Private Prison Giant CCA Announces Layoffs At Nashville Headquarters

NASHVILLE, TN — Private-prison giant Corrections Corporation of America will lay off at least 50 people from its Nashville headquarters as the company struggles in the wake of a bruising decision from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Justice Department announced Aug. 18 that the federal government would begin phasing out private-prison contracts and, later, the Department of Homeland Security said it would examine the future of private operators for its detention facilities. Since the DOJ announcement, CCA's stock price has dropped nearly 46 percent.

Tuesday, CCA announced that it will eliminate 50 to 55 positions at its Burton Hills headquarters, representing 12 percent of its corporate staff.

"Recognizing the continuing evolution of our core corrections and detention businesses, and our strategy to grow our reentry and real estate platforms, we conducted a thorough review of our corporate structure to optimize our support of both existing and future operations," said Damon T. Hininger, CCA's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Together with the ongoing initiatives that are diversifying our business model, I am confident this restructuring and cost reduction plan will better position CCA for long-term value creation for our shareholders."

CCA has made a push to operate "re-entry" facilities — "halfway houses" in the common parlance — as the public view of private prisons has worsened.

CCA stock was down more than 7.5 percent Tuesday.

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