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The Private Prison Industry

The private prison industry includes for-profit companies that provide correctional services. Most well-known are companies such as Corrections Corporation of America (CCA, which has rebranded as "CoreCivic"), the GEO Group and Management & Training Corp. (MTC), which own and operate prisons, jails and other detention facilities. CCA and GEO are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

A wide variety of other correctional services are also privatized, and thus monetized -- including prison medical care, mental health care, food services, transportation services, pharmaceutical services, telephone services, money transfer services, commissary/canteen services, video visitation, secure email services and more. Together these companies make up the private prison industry, which directly profits and benefits from incarceration.


 Are you aware of private prison contract violations? 

We are interested in hearing from whistleblowers, including current or former private prison employees, who are aware of contract violations or fraud by private prison firms. For example, contracts may require that private prison operators provide specific services or programs that they are not providing, or specific staffing levels they have failed to meet. If you have documentation about contract violations or fraud at private prisons, please contact us confidentially via our contact page. Note that whistleblowers may be entitled to financial compensation for exposing fraud by government contractors.

 

Recent Articles

 

PLN Publisher Wins Settlement Records from Centurion 
in Florida Prisoner’s Wrongful Death

On June 24, 2025, Florida’s Seventh Judicial Circuit Court for Putnam County ruled that Centurion of Florida, LLC was acting as the functional equivalent of a state agency when it contracted with the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to provide healthcare to prisoners; therefore, it was obligated under the state’s ...

HRDC Wins $480,000 in Legal Fees from Centurion for Denied New Mexico Records

On February 17, 2025, Paul Wright, Executive Director of the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), signed an agreement accepting a $480,000 payment to resolve claims for records made in a suit filed in state court against Centurion of New Mexico LLC, the contracted medical provider to the state Corrections Department ...

Tennessee Legislature Passes Bill to Penalize Private Prisons 
for High Mortality Rates

In April 2025, the Tennessee General Assembly passed SB 1115, legislation that imposes penalties on privately-operated prisons if they have death rates twice as high as the rate at an “equivalent state-operated facility.” The bill was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee (R) on May 9, 2025.

The only ...

Shady Firm Awarded $78 Million Contract for Services 
at Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz”

An obscure consulting firm in Jacksonville, Florida was awarded a $78 million contract in early July 2025 to provide a range of critical services at a hastily built immigrant detention center in the Everglades, dubbed by state officials as “Alligator Alcatraz.” The firm, Critical Response Strategies LLC (CRS), employed staffers ...

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