Interest in privatization has resulted from the movements for greater efficiency in government and for less government. Operational privatization involves a substantive shift of operating control of service provision from the public to a private firm and private employees. It is described as a way for the public to receive the benefits of more efficient private management of public service provision, although the relative costs of private and public prisons are not yet known. In contrast, nominal privatization refers to the location of ownership of the physical property and does not affect the operation of the facility. Nevertheless, nominal privatization can have major importance to the issue of accountability in such areas as site selection, construction, and decisions about incurring long-term indebtedness. Further development of privatization will be necessary to clarify whether privatization is an accountable response to public demands for more prison services or an unaccountable avoidance of legitimate scrutiny devices.