BY: MORGAN CHILSON
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — A federal judge cleared the way Thursday for CoreCivic to reopen its Leavenworth prison as an immigration detention center, saying he lacks jurisdiction to hear the case.
The city has not yet decided whether it will appeal the decision to the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver.
“We need to confer with our attorneys,” said Scott Peterson, Leavenworth city manager. “We will probably discuss it with the city commission sometime next week.”
Peterson said he didn’t know whether further court action could occur before June 1, when CoreCivic officials had indicated they may begin receiving detainees.
“We may have further negotiations with CoreCivic themselves about this,” Peterson said.
U.S. District Judge Toby Crouse dismissed the case, saying the city failed to establish subject-matter jurisdiction. During a Tuesday hearing, Crouse repeatedly questioned whether he had any basis to act, saying the city had not adequately outlined that issue.
Crouse, appointed to the bench in 2020 by President Donald Trump, highlighted two pending motions before him, including Leavenworth’s request for an injunction that would have stopped CoreCivic from reopening until it could be determined whether the company had to go through the city’s development process. CoreCivic had asked for a dismissal of the case.
Joseph Hatley, attorney for Leavenworth, said in court Tuesday that CoreCivic had agreed not to take detainees until June 1 while the case was decided.
After the hearing, Hatley said in an interview there were concerns that if detainees were housed in the prison before the legal disputes were resolved, the federal government could refuse to move the detainees regardless of the outcome of the case.
“The City asserts that Core Civic should be enjoined from operating its detention facility without the proper permit,” Crouse wrote in his ruling Thursday. “But it has not pled facts to establish that subject-matter jurisdiction exists in federal court to consider that claim. Accordingly, this action is dismissed, and the parties’ motions are denied as moot.”
CoreCivic spokesman Ryan Gustin said the company was pleased with the decision.
“We remain focused on ensuring the Midwest Regional Reception Center is prepared to meet the needs of our federal partner,” he said.
Gustin did not answer questions about whether CoreCivic intended to begin housing ICE detainees in June.
Move forward
Activists who have spoken out against reopening the facility are hopeful the city will appeal.
“We hope the city will explore all of its options as the concerns of the lawsuit since its filing in February — CoreCivic’s disregard for the city’s governance and its rush to fill the facility without accountability — have only grown more urgent,” Esmie Tseng, spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said in an email.
Tseng also said the judge’s decision held hope with regard to whether CoreCivic would have to follow Leavenworth development codes requiring the company to apply for a special use permit.
“It’s also worth noting that in the dismissal, the court agreed that when CoreCivic ceased operation for 12 months, it lost its non-conforming status and that its initial application for the special use permit appeared to be a recognition of this fact,” she said.
CoreCivic was grandfathered into the city’s development codes when it was open and operating as the Leavenworth Detention Facility from 1992 to 2021. The codes were passed in 2012.
City officials, as laid out in the lawsuit, have told CoreCivic it must apply for a special use permit.
‘Great start’
CoreCivic’s reopening of the Leavenworth facility, which closed in 2021 at the end of its federal contract and under numerous accusations of inhuman treatment at the facility, is part of the company’s plan to reopen nine idle facilities.
In its May earnings report, CoreCivic announced total revenue of $488.6 million, with net income of $25.1 million.
“2025 is off to a strong start for CoreCivic. First quarter occupancy in CoreCivic facilities reached 77% of available capacity, an increase from 75.2% in the first quarter of last year,” said CEO Damon T. Hininger in a press release. “Based on cost management and increased bed utilization, particularly from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), we exceeded our internal expectations for the first quarter. Additionally, we have begun to re-activate three previously idle facilities under multiple agreements with ICE.”
In Security and Exchange Commission filings, CoreCivic said it had nine idle facilities, including the Leavenworth facility, renamed the Midwest Regional Reception Center.
“CoreCivic anticipates additional contracting activity as 2025 progresses,” Hininger said. “In addition to the facilities we are currently activating, we are making preparatory investments in many of our other idle facilities so that they will be available quickly, as our partners’ needs require and as their budgets allow.”
Leavenworth contract
CoreCivic SEC filings and a press release said they signed a letter of agreement with ICE at the beginning of March to reopen the Leavenworth facility, which would house 1,033 detainees. As a result, ICE paid CoreCivic $5 million with a maximum of $22.6 million set over a six-month period to cover start-up expenses while the two hash out a long-term contract.
In its quarterly report, filed May 8 with the SEC, CoreCivic noted that Leavenworth filed a lawsuit.
“CoreCivic plans to vigorously defend this matter on the basis that the (special use permit) is not applicable under existing statute,” the filing said. “CoreCivic has agreed with the City of Leavenworth to not accept detainees prior to June 1, 2025 while this matter is deliberated. The Company can provide no assurance that it will obtain a favorable ruling in this matter or that ICE and the Company will ultimately enter into a long-term contract for the utilization of the Company’s Midwest Regional Reception Center.”