Half the offenders were released from either the Bay Correctional Facility operated by the Corrections Corporation of America and the Moore Haven Correctional Facility operated by the Wackenhut Corrections Corporation. Measures of recidivism included rearrests, resentencing on new offenses, dates of release and re-entry into the correctional system, and prison re-entry due to violation of a release condition. A global indicator of recidivism in any form was also developed from the other four indicators. Time to failure was also measured in alternative ways. The private prison group had lower rates of recidivism and that those released from private prisons who reoffended committed less serious subsequent offenses than did their public prison counterparts. The two groups were similar in how long it took for rearrest or for the first recidivism event to occur. The analysis concluded that the recidivism results probably reflected substantive differences between public and private operations in Florida. Tables, figures, notes, and 50 references (Author abstract modified)