GEO Group
Encyclopedia
The GEO Group, Inc. is a company headquartered in One Park Place, Boca Raton, Florida
. GEO is a multi-national provider of governmental services specializing in the management of correctional, detention
and mental health and residential treatment in North America, Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. GEO operates a broad range of correctional and detention facilities including maximum, medium and minimum security prisons, for-profit prisons known as immigration detention centers, minimum security detention centers and mental health and residential treatment facilities.
Corrections Corporation and in 2003 GEO's Board of Directors approved a name change to The GEO Group, Inc. As of the fiscal year ended December 28, 2008, GEO managed 59 facilities totaling approximately 53,400 beds worldwide and had an additional 3,586 beds under development at seven facilities, including an expansion and renovation of one vacant facility which it owns and the expansion of six facilities which it currently operates, of which it owns three. Excluding its 200-bed Oak Creek Confinement Center, which is a facility held for sale at December 28, 2008, GEO maintained an average companywide facility occupancy rate of 96.6%.
The GEO Group owns and operates the Northwest Detention Center
in Tacoma, Washington, under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
, the largest and primary investigative wing of the United States Department of Homeland Security
. GEO Group also holds a large number of shares of the Correctional Services Corporation
.
On August 12, 2010, Cornell Companies
and GEO merged.
A full scale prisoner uprising occurred in 2007 at the Geo Group-operated New Castle Correctional Facility
in Indiana. The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel reported that "Authorities were investigating whether the six-hour fracas that involved about 500 offenders started Tuesday afternoon because some of the newly arrived prisoners from Arizona were upset about their treatment at the medium-security men’s prison."
In 2008, Sandy Morgan, a schizophrenic woman who suffered from a thyroid condition died at the jail where she had been held for six weeks. Family members said she did not receive her medication during her incarceration.
On April 25, 2008, Kenneth Keith Kallenbach died from cystic fibrosis, an inherited chronic disease after being denied his medication. He had been housed at the jail since mid-March. Kallenbach's mother, Fay, said her son called her a week before his death, asking her to intervene and help him receive better treatment.
An inmate in 2008 claimed he was denied access to dental care for a cavity, and as a result it festered into an ulcer that burst open requiring three surgeries.
In November 2010 plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit against the agencies that operate and own the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility
, saying that the prison authorities allowed abuses and negligence to occur at the facility. The lawsuit states that prison guards engaged in sexual intercourse with the prisoners and smuggled illegal drugs into the facilities, and that prison authorities denied education and medical care. As of that month the prison has about 1,200 prisoners ages 13-22; the lawsuit says that half of the prisoners are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses. Weeks prior to the filing of the lawsuit, United States Department of Justice
officials informed Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour
that the department had started an investigation concerning the prison.
Boca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA, incorporated in May 1925. In the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,764; the 2006 population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 86,396. However, the majority of the people under the postal address of Boca Raton, about...
. GEO is a multi-national provider of governmental services specializing in the management of correctional, detention
Detention (imprisonment)
Detention is the process when a state, government or citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom of liberty at that time. This can be due to criminal charges being raised against the individual as part of a prosecution or to protect a person or property...
and mental health and residential treatment in North America, Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. GEO operates a broad range of correctional and detention facilities including maximum, medium and minimum security prisons, for-profit prisons known as immigration detention centers, minimum security detention centers and mental health and residential treatment facilities.
History
In 1988, GEO was incorporated as WackenhutWackenhut
G4S Secure Solutions is a private security company. It was founded as The Wackenhut Corporation in 1954, in Coral Gables, Florida, by George Wackenhut and three partners ....
Corrections Corporation and in 2003 GEO's Board of Directors approved a name change to The GEO Group, Inc. As of the fiscal year ended December 28, 2008, GEO managed 59 facilities totaling approximately 53,400 beds worldwide and had an additional 3,586 beds under development at seven facilities, including an expansion and renovation of one vacant facility which it owns and the expansion of six facilities which it currently operates, of which it owns three. Excluding its 200-bed Oak Creek Confinement Center, which is a facility held for sale at December 28, 2008, GEO maintained an average companywide facility occupancy rate of 96.6%.
The GEO Group owns and operates the Northwest Detention Center
Northwest Detention Center
Northwest Detention Center is a private immigration prison located on the tide flats of the Port of Tacoma in Tacoma, Washington, USA. The prison is operated by the GEO Group on behalf of the U.S...
in Tacoma, Washington, under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security , responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security...
, the largest and primary investigative wing of the United States Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
. GEO Group also holds a large number of shares of the Correctional Services Corporation
Correctional Services Corporation
Correctional Services Corporation , originally Esmor Correctional Corporation, was founded by James F. Slattery in 1987. It is located in Sarasota, Florida, USA, and traded on the NASDAQ...
.
On August 12, 2010, Cornell Companies
Cornell Companies
Cornell Companies was an American corporation that operates correctional facilities, contracting them to state and local governments. The company's headquarters are located in Houston, Texas...
and GEO merged.
Business segments
GEO conducts its business through four business segments: U.S. corrections segment; International services segment; GEO Care segment; and Facility construction and design segment. The U.S. corrections segment primarily encompasses GEO's U.S.-based privatized corrections and detention business. The International services segment primarily consists of GEO's privatized corrections and detention operations in South Africa, Australia and the United Kingdom. International services reviews opportunities to further diversify into related foreign-based governmental-outsourced services on an ongoing basis. The GEO Care segment, which is operated by GEO's wholly owned subsidiary GEO Care, Inc., comprises GEO's privatized mental health and residential treatment services business, all of which is currently conducted in the U.S. GEO's Facility construction and design segment primarily consists of contracts with various state, local and federal agencies for the design and construction of facilities for which GEO has been awarded management contracts.Controversy
Between 2005 and 2009, at least eight people have died at the Geo Group-operated George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the state's only privately run jail. Several of those deaths resulted in lawsuits by family members who say the facility did not provide adequate medical care or proper supervision for offenders. In January 2009, Geo pulled out of operations at this facility, "citing underperformance and frequent litigations" as the reasons.A full scale prisoner uprising occurred in 2007 at the Geo Group-operated New Castle Correctional Facility
New Castle Correctional Facility
New Castle Correctional Facility is a 2,416-bed privately-run prison located in New Castle, Indiana. It opened in 2002. In September 2005, the state signed a four-year contract with the for-profit GEO Group, Inc. of Boca Raton, Florida, to run the prison; this the only prison in the state with...
in Indiana. The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel reported that "Authorities were investigating whether the six-hour fracas that involved about 500 offenders started Tuesday afternoon because some of the newly arrived prisoners from Arizona were upset about their treatment at the medium-security men’s prison."
In 2008, Sandy Morgan, a schizophrenic woman who suffered from a thyroid condition died at the jail where she had been held for six weeks. Family members said she did not receive her medication during her incarceration.
On April 25, 2008, Kenneth Keith Kallenbach died from cystic fibrosis, an inherited chronic disease after being denied his medication. He had been housed at the jail since mid-March. Kallenbach's mother, Fay, said her son called her a week before his death, asking her to intervene and help him receive better treatment.
An inmate in 2008 claimed he was denied access to dental care for a cavity, and as a result it festered into an ulcer that burst open requiring three surgeries.
In November 2010 plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit against the agencies that operate and own the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility
Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility
Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility is a private prison for men operated by GEO Group on behalf of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, located in Walnut Grove, Mississippi. The prison houses juvenile prisoners who had been convicted of felonies and sentenced as adults...
, saying that the prison authorities allowed abuses and negligence to occur at the facility. The lawsuit states that prison guards engaged in sexual intercourse with the prisoners and smuggled illegal drugs into the facilities, and that prison authorities denied education and medical care. As of that month the prison has about 1,200 prisoners ages 13-22; the lawsuit says that half of the prisoners are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses. Weeks prior to the filing of the lawsuit, United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
officials informed Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour
Haley Barbour
Haley Reeves Barbour is an American Republican politician currently serving as the 63rd Governor of Mississippi. He gained a national spotlight in August 2005 after Mississippi was hit by Hurricane Katrina. Barbour won re-election as Governor in 2007...
that the department had started an investigation concerning the prison.