Can Correctional Industries be Removed as a Vendor?

Correctional Industries’ involvement in WA DOC prisoner mainline meal production began in the mid-90s and has expanded to full dominance in the years since. CI has become so entrenched in the Washington State prison food system—too big to fail, if you will—that many weary stakeholders, advocates, and oversight entities feel it would be impossible to remove CI as a vendor. However, there is legislative precedent for rescinding CI’s monopoly on a given product or operation. Here’s an example from 2012.