The government authority would judge between competing franchising applications according to certain criteria. The length of the franchises would be fixed and open to new competition at the end of each period. The government authority's ultimate sanction would be the nonrenewal or premature withdrawal of an operator's franchise. The objective of the prison contractors, as franchised by government, would be to minimize the probability that offenders will reoffend during the specified period. There would be a tradeoff between the provision of secure prisons and the stream of costs to which they give rise, as against the societal benefits of secure incarceration. The prison contractor might also enter into a contract with an offender, such that reoffending would be a contract violation making the offender subject to civil damages. Such a system holds the potential for increasing prison efficiency and also the effectiveness of incarceration in reducing recidivism. 31 references.