The George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornton, Delaware County, Pennsylvania is one of the largest privately operated county jails in the United States. Unlike most Pennsylvania county jails — which are operated directly by the county government — George W. Hill has been managed under contract by GEO Group, one of the country's two largest private prison corporations, since the facility opened in 1998. In 2021, the Delaware County Council voted to end that private management contract and return the facility to public operation — a decision that triggered a multi-year transition process that faced significant delays and complications.
Why Delaware County Hired GEO Group in the First Place
When Delaware County built George W. Hill in the late 1990s, the county opted for a private management model that was fashionable at the time — the theory being that a private corporation could operate the facility more efficiently and cheaply than a public bureaucracy. GEO Group won the contract and has operated the facility ever since, with the county paying a daily per-diem rate per inmate to GEO Group rather than directly employing the corrections staff.
The arrangement gave GEO Group operational control over day-to-day management — staffing decisions, programming, use of force policies, and vendor relationships — while leaving Delaware County legally responsible for the facility's constitutional compliance. This is the inherent tension in private prison contracting: the government entity retains legal liability for what happens inside, but operational control rests with a corporation whose primary obligation is to its shareholders, not to the county's residents or the detained population.
The 2021 Decision to Go Public
Delaware County Council voted in 2021 to end the GEO Group contract and transition George W. Hill to public management — a decision driven by a combination of factors including documented conditions concerns, advocacy pressure, the county's desire for greater direct accountability over jail management, and political shifts on the Delaware County Council that brought more progressive voices into the majority.
The transition has proved difficult. Taking over the management of a 2,000+ bed correctional facility requires hiring hundreds of corrections officers and administrative staff — at a time when the correctional officer labor market is tight across Pennsylvania and the country. The county has had to navigate the complexities of separating GEO Group's operational infrastructure from the physical facility, establishing county employment and benefits systems, and maintaining continuity of services during the changeover.
What the Transition Means for Incarcerated People and Families
The shift from private to public management — when complete — has practical implications:
- Greater direct accountability: Under public management, the warden and corrections staff are county employees subject to county human resources policies, county civil service rules, and direct oversight by county government. GEO Group, as a private corporation, had its own internal management structures that were less directly accountable to county officials.
- Communication vendors may change: Private prisons often have their own vendor relationships for phone, tablet, and money services. As the county takes over, these vendor contracts may change — confirm current platforms directly with the facility.
- FOI/public records access improves: Under county operation, the facility's records are subject to Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law — making incident reports, staffing data, and other records accessible to journalists, families, and advocates through public records requests. GEO Group's internal management records were not accessible in the same way.
George W. Hill Correctional Facility: 365 Maryland Road, Thornton, PA 19373. Phone: (610) 459-5300. Delaware County government: delcopa.gov.