CoreCivic recently sold four detention facilities to the federal government for a combined $2.2 billion in gross proceeds, the Brentwood-based private prison company disclosed in its second-quarter earnings report released on Aug. 5.
The company sold the California City Detention Facility and the Otay Mesa Detention Center, both in California, to the Department of Homeland Security for $1.5 billion on July 2. It followed with the sale of the Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth, Kan., and the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minn., for $734 million on Aug. 5.
The private prison operator said the combined gross sales price for all four facilities to DHS totaled $2.2 billion, or an average price of $307,000 per bed. CoreCivic will continue to operate the facilities under its existing management contracts, though the terms could change now that ownership has transferred, according to the earnings report.
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CoreCivic expects to net approximately $1.6 billion from the sales after accounting for federal and state income taxes and transaction costs. The company is in "preliminary" discussions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about selling additional detention facilities.
“The sale of these facilities substantially strengthens our balance sheet and provides us significant flexibility with our capital allocation strategy and growth plans,” said CoreCivic CEO and president Patrick Swindle.
The private prison operator recently reported second-quarter revenue of $684.9 million, up 27.3 percent from the mark of a year earlier. The performance exceeded the company’s expectations, Swindle said, and was driven largely by lower operating costs and a slightly higher detainee population from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Net income came in at $37.1 million, or 37 cents per diluted share, down 3.6 percent from the mark of the same quarter in 2025. The company attributed the dip to an $11.6 million one-time tax credit — Employee Retention Credits under the CARES Act — that had boosted 2025 results.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 5.9 percent to $109.4 million.
Swindle said during the earnings call on Aug. 6 that revenue from ICE rose $91.3 million, or 51.6 percent, year over year. Revenue from the U.S. Marshals Service fell $14.1 million over the same period. Swindle said some of the Marshals Service revenue decline is “simply a mix shift where ICE and Marshals share a contract.”
CoreCivic’s population from ICE increased by approximately 6,000 or 59.6 percent from the beginning of 2025 through June 30, 2026, when it housed 16,197 ICE detainees.
Swindle said ICE detainee populations hit a nationwide record high of roughly 70,800 in late January before falling by about 10,500 by early April. He attributed the decline to a federal government shutdown centered on DHS funding, a leadership reorganization at the agency, and the redeployment of ICE agents to TSA checkpoints.
“Consistent with our internal forecasts, populations have begun to rise again, reaching approximately 65,500 in early July,” Swindle said.
CoreCivic CFO David Garfinkle added that, even after the detention facility sales in the second quarter, the private prison operator retains ownership of a "vast real estate portfolio,” including 56 corrections, detention and reentry facilities with a capacity of 63,727 beds across 12.3 million square feet. That includes nine facilities dedicated fully to ICE, with capacity for 10,750 beds across 2.2 million square feet.
“Stated differently, even after these sales, we are not simply a services company,” Garfinkle said. “We remain a significant owner of specialized mission-critical real estate infrastructure that is very difficult to replace, with the operating expertise to manage those assets effectively for federal, state, and local government agencies, providing steady, predictable cash flows.”
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
