CoreCivic, the second largest private prison company in America, is seeking to reactivate a shuttered facility in Leavenworth as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center. As a private prison CoreCivic had a long and troubled history of mismanagement and unsafe conditions before closing in 2021 with the cancellation of their private prison contract. CoreCivic’s record speaks for itself. In 2017, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson described conditions at its Leavenworth facility as “an absolute hell hole.” A federal audit found that 25% of staff positions were unfilled, leaving inmates unsupervised while guards scrambled to monitor multiple units at once. Weapons and contraband were commonplace. The company’s failures weren’t just administrative — they were violent. William Rogers, a former CoreCivic employee, was stabbed and had his head split open because of short staffing. Another guard was beaten and stabbed so brutally she required 16 surgeries—only for CoreCivic to cut off her health insurance while she was on worker’s comp. She now lives in poverty but still came out to testify of CoreCivic’s negligence and mismanagement, to the Leavenworth City Commission. TOP VIDEOS The video player is currently playing an ad. Even before its closure, CoreCivic engaged in deception according to the U.S. Department of Justice, removing beds to hide overcrowding from inspectors. This is not a company that makes mistakes. It is a company that commits fraud and prioritizes profits over people — and it has no place in Leavenworth. CoreCivic’s CEO Damon Hininger reportedly makes close to $6 million per year, but can’t adequately staff his private prisons and detention facilities. In 2023, the Leavenworth County Commission voted unanimously to halt discussions with CoreCivic to reopen the facility as an ICE detention center. CoreCivic persisted and filed for a special use permit with the city to reopen the facility. Again, public opposition flared and CoreCivic faced with three brutal public hearings, and a City Commission that could reject their bid declared that it could open the facility without a permit by right. The land in question is zoned for industrial, not prison use. Since 2012, detention centers have required a special use permit in that location. That’s the law. But CoreCivic’s new argument? That its empty, nonoperational facility — which hasn’t held a single detainee going on four years — somehow counts as continually in use. Because it kept one staffer around to keep the lights on? That’s the company’s case. And it’s ridiculous. After hours of passionate testimony from opponents to CoreCivic and the lawless nature of our present immigration policy, the Leavenworth City Commission rejected this argument. It passed a resolution declaring CoreCivic needed a special use permit to operate, and that it would use every legal means to protect its right to regulate land use in Leavenworth. The city of Leavenworth has filed a suit in district court to enforce its land use regulations. It has requested a declaratory judgment rescinding the designated special use. It requests a temporary restraining order and an injunction against CoreCivic from housing detainees without obtaining a special use permit. Now is the time to reach out to the Leavenworth City Commission to thank its members for their bold defense of the rule of law, and to encourage them to stand strong in the face of an unaccountable corporation trying to run roughshod over our local community. Whether CoreCivic is allowed to open in clear defiance of the law, massive public disapproval and two unanimous votes by local elected officials will ultimately be determined by the courts. But here’s the bigger picture: This isn’t just CoreCivic. This incident is part of a disturbing national trend — giant corporations deciding that laws don’t apply to them. That they can bully communities into submission. That they can use their size, their money and their lawyers to steamroll local governments, dodge accountability and dare us to stop them. It’s not just about zoning. It’s about who runs our towns — the people who live here, or the billion-dollar companies that think they are above the law. Leavenworth isn’t for sale.
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