experience Works, Inc (non-profit organization and largest national grantee of [[Senior Community Service Employment Program]] (SCSEP) funds from the U.S. Department of Labor)
* Lee County Care and Rehabilitation Center (nursing Facility with a 120-bed capacity)

The Lee Adjustment Center was constructed here and operated by Corrections Corporation of America as a private, for-profit, medium security prison, with a capacity of 800 inmates. The county hoped to provide jobs for local people at the prison. CCA had contracts with the states of Kentucky and [[Vermont]] to house prisoners here. Vermont prisoners rioted in 2004 and were joined by Kentucky prisoners. Kentucky removed its last inmates in 2010, and ended its contract with a CCA in 2013.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100626231945/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9GGH0AG0.htm Brett Barrouquere, "Kentucky pulls inmates out of privately run prison"], ''[[Business Week]]'', June 22, 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2015.</ref> Vermont removed its inmates in 2015. In November 2017, due to overcrowding at state owned facilities, the Kentucky Department of Corrections signed a new contract allowing CCA, now known as [[CoreCivic]], to reactivate the vacant prison. These inmates would be transferred from the Kentucky State Reformatory in [[LaGrange, Kentucky|LaGrange]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 16, 2017|title=Lee County prison to reopen|url=https://www.wymt.com/content/news/Lee-County-prison-to-reopen-458026173.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-07|website=WYMT|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912022050/https://www.wymt.com/content/news/Lee-County-prison-to-reopen-458026173.html |archive-date=2018-09-12 }}</ref> The prison reopened and began accepting inmates in March 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=March 27, 2018|title=Lee Adjustment Center Reactivation Brings Big Opportunity to Kentucky Town|url=https://www.corecivic.com/news/lee-adjustment-center-reactivation-brings-big-opportunity-to-kentucky-town|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-07|website=CoreCivic|language=en-us|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424191533/http://www.corecivic.com:80/news/lee-adjustment-center-reactivation-brings-big-opportunity-to-kentucky-town |archive-date=2018-04-24 }}</ref>