A Leavenworth County District Court judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a private prison company from housing immigrant detainees at its dormant facility in Leavenworth, Kansas, handing a temporary victory to immigrant rights advocates and city officials defending their local authority.
The decision is a setback for CoreCivic, a massive private prison company that plans to hold over 1,000 detainees at the complex for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Wednesday’s ruling marks a pivotal twist in an ongoing legal battle that could prevent a troubled former prison in northeast Kansas from bolstering President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda in the region.
Two weeks ago, a federal judge denied a similar request by the city of Leavenworth on procedural grounds. But the city’s attorneys quickly filed a similar complaint in state court before Leavenworth County District Judge John Bryant, who Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly appointed in 2021.
Bryant said the city had made a convincing argument that CoreCivic could not skip the permitting process without violating local rules.
“The city has to have the ability to regulate itself,” he said.
Lawyers for the city of Leavenworth have argued that CoreCivic needs to apply for a special use permit before it can operate its facility as an immigrant detention center.
That’s a two-month process that involves public hearings for community stakeholders to give input before the city commission.
Outside the Leavenworth County District courthouse in Kansas’ famous prison town, David Waters, an attorney for the city, said he felt gratified by the court’s decision.
“I’m looking forward to the public process, and giving the opportunity for the community to speak about such an important matter,” he said.
CoreCivic submitted an application for a special use permit in February — then withdrew it less than a month later.
Following Wednesday’s decision, CoreCivic spokesperson Steve Owen doubled down on the company’s claim that a special use permit is not necessary under local development regulations.
"We are reviewing the court's decision and considering next steps,” he said. "We maintain the position that our facility, which we've operated for almost 30 years, does not require a Special Use Permit to care for detainees in partnership with ICE.”
CoreCivic opened the former Leavenworth Detention Center in 1992. The private prison held federal inmates awaiting trial until 2021, when then-President Joe Biden issued an executive order that caused many private corrections contracts with the federal government to expire.
By that time, reports of mismanagement and abuse had been percolating out of the slate-gray walls for years.
Former staff and inmates said they saw preventable drug use, injury and death on a regular basis — problems exacerbated by chronic understaffing, according to a 2017 audit by the U.S. Department of Justice.
CoreCivic spokesperson Ryan Gustin said in a previous email to the Kansas News Service that most issues with safety and staffing were concentrated during an 18-month period coinciding with the pandemic.
The company’s lead attorney in this case, Taylor Concannon Hausmann, said any past harms related to the facility’s operations should not be used as evidence that launching the newly-named Midwest Regional Reception Center would pose the same challenges.
“The city’s identified harm is purely speculative,” she told Judge Bryant.
Meanwhile, Hausmann said, CoreCivic has promised to pay a one-time impact fee to the city of $1 million, about the same amount in annual property taxes and smaller yearly impact fees.
Community groups from across Kansas have spoken out against CoreCivic and the proposed reopening of the facility. Religious leaders from the Kansas Interfaith Alliance, a statewide advocacy group, held prayers outside a federal courthouse before a hearing in May.
Rick Hammett, a paraprofessional at a Leavenworth elementary school, has been a constant presence at legal proceedings and events organized to oppose CoreCivic. He said today’s decision provides a moment of relief to those who object to opening what he calls a “concentration camp” in his city.
“It's not a complete unqualified victory. There's still a large court case coming,” he said. “But it is a win.”
Regardless of the facility’s history and the political controversy surrounding the case, Leavenworth City Manager Scott Peterson said his core concern was about safeguarding local government authority.
“This is not about immigration. This is not about private prisons. This is about land use,” he said.
Zane Irwin reports on politics, campaigns and elections for the Kansas News Service. You can email him at zaneirwin@kcur.org.
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