Officials in Kansas Allow CoreCivic to Reopen Leavenworth Prison
After a yearlong fight by advocates to prevent private prison profiteer CoreCivic from reopening its prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, city commissioners approved a special use permit on March 10, 2026, allowing the company to proceed.
Two people were arrested and multiple people ejected during the hour-long public comment period regarding the decision, which commissioners voted 4 to 1 to approve. CoreCivic, the largest owner of private prisons in the country, operated a maximum-security, federal detention center in Leavenworth that had a capacity of more than 1,000 detainees. That facility was closed in late 2021, after former President Joe Biden (D) issued an executive order that prevented federal agencies from renewing private prison contracts. President Donald Trump (R) reversed Biden’s order shortly after assuming office on January 20, 2025.
As part of Trump’s crackdown on immigrants, CoreCivic received a $60 million contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to reopen the Leavenworth facility in September 2025. The contract was penned as CoreCivic attempted to bypass the city of Leavenworth’s development process by going directly through the court system. During the proceedings, which hinged on whether CoreCivic needed to apply for a permit, the company was placed under an injunction that stopped it from locking up migrant detainees at Leavenworth until a decision had been reached.
Although CoreCivic appealed the injunction in February of this year, the city’s approval of the special use permit rendered the court proceedings largely irrelevant.
Source: Kansas Reflector
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