Private prison firm preps for ‘worst case’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The head of a giant private prison company says his firm is prepared for the “worst case scenario” should a Democratic presidential candidate win the 2020 election and attempt to abolish private involvement in the prison sector.

CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger addressed such a potential scenario in the company’s latest earnings conference call last week when asked about the number of top Democratic presidential candidates who favor ending federal private prisons. He said Tennessee-based CoreCivic remains upbeat that the company would continue to earn money in such a scenario and noted the federal government currently does not have the infrastructure to house inmates without relying on private facilities.

“In worst case scenario, knowing half our business is with the states, nothing is going to change,” Hininger later said in a Friday phone interview with The Associated Press, echoing comments he made on the earnings call.

On the call, he said CoreCivic had reported $509 million in earnings for the third quarter.

He said that CoreCivic would still earn money should the federal government ever end its contract, saying his company would be able to sell or lease its real estate if that were to occur.

CoreCivic currently owns an estimated 59 percent of all private-owned prison beds in the U.S. and manages nearly 39 percent of the country’s privately managed prison beds. The company operates 51 correctional and detention facilities, 44 of which they own, with a total capacity of roughly 73,000 beds. This has resulted in the company becoming the largest private owner of real estate used by U.S. government agencies.

“We think that an option could be if there is a big push not only at federal but at state level to eliminate use of the private sector to provide real estate and services,” Hininger said. “That maybe the option that they ask us to consider is to either buy our existing assets or capacity or lease our facilities.”

Top private prison firms across the country have been closely watching the growing backlash from the top Democratic presidential contenders — including former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — who strongly favor ending federal private prisons.