2011-07-06 Growth of privatized prisons in the United States

The privatized prison industry is a growing international phenomenon. Prisoners are physically confined or interned by third party companies that typically enter into contractual agreements with local, state, or federal governments. Those government entities then pay a per diem or monthly rate for each prisoner confined in the facility.

Today, the privatization of prisons refers both to the takeover of existing public facilities by private operators and to the building and operation of new and additional prisons by for-profit prison companies. Private companies operate 264 correctional facilities in the Unites States and house almost 99,000 adult offenders.

Companies operating such facilities include the Corrections Corporation of America, the Geo Group, Inc, and Community Education Centers. The GEO Group was formerly known as Wackenhut Securities, and includes the Cornell Companies, which merged with GEO in 2010.

Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) has a capacity of more than 80,000 beds in 65 correctional facilities. The GEO Group operates 61 facilities with a capacity of 49,000 offender beds. Most privately run facilities are located in the southern and western portions of the United States and include both state and federal offenders.

Housing federal detainees typically brings in more per “man-day,” an industry term for what is earned per detainee. Companies also house immigrants for other federal agencies. CCA and GEO Group, for example, contract with the Bureau of Prisons to house foreign-born inmates under a federal “criminal alien” program. Both companies contract extensively with the U.S. Marshals Service, which receives federal funding to hold a growing number of immigrants being prosecuted for illegal re-entry after deportation.