Reforming Our Incarceration System To Eliminate the Use of Privately Operated Criminal Detention Facilities

The order directs the Attorney General not to renew any Department of Justice contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities, consistent with applicable law. The order's policy section explains the rationale: the federal government should reduce profit-based incentives to incarcerate, prioritize rehabilitation and reintegration, and ensure safe working and living conditions — areas where the DOJ Inspector General found private facilities underperformed federal ones as of 2016.

The order does not terminate existing contracts immediately; the prohibition applies at the point of renewal, meaning the phase-out occurs as individual contracts expire. It includes standard severability clauses stating it creates no enforceable legal right for any individual party and must be implemented consistent with applicable law and available appropriations.

People currently or future incarcerated in federally contracted private detention facilities, private prison companies holding Department of Justice contracts, DOJ's Bureau of Prisons and other relevant components that manage those contracts, and correctional staff working in the affected facilities.

Private prison companies lose the ability to renew federal contracts, ultimately removing them from federal detention operations. People held in DOJ-contracted private facilities will eventually be transferred to federally operated facilities, where the government asserts safety and rehabilitation standards are higher.

The order operates through contract non-renewal: the Attorney General is prohibited from executing new contract terms when existing private-facility agreements reach their expiration dates. No separate rulemaking is required — the directive is self-executing as a binding instruction to the AG. The phase-out timeline depends entirely on each contract's expiration schedule. The "consistent with applicable law" and "availability of appropriations" caveats preserve Congress's role in funding and any statutory constraints on contract management.