D. Ray James Correctional Facility at a glance
The Bureau of Prisons contract ended on January 31, 2021 at D. Ray James Correctional Facility, a GEO Group prison in Folkston, Georgia, after the Bureau told GEO in June 2020 that it would not seek new bids for its beds. GEO listed the prison as idle at every year-end from 2021 through 2024, then activated it for ICE in June 2025. It was absent from the Bureau’s institution roster when checked on September 18, 2026, and this page gives no federal mailing, deposit, visiting or telephone details for it.
The records behind each row are named and dated in the caption.
| Official name | D. Ray James Correctional Facility, as GEO names it; the Inspector General’s 2016 report wrote D. Ray James Correctional Institution |
|---|---|
| Status | Bureau contract expired January 31, 2021. Absent from the Bureau’s institution roster, checked September 18, 2026. |
| Operated by | The GEO Group, Inc., which owns it |
| Location | Folkston, Georgia |
| Security level | No Bureau rating appears in the records we read; GEO’s 2020 annual report listed its security level as “All Levels” |
| Held | Adult men, mostly non-citizens, on the Inspector General’s 2016 account of the Bureau’s contract prisons |
| Bureau relationship | Contract prison from October 2010: a four-year base period, three two-year renewals, then a four-month extension to January 31, 2021 |
| Now | Folkston D Ray ICE Processing Center, on ICE’s detention facility list (checked September 18, 2026); activated by GEO for ICE in June 2025 |
| Finding someone | The Bureau’s Inmate Locator for a federal prisoner; ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System for an immigration detainee |
On this page
What happened to D. Ray James?
- 1998 to 2012. GEO’s property schedule gives 1998/1999, 2008/2009 and 2011/2012 as the years the prison was built or renovated.
- October 2010. GEO and the Bureau entered a facility management contract: four years, plus three two-year renewal options. GEO’s report for 2010 records the activation that quarter, with 2,847 beds and three customers: the Bureau, the U.S. Marshals Service and Charlton County.
- June 19, 2020. The Bureau notified GEO that it “will not be resoliciting the 1,900 beds.”
- September 30, 2020. The last renewal ended; a four-month extension followed “as the BOP evaluates its future capacity needs.”
- January 26, 2021. Executive Order 14006 told the Attorney General not to renew private-prison contracts, five days before this one expired.
- January 31, 2021. The contract expired.
- 2021 to 2024. Idle at each year-end, in GEO’s annual reports.
- June 6, 2025. An ICE contract modification took effect, to activate an immigration processing center at the site.
Where are the people who were held at D. Ray James?
Not in Folkston. The Bureau said in December 2022 that “All BOP inmates previously housed in these private prisons have been safely transferred to BOP locations without incident,” but no record we read says where the men from D. Ray James went. The Bureau’s Inmate Locator takes a first and last name together or a register number; see our inmate locator guide and our page on the federal inmate transfer process.
ICE now holds immigration detainees at the site, not federal prisoners; GEO describes its services there as including “the exclusive use of this federal facility by ICE.” ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System searches by A-Number or exact name with a country of birth, and a person who finished a Bureau sentence under an immigration detainer may appear there instead.
What was D. Ray James?
A GEO-owned prison of 1,900 beds, part of the network the Inspector General described in 2016 as confining “primarily low security, criminal alien adult males with 90 months or less remaining to serve on their sentences.” The report names three exceptions, and D. Ray James is not one; our guide to low-security federal prisons explains the level. Earlier versions of this page called it a medium-security federal prison; the records we read give it no Bureau rating. Georgia’s other former contract prison, McRae Correctional Facility, outlasted it by almost two years.
What did the Inspector General find at D. Ray James?
The Inspector General found that “One contract prison, D. Ray James, accounted for 155 of 526 (29 percent) of the assaults on staff in all contract prisons from FY 2011 through 2014, including 114 assaults on staff in FY 2012 alone” (Report 16-06 at p. 19). A Bureau privatization field administrator reported a cure notice in the fall of 2012, and in fiscal 2012 the prison drew 47 notices of concern, more than double any other contract prison’s one-year total (at p. 19 n.38). The same official said the contractor had since made personnel changes and that “its performance had noticeably improved,” and the report records only one assault on staff in fiscal 2014. The report also found that D. Ray James had the highest rate of disruptive behavior incidents among the contract prisons and the second-highest rate of assaults on staff (at p. 15 n.31).
Federal prisons still operating in Georgia
Two, both on the roster checked September 18, 2026: FCI Jesup, medium security, and FCI Atlanta, low, overseen by the Southeast Regional Office. Our Georgia federal prisons page covers each, and our explainer on major federal prison closures follows announced closings. Designation is the Bureau’s decision, not ours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is D. Ray James still a federal prison?
No. GEO’s contract with the Bureau expired on January 31, 2021, and the prison was absent from the Bureau’s roster checked September 18, 2026. Since June 2025 the buildings have served ICE, which lists them as the Folkston D Ray ICE Processing Center.
Why did the Bureau stop using D. Ray James?
The Bureau told GEO on June 19, 2020 that it would not resolicit the prison’s 1,900 beds, and took a four-month extension while it weighed its capacity needs. That came seven months before the January 2021 executive order against renewing private-prison contracts.
Is the Folkston ICE Processing Center the same place?
Not exactly. ICE lists three Folkston facilities: the Folkston ICE Processing Center (Main), its Annex, and the Folkston D Ray ICE Processing Center. The last is the former prison, which GEO reports activating for ICE in June 2025 under its existing Folkston agreement. GEO’s filings list the original processing center as a separate facility, under an ICE contract GEO dates to December 2016.
How do I find someone who was held at D. Ray James before 2021?
Use the Bureau’s Inmate Locator with a first and last name together, or a register number; it names a facility only while no release date is recorded. For a non-citizen released to an immigration detainer, ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System is the next search.
How do I find someone ICE is holding at Folkston?
Search ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System by nine-digit A-Number, or by exact first and last names, with a country of birth either way. It covers people currently in ICE custody and cannot search for anyone under 18. Detainee information comes from ICE, not the Bureau.
Were there problems at D. Ray James as a federal contract prison?
Yes, on the Inspector General’s 2016 figures: 155 of the 526 assaults on staff across all contract prisons from fiscal 2011 to 2014 happened there, 114 of them in fiscal 2012, and the Bureau issued a cure notice that fall. Assaults on staff then fell, to one in fiscal 2014.
Where we can help
If someone moved out of D. Ray James is still serving a federal sentence, we advise on problems inside a federal prison and on compassionate release.
Call 843-620-1100 or contact us to arrange a paid one-hour consultation about a specific situation. Calls are answered 24 hours a day.
Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. is a federal criminal defense and post-conviction firm based in Columbia, South Carolina, practicing nationwide. Mentions of Georgia places on this page do not imply an office or a lawyer there.
Sources and currency
Federal records
- Evaluation and Inspections Report 16-06, DOJ Office of the Inspector General, August 2016, at pp. i, 1 n.8, 15 n.31 and 19 n.38.
- BOP Ends Use of Privately Owned Prisons, Bureau of Prisons, December 1, 2022.
- Executive Order 14006, 86 Fed. Reg. 7483 (Jan. 29, 2021), § 2; revoked by Executive Order 14148, 90 Fed. Reg. 8237, 8238 (Jan. 28, 2025), § 2(q).
- ICE detention facility list, its Folkston D Ray page (updated August 6, 2026), the Online Detainee Locator System and the Bureau institution roster, all checked September 18, 2026.
GEO Group filings
- Forms 10-K for 2010 (filed March 2, 2011) at pp. 6 and 17; 2020 (February 16, 2021) at pp. 5, 12 and 147; 2021 (February 28, 2022) at pp. 14, 33 and 35; 2024 (February 28, 2025) at pp. 12 and 53; and 2025 (February 25, 2026) at pp. 5 and 14.
Sources reviewed September 2026; the ICE and Bureau lists will be rechecked at the next update.
Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026