An investigation into whether a Hawai'i inmate had obtained a firearm in a Mississippi prison prompted a lockdown and search of the facility, and led to the firings of five private prison employees, according to Hawai'i prison officials and the Corrections Corporation of America.

No gun was found during the search of the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, but the incident uncovered unspecified prison contraband that triggered state and federal criminal investigations at the prison, according to Hawai'i and CCA prison officials.

Victoria Holly, human resource manager and public information officer for the prison, said the 1,104-bed facility was locked down on Feb. 21, and did not return to normal operations until March 15.

She said the five prison staff members were fired between March 7 and March 13, but declined to say if the workers were corrections officers or employees in other occupations.

Holly declined to say what sort of contraband was turned up in the search of the prison, and did not know which agencies were involved in the criminal investigations.

A spokeswoman for the FBI's office in Jackson, Miss., said the agency will not confirm if it is involved in an ongoing investigation. The Mississippi state attorney general's office did not return a call requesting comment.

Hawai'i inmates at the Red Rock Correctional Facility in Arizona said the problems in Mississippi prompted shakedowns in Arizona as well, but CCA spokeswoman Louise Grant said she believes the Tallahatchie concerns were limited to that prison alone.

"Certainly contraband searches are a very standard and routine part of all of our internal auditing and operational assessments," she said. However, she added, "as you would imagine, if you find contraband in one facility, it just heightens general awareness at an even more extraordinary level, and that may not be just for Hawai'i, but it could be for any of our customers."

Hawai'i has more 2,100 inmates — more than half its prison population — in privately run Mainland prisons because there is no room for them in Hawai'i prisons.

There are 807 male Hawai'i inmates at Tallahatchie; 663 male Hawai'i convicts at the Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, Okla.; 460 male Hawai'i prisoners at Red Rock Correctional Center in Eloy, Ariz.; and 174 Hawai'i women inmates at Otter Creek Correctional Center in Wheelwright, Ky.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.