assist in assessing criminal justice needs of the Country. His role was to formulate a long term plan for Iraqi prisons. The initial plan the group presented called for construction of four brand new state of the art prison facilities. In January 2004, McCotter said that his team reviewed the entire Iraqi criminal justice system, supervised reconstruction of the prisons, and trained Iraqi citizens to work in the prisons, including the one at Abu Ghraib, but that prison was empty during their tenure, and they never supervised any military personnel. The initial plan for building four new prisons in Iraq was not funded by Congress. Because of pressing need, a backup plan was instituted to use existing facilities to house Iraqi criminals. McCotter assisted in refurbishing the physical facilities that would later be used to house inmates, again, including Abu Graib. McCotter completed his assessments and oversaw refurbishments then returned to the US. Several months after his return to the US the first post invasion prisoner was housed at Abu Graib by military personnel. In the following months, the national media broke the Abu Graib story, and after intensive investigation McCotter was found to have no role in the management of any prisoners, nor military personnel. There, however, was a much heated debate, including a floor discussion, in the US Senate specifically accusing McCotter of wrongdoing. Notes Ex-head of TDCJ set up Iraq jail Houston Chronicle article Fade Back to the Sixteenth Century: Restraints at the Utah State Prison ACLU Utah article about the death of Michael Valent Department of Justice : Investigation of Findings at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center PDF document DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SENDS 25 ADVISORS TO IRAQ IN SUPPORT OF PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY EFFORT TO RECONSTRUCT CRIMINAL SYSTEM Press release from Department of Justice SCHUMER: PRISON OFFICIAL WITH CHECKERED PAST PUT IN POWER POSITION AT ABU GHRAIB Press release from Charles Schumer, Senator from New York. Management & Training Corporation External links Prisoner Abuse: From Texas To Baghdad: Former Texas Prison Chief Played Key Role at Abu Ghraib Article at The Touchstone Living people Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse American military police officers United States Army officers State cabinet secretaries of New Mexico State cabinet secretaries of Texas State cabinet secretaries of Utah Year of birth missing (living people)