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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

 

Virginia Jail Suicide Results in $950,000 Settlement, Claims Against Wellpath still Pending

by Chuck Sharman

A $950,000 settlement received approval from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on January 28, 2026, resolving claims against the City of Norfolk by the Estate of Philemon S. Vinson, alleging that his suicide in the city lockup should have been …

Houston Jail Renews $38 Million Contract to Outsource Detainees to Private Lockups

On March 19, 2026, commissioners in Harris County renewed a $38 million contract to send detainees out of Texas to private facilities controlled by companies like CoreCivic. For years, the Harris County Jail has outsourced detainees in order to free up space; the new contract allows the jail to …

$2.75 Million Paid by Washington County and NaphCare for Jail Detainee’s Suicide

by Chuck Sharman

The story repeats with depressing regularity. It begins with a man struggling with drug dependency, acquired from a prescription for pain medication. Depressed, he makes suicidal threats. His frightened partner calls sheriff’s deputies. They take him to the county lockup. There, his family blithely trusts …

Survey of Arkansas Jails Reveals Strained, Costly Health Care System

by Abbey Kim

This article was originally published in Arkansas Advocate.

 

County jails in Arkansas hold some of the state’s most vulnerable people, including many experiencing mental health crises.Hundreds are detained in county jails awaiting psychiatric treatment or evaluation, according to data from the …

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