Editing Baldwin, Michigan (section)

==Private prison==
The [[North Lake Correctional Facility]] is a private, for-profit, maximum security prison that was constructed in the late 1990s in Baldwin by the Wackenhut Corrections Co. (now the [[GEO Group]]). The prison was originally built to house Michigan's youth offenders, but the state withdrew its charges from the facility. The GEO group expanded the prison from 500 to 1,700 beds; by 2005 it was vacant. For a brief time it housed some inmates from California in 2011 but was soon closed again.<ref name="digger"/>

In June 2015, GEO Group contracted for two years with the state of Vermont to house 280 high-security inmates convicted of crimes in the state of Vermont in the North Lake Correctional Facility. It was far from home; many had previously been housed in private prison facilities in Kentucky and Arizona.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vtdigger.org/2015/06/30/vermonts-out-of-state-inmates-arrive-at-michigan-prison/|title=Vermont's out-of-state inmates arrive at Michigan prison|date=June 30, 2015|website=VTDigger}}</ref>

This contract was facilitated by the state legislature enacting a bill to support the private prison, specifically to authorize incarceration of high-security inmates at this facility. Lake Country Republican Rep. [[Jon Bumstead]] had sponsored a bill in the Michigan Legislature to raise the security rating of the North Lake facility to Michigan's highest in order to accomplish this.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(mbghk4cuyracmfgc51ds2ccx))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=2015-HB-4467|title=Michigan Legislature - House Bill 4467 (2015)|website=www.legislature.mi.gov}}</ref> The Michigan Senate voted 23–14 to remove the former restrictive provision, making it legal for the GEO Group to house out-of-state prisoners of all security classifications in Baldwin.<ref name="digger"/>

As Lake County has high poverty and unemployment rates, legislators thought the expanded prison could provide some jobs to local residents. County Commissioner Dan Sloan stated that as many as 150 jobs would result from the transfer of out-of-state prisoners to the facility.<ref name="digger">[http://vtdigger.org/2015/05/29/michigan-adjusts-law-to-accept-vermont-inmates/], ''Vermont Digger,'' May 29, 2015</ref> In December 2016 GEO Group told Vermont that it would not renew its contract with the state in June 2017; some 256 long-term prisoners from Vermont are being held at this prison.<ref>[http://www.vnews.com/vtprisonersto-leave-michigan-for-profit-prison-7150554 Elizabeth Hewitt, "Vt. Prisoners to Leave Private Michigan Prison"], ''Vermont Valley News,'' December 29, 2016; accessed February 24, 2017</ref>

In May 2019, GEO announced that it obtained a contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to house illegal immigrants that were convicted of crimes while illegally in the US. On October 1, 2019, the prison officially started to accept these prisoners.<ref>[https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/05/private-prison-to-reopen-to-house-non-us-citizen-criminals.html Private prison to reopen to house 'non-U.S. citizen criminals', MLive, May 02, 2019]</ref> It was again closed in September 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/news/local/huizenga-moolenaar-seek-to-convert-closing-north-lake-correctional-facility-into-detention-center/article_44bbea9a-5dc5-5369-8625-234c8ceeb979.html|title=Huizenga, Moolenaar seek to convert closing North Lake Correctional Facility into detention center|date=June 15, 2022}}</ref>