CLEARFIELD – Speculation has recently surrounded the future of the former Moshannon Valley Correctional Center in Decatur Township, Clearfield County.
On Aug. 6, The Progress reported the GEO Group planned to reopen the facility as a contracted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center.
The article cited a “press release” issued by the GEO Group, which operates the facility. It closed March 31 after the Federal Bureau of Prisons chose not to renew its contract.
However, the GEO Group responded to GANT News correspondence Aug. 18, denying there had been any official announcement or press release on the future of the facility.
The former MVCC housed 1,878 beds and employed over 250 people before its closure, according to previously-published GANT News reports.
On Tuesday, the Clearfield County Commissioners were forced to table action on a pair of agenda items concerning the future of the facility until their next meeting Sept. 28.
The first was an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the county to operate a federal immigration detention center.
The second was a global agreement with GEO Group to reopen the former private prison facility and operate it as a federal immigration center.
“We were told [contracts] would be ready for consideration …,” commented Commissioner Dave Glass following the meeting, “but late [Monday], it came to light they would not be.
“Entities outside the county are not ready.” Glass said the ICE center hadn’t opened so far as his knowledge and he called The Progress news article “misleading.”