DHS Buys Two More CoreCivic Prisons for $734 Million — and CoreCivic Keeps Running Both of Them

CoreCivic announced on Aug. 5, 2026 that it had completed the sale of its 1,600-bed Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minnesota and its 1,033-bed Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth, Kansas to the United States, through the Department of Homeland Security, for an aggregate gross price of $734.0 million — $495.6 million for Prairie and $238.4 million for Leavenworth. The company said it expects net proceeds of roughly $522.5 million after about $182.2 million in federal and state income taxes and transaction costs, and that it expects to keep operating both sites under existing ICE management contracts. It also disclosed preliminary discussions with ICE about selling additional facilities.

The purchases move detention capacity onto the federal balance sheet while leaving day-to-day operations with the same contractor, shifting who bears the cost if detention levels later fall.

The sales follow the department's purchase last month of two California detention centers from CoreCivic. The management contracts for Prairie and the Midwest Regional Reception Center expire in August 2031 and September 2027, respectively.