Rivers Correctional Institution is a privately owned prison in unincorporated

Hertford County, North Carolina Hertford County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 21,552. Its county seat is Winton, North Carolina, Winton. It is classified ...

, operated by

GEO Group The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a publicly traded C corporation headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, that invests in private prisons and mental health facilities in the United States, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The company ...

under contract with the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all List of United States federal prisons, federal prisons ...

since its construction in 2001. The prison, on of land, was specially built to house prisoners from the District of Columbia. It is about from the town of Winton and about from Washington, D.C.Pierre, Robert E. "N.C. Prison Doesn't Serve D.C. Inmates Well, Critics Say." ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. October 14, 2007. p
1

. Retrieved on February 5, 2016. The first inmates were transferred from the

Lorton Reformatory The Lorton Reformatory, also known as the Lorton Correctional Complex, is a former prison complex in Lorton, Virginia, established in 1910 for the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States. The complex began as a prison farm cal ...

of the

District of Columbia Department of Corrections The District of Columbia Department of Corrections (DCDC) is a law enforcement agency responsible for the adult jails and other adult correctional institutions and law enforcement buildings for the District of Columbia, in the United States.http:/ ...

, which closed in 2001. Under the

National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 The National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, also known as the Revitalization Act, was enacted on August 5, 1997, with provisions to reform the criminal justice system in Washington, D.C. The act was spearheaded ...

, offenders of the District of Columbia at Rivers and elsewhere serve time in FBOP custody; they committed no federal crime but instead had committed DC crimes. Most prisoners stay around two years and had been sent to Rivers because they violated parole conditions and/or committed drug offenses. As of 2007 DC inmates made up about 66% of the about 1,400 prisoners. In 2009 the prison housed about 800-900 prisoners sentenced under DC law. In addition, the prison also houses non-U.S. citizens who were convicted of violating federal law. As of 2009 the prison had about 400-500 foreign prisoners,Fornaci, Philip (Director of the DC Prisoners' Project).
Federal Bureau of Prisons Oversight Hearing

Archive
. Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Committee on the Judiciary. July 21, 2009. p. 2. Retrieved on February 5, 2016. and in 2007 about 200 of the prisoners were nationals of Mexico.Pierre, Robert E. "N.C. Prison Doesn't Serve D.C. Inmates Well, Critics Say." ''

''. October 14, 2007. p
3

. Retrieved on February 5, 2016.

Operations

, there is one on-site physician in the prison. No on-site medical service was provided, and the doctor worked fewer than 40 hours per week. Comparably-sized BOP facilities had at least two full-time physicians and weekend on-site medical services.Fornaci, Philip (Director of the DC Prisoners' Project).
Federal Bureau of Prisons Oversight Hearing

Archive
. Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Committee on the Judiciary. July 21, 2009. p. 3. Retrieved on February 5, 2016. Robert E. Pierre of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' wrote in 2007 that due to the lack of job opportunities and drug treatment, Rivers "has become a symbol for what inmates, their families and city leaders say is harsher treatment of D.C. inmates in federal prisons compared with other inmates." In 2009 Philip Fornaci, the director of the DC Prisoners' Project, described the medical care at Rivers as "abysmal". Fornaci recalled receiving complaints shortly after the facility opened in 2002. The Washington Lawyers' Committee, with help from

Covington & Burling Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Known as a white-shoe law firm, it is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. The firm has addition ...

, filed a class action lawsuit ''Collins et al. v. GEO Group et al'', Civ. No. 08-CV-00021-H, ED North Carolina in regards to the medical situation. Both the BOP and GEO blamed each other for the situation, stating that each other agency is responsible. In August 2016, Justice Department officials announced that the FBOP would be phasing out its use of contracted facilities, because private prisons provided less safe and less effective services with no substantial cost savings. The agency had expected to allow current contracts on its thirteen remaining private facilities to expire. However,

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States attorney general from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United Stat ...

criticized the August 2016 decision and reversed it on February 22, 2017. The prison's contract is expected to be renewed as it approaches expiration.

Notable inmates

*Joaquin Valencia-Trujillo - Former leader of the Cali Cartel in Colombia; extradited to the US in 2004; convicted in 2006 of

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

for directing the shipment of more than 100 tons of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

a year into the US over a ten-year period. He is scheduled to be released on 12/06/2037.

References

{{Federal Bureau of Prisons GEO Group Prisons in North Carolina Buildings and structures in Hertford County, North Carolina 2001 establishments in North Carolina