GEO Signs 5-Year ICE Contract for Rivers Facility

GEO has signed a five-year ICE contract for the 1,320-bed Rivers Facility in Winton. A county commissioner points to jobs, while staffing, local costs and the county’s role remain under examination.

WINTON, N.C. — The GEO Group has signed a five-year contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to activate the former Rivers Correctional Institution in neighboring Hertford County as a 1,320-bed federal immigration processing center.

The agreement moves the project beyond negotiations and establishes ICE as the exclusive federal user of the privately owned property in Winton.

GEO announced the contract July 29 and said it expects approximately $80 million in annual revenue during the first full year of operations.

That figure represents projected revenue for GEO Group. It is not a projection of money that Hertford County will receive through taxes, payroll, local purchasing or service reimbursements.

Reporting update

Camden Tribune reported July 24 that ICE planned to reopen Rivers as an approximately 1,400-bed detention center, based on internal federal information reported by other news organizations. GEO’s signed-contract announcement now establishes the company’s official operating-capacity figure as 1,320 beds.

GEO said its services will include security, maintenance and food service. The company also said people held at the facility will have access to recreational amenities, medical care and legal counsel.

The company has renamed the property the Winton ICE Processing Center on its public facility directory.

What the Contract Confirms

The announcement resolves several questions that remained open when Camden Tribune first reported the planned reopening:

The agreement has a five-year term.
The identified capacity is 1,320 beds.
ICE will have exclusive use of the facility.
GEO expects approximately $80 million in annual revenue during the first full year.
GEO will provide security, maintenance, and food services.

However, neither the public announcement nor GEO’s facility page discloses several terms that could determine the project’s effect on Hertford County.

The company has not publicly identified:

A specific opening or activation date;
The number of permanent or temporary employees;
Expected salaries and benefits;
The number of positions reserved for local applicants;
The federal payment rate for occupied or available beds;
Any guaranteed minimum occupancy or payment;
The cost of renovations and facility preparation;
Expected purchases from local businesses;
Local tax projections; or
Agreements covering county emergency or public services.

WAVY-TV 10 reported that Rivers is expected to reopen this fall. GEO’s contract announcement did not provide an exact activation date.

Earlier records reviewed during Camden Tribune’s initial reporting indicated GEO could fully activate the facility within 90 days of receiving an award. The company has not publicly confirmed whether that timetable still applies to the signed contract.

Commissioner Points to Need for Higher-Paying Jobs

Hertford County Commissioner Leroy Douglas II told WAVY that he views the potential employment created by the facility as a significant consideration for the rural county.

“Well, I’m sure in our area we definitely need high-paying jobs, and in our area we don’t really have a lot. So, um, it’s growing, and we do have a lot of things in potentially coming, but as for now I think this right here would actually, um, be a positive for the citizens of Hertford County.”

Rivers employed approximately 300 people before its former federal prison operation closed in 2021, according to earlier reporting. GEO has not said whether employment under the new ICE contract will reach, exceed or fall below that level.

The number of jobs alone will not establish the project’s economic value to the county. The final effect will depend on wages, benefits, residency of the employees, local purchasing, tax treatment and any public expenses associated with the operation.

Those details will also determine whether the project produces net economic growth or primarily shifts workers from other regional employers.

North Carolina prison officials previously expressed concern that Rivers could recruit correctional officers or other workers from state prisons that already face staffing shortages. State correctional facilities are major employers in several northeastern North Carolina counties.

Commissioner Says County Had No Say in Contract

Hertford County commissioners have said the county did not control whether GEO and ICE agreed. The property is privately owned, and the newly announced contract is between GEO and a federal agency.

During his WAVY interview, Douglas described an earlier provision that he said would have required county involvement or approval.

“...he put in a stipulation that we actually had to approve it and actually be somewhat tied to it, but once the Trump administration took over, that clause was taken out.”

Douglas did not identify in the broadcast who “he” referred to, the specific solicitation or agreement containing the stipulation, or the exact language of the clause he said was removed.

Camden Tribune has not independently obtained or verified the provision Douglas described. His statement is therefore presented as his account of the contracting process, not as an independently established description of federal procurement law or policy.

GEO’s public announcement does not mention an earlier county-approval requirement, an amended solicitation or the removal of a local-government clause.

Camden Tribune will seek the underlying solicitation, amendments, contract documents and communications needed to determine whether a county-approval condition existed, when it changed and which federal authority made that change.

No Contract Authority Does Mean No Local Responsibility

The county’s lack of authority over the federal contract is separate from whether county departments may have responsibilities once the facility opens.

A 1,320-bed detention operation could require interaction with local or regional services, including:

Emergency medical response;
Fire protection and inspections;
Hospital transportation;
Building, electrical or mechanical inspections;
Water and wastewater service;
Solid-waste disposal;
Emergency management planning;
Law-enforcement assistance;
Road access and traffic management; and
Mutual-aid agreements.

The public contract announcement does not identify which services will be provided entirely by GEO or the federal government and which could involve Hertford County or regional agencies.

It also does not disclose whether GEO or ICE will reimburse local governments for emergency response, transportation or other public costs.

Douglas Does Not Expect Complications for Residents

Douglas told WAVY that he hopes the facility succeeds and does not expect it to bring federal immigration-enforcement activity throughout the county.

“...see positive for, um, job opportunities in our county. I really hope that it will be a successful venture. And like I said, I don’t see any type of complications that would affect our county citizens. It’s just a facility. It’s not like ICE agents be running all around Hertford County doing some of the things they see on TV in Hertford County.”

Douglas’s statement represents his assessment of the likely effect on residents. It is not a guarantee contained in GEO’s public announcement.

The announced agreement concerns the operation of the Winton facility. It does not describe where ICE will conduct arrests, how detainees will be transported, whether federal agents will maintain offices at the property, or how ICE will coordinate with state and local law enforcement.

Camden Tribune has not seen a public operating plan addressing those questions.

Governor Opposes the Facility

Gov. Josh Stein has publicly opposed the project while emphasizing that the state did not own the property or approve the federal agreement.

“The planned ICE detention center in Winton is not state-owned, and I did not approve this transaction,” Stein said.

Stein said he did not want the facility in North Carolina and argued that ICE and Border Patrol had not earned the public’s trust.

The governor’s opposition does not, by itself, give the state authority to cancel a federal contract involving a privately owned property.

A spokesperson for the North Carolina prison system previously told WRAL that the state did not control the decision because Rivers is not a state correctional facility.

Civil-Liberties Group Calls for Transparency

The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina condemned the agreement after GEO announced it and accused ICE of withholding information from residents while negotiations continued.

The organization said residents had observed activity at Rivers and sought information about the property for months before the contract became public.

ACLU-NC previously obtained records through federal litigation showing that Rivers was among the locations proposed for expanded immigration detention. Those records followed an August 2025 Freedom of Information Act request seeking information about available detention facilities in the region.

The organization opposes privately operated immigration detention and has called for the government to release more information about the Winton contract, facility conditions and oversight.

Those statements represent the ACLU’s position. GEO describes its ICE processing centers as secure facilities providing medical care, legal access, recreation and other services under federal detention standards.

Previous Operation Drew Federal Scrutiny

Rivers opened as a privately operated federal prison and held people serving federal criminal sentences under a contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

That operation is different from the immigration detention and processing mission established under the new ICE contract.

The former prison’s safety record was examined in a 2016 review by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.

The inspector general found that privately operated federal prisons recorded more safety and security incidents per capita than comparable federal institutions in most categories examined.

Among the contract prisons studied, Rivers had the highest rates of certain contraband discoveries, positive drug tests and inmate-on-inmate sexual misconduct during the period reviewed. The facility also had the lowest rate of monitored telephone calls, according to the report.

Those findings covered the prior federal prison operation and data from fiscal years 2011 through 2014. They do not establish what conditions will exist under the new ICE contract.

They do, however, provide a documented basis for questions about staffing, oversight, inspections, incident reporting and independent monitoring once the facility reopens.

From Federal Prison to ICE Processing Center

The former Federal Bureau of Prisons contract expired March 31, 2021, and Rivers closed after two decades of operation.

GEO continued to own and maintain the property while it remained idle. Company disclosures identified Rivers as a 1,320-bed facility with a net carrying value of approximately $35.8 million.

Earlier company filings showed the former prison contract generated approximately $43 million in annualized revenue before closing. The new ICE contract is expected to generate approximately $80 million during its first full year, according to GEO.

The two figures reflect different contracts, time periods and operating missions. They should not be interpreted as direct measures of local payroll or county revenue.

Camden Tribune Seeks Public Records

Camden Tribune submitted a public-records request July 24 seeking Hertford County emails, text messages, letters, meeting records, permits, inspections, agreements and other documents connected to GEO, Rivers and the proposed ICE operation.

The request covers records dating to Jan. 1, 2025, and asks the county to search records maintained by commissioners, county administration, planning and inspections, emergency services, the sheriff’s office and other potentially involved departments.

The newspaper is seeking records that may establish:

When county officials first learned the contract was moving forward;
Whether GEO, ICE or another federal agency contacted the county;
Whether building permits or inspections have been requested;
Whether county departments participated in activation planning;
Whether emergency-response agreements have been discussed;
Whether GEO or ICE will reimburse county expenses;
Whether economic-development incentives were requested;
Whether local hiring commitments were proposed; and
Whether the county-approval provision described by Douglas existed.

Minutes from the Hertford County Board of Commissioners’ Feb. 16 meeting state that commissioners told residents the board was not responsible for GEO or Rivers and had not been contacted by facility officials.

The signed contract creates a new question: what communication, if any, occurred between the February meeting and GEO’s July 29 announcement?

Questions That Remain

The contract is official, but the local impact cannot yet be calculated from the information GEO has released.

Among the remaining questions:

When will the first detainees arrive?
How many employees will GEO hire?
How many jobs will be available to residents?
What will the positions pay?
Will employees be recruited from state prisons or other regional employers?
Will Hertford County collect additional property or business taxes?
Which agency will provide ambulance and hospital transportation?
Will local law enforcement have any operational responsibility?
Who will inspect the property before activation?
Will GEO or ICE reimburse county departments?
What federal detention standards will govern the facility?
What independent inspection reports will be available to the public?
Did a previous contract provision require county approval?

What Happens Next

WAVY and other news organizations have reported that the center is expected to begin operating this fall or before the end of 2026. GEO has not announced a precise date.

Hiring notices, permit applications, inspections, vendor solicitations and increased activity at the property may provide additional information about the activation schedule.

Camden Tribune will continue seeking the complete federal contract, solicitation documents, amendments, staffing projections, opening schedule, inspection records and service agreements.

The newspaper will also seek responses from GEO, ICE and Hertford County officials about Commissioner Douglas’s description of a removed county-approval provision.

This is a developing story. Camden Tribune will update this report when responsive public records, contract documents or additional official statements become available.

Have information or documents concerning the Rivers Facility? Contact Camden Tribune at [email protected].