Jackson Free Press

"I am extremely proud to have this private facility achieve a perfect score under new management. ... Achieving 100 percent in both categories of standards is very difficult. This validates the professionalism and care that Management & Training Corp. (MTC) has brought to Walnut Grove."

— State Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps, referring to a recent audit of the Walnut Grove Youth Correction Facility.

Why it stinks: To say that Walnut Grove has had some problems in the past would be an understatement. Allegations of physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children were common under the management of GEO Group, and led to a lawsuit and termination of GEO's contract. So if those awful conditions have improved, then kudos to Utah-based MTC, which now runs the youth prison.

But "perfect"? We have no idea what the ACA's methodology was for assessing the prison and assigning it "perfect" scores. And, as it happens, Epps is also president of the ACA though MDOC stressed that Epps is not directly involved with audits.