The GEO Group announced today the opening of the 1,500-bed Rio Grande Detention Center (the “Center”) in Laredo, Texas. It will manage the $92.0 million company-owned Center, which will house U.S. Marshals detainees, under a 20-year contract, inclusive of three five-year option periods, with the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee (“OFDT”), according to its press release. GEO expects to complete the intake of detainees by the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, hoping to generate approximately $36.0 million in annualized operating revenues, the company also said.

“The 1,500-bed Rio Grande Detention Center will play an important role in helping meet the increased demand for federal detention bed space along the southern border of the United States,” said George C. Zoley, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of GEO. “We are looking forward to the successful ramp-up of the Center, and we appreciate the confidence placed in our company by the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the community of Laredo, Texas.”