Correctional Corporation of America Co-founders Tom Beasley, Don Hutto and Doctor Crants getting rich off of the legal taxpaying immigrant

Two Decades of Service to the Public Sector

CCA’s industry benchmarks include many operational and programmatic firsts. We are proud to have pioneered the way for public/private partnerships in corrections.

CCA Incorporated
CCA was incorporated on January 29, 1983, by three businessmen with a progressive vision: the provision of corrections, a traditionally government-administered service by private business. Co-founders Tom Beasley, Don Hutto and Doctor Crants brought a diverse group of skills to apply to their new business venture: public policy and knowledge of the legislative process, public corrections, and financial expertise.

Houston Processing Center (1984)
Houston Processing Center was CCA’s first design, build and manage contract from the U.S. Department of Justice for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service) in Texas. Construction was underway on the Houston Processing Center in Texas when the INS notified CCA that it needed housing for detainees earlier than expected – in January. Co-founders Tom Beasley and Don Hutto went to Houston to find a motel to temporarily house detainees. The owner of the local Olympic Motel agreed to a 90-day lease. After a team of contractors cleaned and secured the facility, an INS inspection team approved the facility for use by 86 detainees, scheduled to arrive at 11:00 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday. Hutto bought toiletries at Wal-Mart with his American Express card, produced photo ID cards and rolled fingerprints, while other corporate officers distributed sandwiches and helped security staff escort detainees to their living quarters. CCA’s Houston Processing Center opened a few months later, in March 1984, and remains in operation for BICE today.

Tall Trees, Memphis, Tennessee (1984)
CCA assumed management of its first facility, Tall Trees, a 63-bed, non-secure juvenile facility, for the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County, in 1984.

Shelby Training Center, Memphis, Tennessee (1986)
CCA’s 200-bed Shelby Training Center in Memphis, Tennessee was the first design, build and manage secure juvenile training school, housing male offenders for the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County.

New Mexico Women’s Correctional Facility (1989)
CCA contracted with the New Mexico Department of Corrections to design, build and manage the New Mexico Women’ s Correctional Facility in Grants. The 204-bed facility was the first women’s prison in the United States to be privately built and operated.

Winn Correctional Center (1990)
CCA’s Winn Correctional Center was the first medium-security private prison in the United States. Located in Winn Parish, Louisiana, the center was designed, financed and built by the state.

Leavenworth Detention Center (1992)
CCA designed and built the 256-bed Leavenworth Detention Center, which the company operates for the U.S. Marshals Service. The center was the first maximum-security private prison under direct contract with a federal agency.

Excellence in Accreditation: New Mexico Women’s Correctional Facility (1991)
CCA’s New Mexico Women’s Correctional Facility became the company’s first facility to achieve a perfect score from the American Correctional Association on its initial ACA audit in 1991. Since that time, six more CCA facilities have achieved this distinction – Lee Adjustment Center, Lake City Correctional Facility, Bent County Correctional Facility, Otter Creek Correctional Center, Gadsden Correctional Facility, and California City Correctional Facility -- and 85% of CCA facilities are ACA accredited.

LifeLine (1993)
CCA’s LifeLine substance abuse treatment program is founded at Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility in Nashville, Tennessee. Since that time, 23 CCA facilities utilize the therapeutic community model, and the program has drawn the interest of officials from the public sector and other countries, including Russia, South Africa and Korea.

Transportation services (1995)
CCA acquires TransCor America, Inc., the nation’s largest long-distance inmate transportation company.

Correctional Treatment Facility (1997)
CCA assumes management of the Correctional Treatment Facility in Washington, D.C., a medium-security facility specializing in substance abuse treatment for adult males and females. CTF represented many firsts for CCA: the first facility in the nation’s capital, the company’s first contract for a purchase and lease-back agreement with local government, and the first partnership between CCA and organized labor unions.

David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center (1999)
CCA opened the 1,714-bed David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the largest county jail ever to become a private jail.

New Leadership, New Organization (2001)
To enhance the company’s service to our customers and support long-term goals, CCA implements a new corporate structure. Highlights of the new structure include a realigned Business Development division with greater coverage for each of CCA’s markets and the creation of a Human Resources department, to enhance internal performance monitoring and establish a formal support network for CCA employees.

CCA Celebrates its 20th Anniversary (2003)
At this point in company history, CCA is the nation’s sixth largest corrections system, with 59 facilities in 20 states and the District of Columbia. The company maintains a security record that compares well to our industry colleagues, with an escape rate more than 10 times lower than public corrections systems. Our commitment to quality performance-driven educational, vocational, substance abuse and re-entry programs for inmates continues to be at the forefront of our efforts.