Old Hall County jail to house illegal immigrants

Wardens uncuffing a group of Latin American detainees before they are sent back to their countries of origin, at the Stewart Co. Detention Center, Nov, 2007. (Dave Bender/file)

The old Hall County Detention Center in Gainesville has been empty for more than a year. But that's about to change.

County officials are leasing it to Corrections Corp. of America (CCA). It will be renamed the North Georgia Detention Center.

CCA spokeswoman Louise Grant expects the firm will be doing construction and renovation work on the jail in January.

The 20-year lease with the private prison firm could bring more than 100 new jobs to the area and bring the county about $2 million in annual revenues.

Federal immigration detainees in blue and orange jumpsuits at the Stewart Co. Detention Center, a facility run by the same firm, Corrections Corporation of America, that will administer the facility in in Hall Co. (Dave Bender/file)

CCA will house federal immigration detainees.

The future of the 489-bed jail has been in doubt since the sheriff's office moved its inmates into a new $52 million jail in November 2007.

(AP)

Information from: The Times, http://www.gainesvilletimes.com