South Louisiana Correctional Facility, also known as Basile Detention Center, was one of eight prisons included in GEO Group’s February 17, 2015 acquisition of LCS Corrections Services. GEO Group is one of the largest for-profit prison companies operating in the world, and in the United States, it controls a significant portion of privately-held prison beds, particularly for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the detention of unauthorized immigrants.
The purchase of LCS Corrections was expected to immediately add $75 - 80 million in revenue and 6,500 additional beds, according to the company’s own estimates.
However, shortly after the purchase, its occupants were transferred to the Pine Prairie Processing Center about 30 miles away in Pine Prairie, Louisiana - which was also absorbed during the LCS acquisition - and the Basile facility was shuttered.
In response to our Private Prison Feedback Line, one MuckRock user asked us to take a look at what’s going on with Basile’s facility. We’ve filed requests with the town for its previous agreements and payments from the company.
You can follow along with those requests on the request pages. MuckRock is continuing to cover the privatization of the prison system. Know something we should hear about? Let us know via the form below.
Image via PXHere
