The coils of razor wire glint in the prairie sun like silver tumble-weeds, piled against the chain-link perimeter fence around the Two Rivers Detention Facility in Hardin, Mont. Two years ago, the town (pop. 3,600) celebrated the completion of this $27 million state-of-the-art private prison, capable of holding 464 inmates. Convinced that the facility would provide employment for more than 100 people and a steady source of municipal income, Hardin and a neighboring town issued revenue bonds to finance its construction and turned it over to a for-profit prison-management corporation.
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