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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

Commission File Number 1-14472

CORNELL COMPANIES, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:    (713) 623-0790

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:  None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.   Yes  o  No x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.   Yes  o  No x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.   Yes  x  Noo

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).   Yes  o  No  o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. x.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Check one.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).   Yes  o  No  x

The aggregate market value of voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $191,785,600 on June 30, 2009. The registrant has 14,971,194 shares of common stock outstanding on February 19, 2010.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

The information required by Part III of this Report, to the extent not set forth herein, is incorporated by reference from the registrant’s definitive proxy statement relating to its Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held in 2010, which definitive proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this Report relates.

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Cornell Companies, Inc.

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2009 Form 10-K

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Forward-Looking Information

The statements included in this annual report regarding future financial performance and results of operations and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Forward-looking statements in this annual report include, but are not limited to, statements about the following subjects:

·                  revenues,

·                  revenue mix,

·                  expenses, including personnel and medical costs,

·                  results of operations,

·                  operating margins,

·                  supply and demand,

·                  market outlook in our various markets,

·                  our other expectations with regard to market outlook,

·                  utilization,

·                  parolee, detainee, inmate and youth offender trends,

·                  pricing and per diem rates,

·                  contract commencements,

·                  new contract opportunities,

·                  operations at, future contracts for, and results from our Regional Correctional Center,

·                  the timing (including ramp of facility population) and other aspects of our planned customer transition at our D. Ray James Prison,

·                  adequacy of insurance,

·                  debt levels,

·                  debt reduction,

·                  common stock repurchases,

·                  the effect of income tax positions and related assets and liabilities,

·                  our effective tax rate,

·                  tax assessments,

·                  results and effects of legal proceedings and governmental audits and assessments,

·                  liquidity, including future liquidity and our ability to obtain financing,

·                  financial markets,

·                  cash flow from operations,

·                  adequacy of cash flow for our obligations,

·                  capital requirements,

·                  capital expenditures,

·                  effects of accounting changes and adoption of accounting policies,

·                  changes in laws and regulations,

·                  adoption of accounting policies,

·                  benefit payments, and

·                  changes in laws and regulations.

Forward-looking statements in this annual report are identifiable by use of the following words and other similar expressions among others:

·               “anticipates”

·               “believes”

·               “budgets”

·               “could”

·               “estimates”

·               “expects”

·               “forecasts”

·               “intends”

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·               “may”

·               “might”

·               “plans”

·               “predicts”

·               “projects”

·               “scheduled”

·               “should”

Such statements are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, but not limited to:

·                  those described under “Item 1A. Risk Factors,”

·                  the adequacy of sources of liquidity,

·                  the effect and results of litigation, audits and contingencies, and

·                  other factors discussed in this annual report and in the Company’s other filings with the SEC, which are available free of charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated.

All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or to persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by reference to these risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

PART I

ITEM 1.  BUSINESS

Company Overview

Cornell Companies, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries and predecessors, unless the context requires otherwise, “Cornell,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) was incorporated in Delaware in 1994. We are a leading provider of correctional, detention, educational, rehabilitation and treatment services outsourced by federal, state, county and local government agencies for adults and juveniles. We partner with these agencies to deliver quality, cost-efficient programs that we believe enable our customers to achieve their missions while saving taxpayers’ money. Our customers include the Federal Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”), U.S. Marshals Service (“USMS”), various state Departments of Corrections, and city, county and state departments of human services and similar agencies.

We offer a diverse portfolio of services in structured and secure environments throughout three operating divisions:  (1) Adult Secure Services; (2) Abraxas Youth and Family Services; and (3) Adult Community-Based Services. Cornell, through predecessor entities, began juvenile operations in 1973, adult community-based programs in 1974, and adult secure operations in 1984. Our three divisions are our reportable operating segments. Financial information and a discussion concerning these segments for fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007 is included in “Note 16 — Segment Disclosure” of the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” included in this Form 10-K.

As of December 31, 2009, we operated 64 facilities among our three operating divisions, representing a total operating service capacity of 20,555. We also had four facilities that were vacant, representing additional service capacity of 837. Service capacity is comprised of the number of beds currently available for service in residential facilities and the average program capacity of non-residential community-based programs.  Our facilities are located in 15 states and the District of Columbia.

Additional information about Cornell can be found on our website, www.cornellcompanies.com. We make available on our website, free of charge, access to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to these reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such materials are electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Information provided on our website is not part of this Form 10-K.

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Company Operations

We provide a continuum of care to adults and juveniles in institutional, residential, and community-based settings. Regardless of operating division, each of our facilities emphasizes the importance of engaging in the community as a productive, responsible citizen. In many of our adult secure institutions, we offer vocational training curricula, as well as literacy and General Equivalency Diploma (“GED”) programs. In our adult community-based programs, we offer job placement services, instruction on personal finance management and other skill-based training. In most of our juvenile facilities, we provide family counseling services and behavioral counseling. In facilities throughout the organization, we provide drug and alcohol counseling for our clients.

We operate our facilities and programs under the framework of our Seven Key Principles of Careâ. These principles state that our operations must maintain the safety and security of our clients, our employees, and the local community. In addition, the principles require that we hold the individuals in our care accountable for their actions and expect them to assume responsibility. Furthermore, we expect our employees to act as role models, to communicate effectively and professionally, and to treat our clients with dignity and respect. Finally, our principles call for us to manage physically clean and appropriately maintained facilities that are safe and conducive to an environment of care.

Quality of Operations

We operate our facilities in accordance with both company and facility-specific policies and procedures. Where required by contract or otherwise deemed appropriate for our service environments, these policies and procedures are designed to meet requirements set forth by independent industry oversight organizations, including the American Correctional Association (“ACA”), Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (“JCAHO”), and National Commission on Correctional Health Care (“NCCHC”). Standards may also be implemented to meet the requirements of state departments of public welfare, departments of protective and regulatory services and departments of human services and education. We believe that accreditation and the corresponding standards of operation enhance our ability to provide quality programs and contribute to the public’s increased acceptance of our services.

Internal quality control, conducted by senior facility staff and senior management, takes the form of periodic operational, programmatic and fiscal audits; facility inspections; regular review of logs, reports and files; and strict maintenance of personnel standards, including an active training program. Each of our facilities is further subject to periodic audits and reviews performed by our contracting agencies.

Industry and Business Segment Summary

Incarceration, detention, education and treatment services for adults and juveniles have historically been provided by various government entities. In the United States, the incarcerated and sentenced populations of adults and juveniles has continued to increase while federal, state and local governments face continuing pressures to control costs and improve service quality. We believe these trends have caused growing consideration and acceptance towards outsourcing certain government services and functions. Moreover, the increasing demand facing governments (from areas such as education, healthcare, maintenance/development of public infrastructure, etc.) has also created competition for resources funding such services.

Services offered among our three divisions include incarceration and detention, transition from incarceration, drug and alcohol counseling and treatment, behavioral rehabilitation and treatment, vocational training and academic education for grades 3—12. Private-sector companies, like us, contract with government agencies to deliver these services, at what we believe are the same or higher quality and for a lower cost than what the agency can otherwise provide. Although outsourcing these services has historically faced opposition in the U.S., public and government acceptance has increased as standards of service improve and cost savings are documented. As government agencies face fiscal budget constraints, outsourcing to private providers can offer economically positive alternatives. In addition, as a cost relief measure, government agencies have sought alternatives to incarceration, including reentry, education, substance abuse and behavioral health programs — all of which are services we provide.

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Outsourcing has a longer history in the juvenile justice and adult community-based corrections sectors. Increasingly, states, counties and local governments have used both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations to meet the needs of troubled youth and adults reintegrating into society after a time in residential treatment or prison. Governments have sought alternatives to the rising costs of incarceration for offenders who are non-violent and need treatment, education and rehabilitation. Adult community-based reentry programs as well as education, substance abuse and behavioral health programs that can successfully divert an offender from prison address this need.

Adult Secure Services

Increasingly, federal and state systems are relying upon private providers to address their incarceration needs.  We also believe that the heightened attention that has been placed on border patrol and immigration enforcement will continue to drive demand for services such as those offered by private providers.

We believe that our adult secure services division is well positioned to respond to these marketplace conditions. We provide low-to-maximum-security incarceration and detention services. In doing so, we ensure public safety through the operation of a physically secure environment, which entails, among other security and safety measures, a routine patrol of the premises by trained correctional officers, alarmed fencing and razor wire and centralized monitoring of activity via closed circuit camera systems. While incarcerated, offenders are offered a variety of educational, counseling and vocational programs aimed at providing a successful return to the community and a subsequent reduction in recidivism.

As of December 31, 2009 we operated 9 adult secure facilities with an aggregate service capacity of 14,169. We also had two facilities that were vacant with a combined service capacity of 622 beds. Within the division, we offer the following:

·                  Low-to-maximum-security incarceration and detention,

·                  Confinement of juveniles adjudicated as adults,

·                  Facility design, construction and operation,

·                  Use of modern security technology, including electronic controls and surveillance equipment,

·                  Education courses, including preparation and testing for the GED, English as a Second Language classes, and Adult Basic Education (“ABE”),

·                  Holistic healthcare services, including medical, dental, vision, psychiatric, and individual and group counseling services,

·                  Substance abuse counseling,

·                  Life skills training, including anger management, hygiene, personal finance, employment and housing issues, and parenting skills,

·                  Religious opportunities and culturally sensitive programs,

·                  Food and laundry service, and

·                  Recreational activities, including exercise programs.

Abraxas Youth and Family Services

The juvenile justice industry sector includes residential, detention, shelter care and community-based services, along with educational, rehabilitation and treatment programs. This sector is highly fragmented with several thousand providers operating across the country. Most of the private providers are small and operate in specific geographic areas.

Juvenile justice issues present a growing area of concern for many states due to the number of youth within the judicial system, as well as the related annual expenditures for placement and treatment. Beyond addressing capacity issues within the juvenile justice system, states are also facing challenges posed by the unique needs of specialized juvenile populations, such as those with mental/behavioral health issues. Partnerships with private providers such as Cornell can provide quality alternatives for care.

We believe that our Abraxas Youth and Family Services division is uniquely equipped to address the issues currently facing the juvenile justice system. While the market is fragmented with providers located across the country, we offer a national presence with locations in both urban areas as well as suburban and rural settings.  We provide a broad array of services to youth, typically between the ages of 10 and 18, in residential and community-based settings. The programs and services provided at our facilities are designed to rehabilitate juveniles, hold them accountable for their actions and behaviors,

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and help them successfully reintegrate back into the community. An underlying principle of our juvenile programming is the Balanced and Restorative Justice (“BARJ”) model, which provides a restorative component to the victim, be it an individual, family, or community. The use of the BARJ model, in connection with our Seven Key Principles of Careâ, emphasizes accountability, competency development and community protection.

As of December 31, 2009, we operated 16 residential facilities and 9 non-residential community-based programs within our Abraxas division, representing operating service capacity of 2,828. We also had two vacant facilities with a combined service capacity of 215. Within the division, we offer the following:

·                  Diverse treatment settings, including physically-secure, staff-secure, and community-based,

·                  Specialized treatment for unique populations, including females, drug addicts, sex offenders, fire starters and families,

·                  Accredited alternative and special education services,

·                  Wilderness training programs and nationally accredited ropes course challenges,

·                  Individualized treatment planning and case management,

·                  Individual, group and family counseling and therapy, cognitive behavior therapy and stress and anger management instruction,

·                  Substance abuse counseling and treatment, relapse prevention and education,

·                  Life skills training, including hygiene, personal finance, employment and housing issues, and parenting skills,

·                  Holistic healthcare services, including medical, dental, behavioral health and psychiatric services, and

·                  Recreational activities, including exercise programs.

Adult Community-Based Services

Adult Community-Based Services involve the supervision of adult parolees and probationers. Parolees are persons who have served time in a correctional facility and have been released due to either mandatory conditional release or a parole board decision. Probationers have been charged with a crime but sentenced to probation in lieu of incarceration. Services provided to parolees and probationers include temporary housing, employment assistance, anger management instruction, personal finance management training, academic opportunities, vocational training and substance abuse or addiction counseling.

Community-based treatment services include both residential and outpatient substance abuse programs. Services include short-term and long-term residential care, counseling, HIV/AIDS testing, counseling and prevention education, substance abuse and addiction testing, detoxification and methadone maintenance.

We believe that our adult community-based programs provide positive environments of care for both corrections and treatment clients. The market is fragmented with providers located across the country. Whereas most providers in the industry are small and have limited geographic reach, Cornell offers a national presence with locations in large urban areas, as well as suburban and rural settings. The adult community-based programs provide an alternative to incarceration and a focus on transitioning offenders from a correctional facility back into society. Through a system of education, employment training, treatment, monitoring and accountability, clients are given the necessary tools to make positive life choices that can reduce the incidence of recidivism.

As of December 31, 2009, we operated 27 residential community-based facilities and 3 non-residential community-based programs with a combined total service capacity of 3,558.  Within the division, we offer the following:

·                  Minimum-security and staff-secure residential services,

·                  Home confinement and electronic monitoring,

·                  Substance-abuse counseling and treatment, including detoxification, testing, 12-step programs and relapse prevention services,

·                  Employment training and assistance,

·                  Education, including preparation and testing for the GED, ABE, computer courses, college-level courses and access to libraries,

·                  Vocational training,

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·                  Individual, group and family counseling and therapy, cognitive behavior therapy and stress and anger management instruction,

·                  Life skills training, including hygiene, personal finance, housing issues, and parenting skills, and

·                  Municipal jail management.

Facilities

At December 31, 2009, we operated 64 facilities and had four vacant facilities. In addition to providing management services, we develop, design and/or construct many of our facilities.

Either through outright ownership or long-term leases, we control operating facilities representing a large majority of our revenues. We believe that such control increases the likelihood of contract renewal, allows us to expand existing facilities and thereby realize economies of scale, and enhances our ability to win new contracts and control repair costs. In addition, we believe that long-term control of our operating facilities allows us to better manage cost-escalation pressures and develop/incorporate a long horizon strategic view for our facility assets.

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The following table summarizes certain additional information with respect to our facilities as of December 31, 2009.  As indicated, the majority of the facilities at which we provide services are either owned or leased under long-term leases, which are generally under terms ranging from one to 45 years.

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Marketing and Business Development

Our principal customers are federal, state and local government agencies responsible for adult and juvenile corrections, treatment and educational services. We manage our business development efforts to address opportunities available in all of our divisions and potential markets. While such opportunities necessarily include forming relationships with new customers, we also believe that further potential lies in the management of our existing relationships through improved bed management (including both utilization and customer mix) and through enhancements of our contract terms. From time to time, we will also evaluate opportunities for accretive acquisitions.

In most instances, we pursue development opportunities by responding to Requests for Proposal (“RFPs”) or Requests for Interest (“RFIs”), which are issued by government agencies’ in connection with solicitations for bids. The decision to respond to such solicitations is based upon several factors, including management’s assessment of customer needs, our ability to service the needs in an operationally successful and acceptably profitable manner, and the fit of the potential program within our existing portfolio and strategic objectives. The solicitations generally require the bidder to demonstrate relevant operational experience. Furthermore, the response must also include descriptions of the services to be provided by the bidder and the price at which the bidder is willing to provide them. Services can include not only direct care, but also the design, construction or renovation of the related facility.

If we believe a project described in an RFP is consistent with our strategic business plan, we will submit a proposal to the requesting agency. When responding to RFPs, we typically incur costs ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 per proposal. In addition, we could incur substantial costs to acquire options to lease or purchase land for a proposed facility or to lease or purchase an existing building to house a program. The preparation of a response usually requires four to 12 weeks. The award process usually takes an additional three to nine months. If new construction is required by the contract, the selected company’s operation of the facility generally begins between nine and 18 months following award announcement, although in some cases as early as four months. In instances where construction is required, our success depends, in part, upon our ability to acquire property that is not only satisfactory for programmatic needs but also that lies in a community where social opposition does not significantly impede our ability to operate. We may incur significant expenses in responding to such opposition, and our response may not be successful. In addition, we may choose not to respond to an RFP or may withdraw a submitted proposal if significant legal action or other forms of opposition are anticipated or encountered.

In addition to responding to RFPs, we also rely upon court-referrals, insurance- or managed care-referrals, and self-referrals for business growth, particularly in our juvenile and adult community-based treatment programs. In such instances, court and community liaisons play a significant role in developing our growing network of clients.

Contracts

Our facility operating contracts generally provide that we will be compensated via an occupant per diem rate, fees for treatment services, guaranteed take-or-pay terms, a fixed fee, or cost-plus reimbursement. Factors we consider in determining billing rates include (1) the specified programs provided for by the contract and the related staffing levels, (2) wage levels customary in the respective geographic area, (3) whether the proposed facility is to be leased or purchased, and (4) the anticipated average occupancy levels that we believe could reasonably be maintained (and the ramp up schedule required to reach stable populations). Compensation is invoiced in accordance with the applicable contract and is typically paid on a monthly basis. Some of our juvenile education contracts provide for annual payments.

We pursue new contracts that leverage our existing infrastructure and capabilities. A significant portion of our opportunities are contracts producing revenue that varies with the number of individuals housed or served, the types of services provided and/or the frequency of the service. The balance of our contracts are take-or-pay contracts, which provide a fixed minimum revenue stream regardless of occupancy.

Competition

Because our services encompass several diverse markets, we view our competition within these separate markets. We believe our principal non-governmental competitors in the Adult Secure Services market are Corrections Corporation of America, Inc., The Geo Group, Inc., and Management and Training Corporation. Within our two other segments — Abraxas Youth and Family Services and Adult Community-Based Services — we typically encounter a significantly more fragmented competitor base, which includes not only for-profit operators like ourselves but also not-for-profit organizations. Within the Abraxas Youth and Family Services division, some of our primary non-governmental competitors include ViaQuest, Youth and Family Centered Services, Securicor New Century and Ramsay Youth Services. Our larger non-governmental competitors in the Adult Community-Based Services market include Dismas House, Bannum, Gateway, Salvation Army and Volunteers of America.

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Employees

At December 31, 2009, we had 4,106 full-time employees and 301 part-time employees. We employ management, administrative and clerical, security, educational and counseling services, health services and general maintenance personnel. Approximately 521 employees at five of our facilities are represented by labor unions.

Regulations

The industry in which we operate is subject to federal, state and local regulations administered by a variety of regulatory authorities. Generally, prospective providers of correctional, detention, educational, treatment and community-based services must comply with a variety of applicable federal, state and local regulations, including correctional, education, healthcare, environmental and safety regulations. Our contracts frequently include extensive reporting requirements, including mandatory supervision with on-site monitoring by representatives of our contracting government agencies, as well as audits by these and other governmental departments.

In addition to regulations requiring certain contracting government agencies to enter into a competitive bidding procedure before awarding contracts, the laws of certain jurisdictions may also require us to award subcontracts on a competitive basis or to subcontract with businesses owned by women or members of minority groups.

Business Concentration

For the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007, 34.7%, 34.2% and 32.6%, respectively, of our consolidated revenues were derived from multiple contracts with the BOP. No other single customer makes up greater than 10% of our consolidated revenues for these years. Refer to Footnote 16 — Segment Disclosures in our consolidated financial statements for further information concerning revenues from the BOP by operating division.

Insurance

We maintain general liability insurance for all of our operations at an amount equal to $10 million per occurrence and in the aggregate. We also maintain insurance in amounts management deems adequate to cover property and casualty risks, workers’ compensation, and directors’ and officers’ liability.

Our contracts and the statutes of certain states in which we operate typically require us to maintain insurance. Our contracts provide that, in the event we do not maintain such insurance, the contracting agency may terminate its agreement with us. We believe that we are in compliance in all material respects with these requirements.

Environmental Matters

We are subject to various federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations, and these laws can impose strict liability for the discharge of hazardous or toxic substances. As an owner and operator of facilities, we are subject to these laws and could be responsible for the discharge of contaminants at our facilities. We are not currently incurring material costs associated with environmental compliance or remediation, although in the event we had an environmental issue at any of our current or previously-owned facilities, the cost of complying with these environmental laws could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

ITEM 1A.               RISK FACTORS

Our significant level of indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition.

We have a significant amount of indebtedness.  Our total consolidated indebtedness as of December 31, 2009 was approximately $303.3 million.  Our ability to make scheduled payments or to refinance our debt obligations depends on our financial and operating performance, which is subject to prevailing economic and competitive conditions and to certain other financial, business and other factors beyond our control. We cannot assure you that we will maintain a level of cash flows from operating activities sufficient to permit us to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest and additional interest, if any, on our indebtedness.  We may need to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets, seek additional capital or restructure or refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on or before maturity.  However, we may not be able to complete these alternative measures on commercially reasonable terms or at all.  Additionally, a significant portion of our assets is owned, and a significant percentage of our revenue is generated, by our subsidiaries. Our cash flows and our ability to repay our indebtedness depends upon the performance of these subsidiaries and their ability to make distributions.  See

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“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

Certain of our borrowings, including any borrowings under our Amended Credit Facility, will be at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. If interest rates increase, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness would increase even though the amount borrowed remained the same, and our net income would decrease.

The volatility and disruption of the capital and credit markets and adverse changes in the economy may negatively impact our ability to access financing, revenues and earnings.

The capital and credit markets have been experiencing extreme volatility and disruption for more than twelve months.  Since the third quarter of 2008 and continuing through 2009, the volatility and disruption reached unprecedented levels.  At certain points during this period, the markets exerted downward pressure on availability of liquidity and credit capacity for many issuers, including us.  While we intend to finance our operations with existing cash, cash flow from operations and borrowing under our Amended Credit Facility, we may require additional financing to support our continued growth.  However, due to the existing uncertainty in the capital and credit markets, access to capital, including capital through the accordion feature of our Amended Credit Facility, on terms acceptable to us may be limited or unavailable.

During the 2008/2009 period several large financial institutions have either failed or been dependent on the assistance of the federal government to continue to operate as a going concern. We can provide no assurance that all of the banks that have made commitments to us under our revolving credit facility will continue to operate as a going concern in the future or that such banks would be willing to participate in an expansion to the Amended Credit Facility in the event the Company desires to exercise the accordion feature of the Amended Credit Facility.

If any of the banks in the lending group were to fail or decline to participate in the expansion of our Amended Credit Facility under the accordion feature, it is possible that the capacity under the revolving credit facility would not be expanded by the full amount that might be requested by us under the accordion feature and might even be reduced to below the existing committed availability. In the event that we could not obtain an increased commitment by virtue of the accordion feature of the Amended Credit Facility, we could be required to obtain capital from alternate sources in order to continue our growth through future development and expansion initiatives.  Our options for addressing such capital constraints would include, but not be limited to (1) obtaining commitments from the remaining banks in the lending group or from new banks to fund increased amounts under the terms of the Amended Credit Facility, or its accordion feature, (2) accessing the public capital markets, or (3) delaying certain of the Company’s planned expansion projects. Such alternatives in the current market would likely be on terms less favorable than under existing terms, which could have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

 The restrictive covenants in our Senior Notes and Amended Credit Facility may affect our ability to operate our business successfully.

The indenture governing our Senior Notes and our Amended Credit Facility contain various covenants that limit our ability to engage in specified types of transactions. These covenants limit our ability to, among other things:

·                  incur additional debt;

·                  provide guarantees in respect of obligations of other persons;

·                  pay dividends or repurchase capital stock or subordinated debt;

·                  make certain types of investments;

·                  incur liens;

·                  engage in sale-leaseback transactions;

·                  make restricted payments;

·                  sell assets and subsidiary capital stock;

·                  consolidate or merge with or into, or sell substantially all of our assets to, another; and

·                  enter into new lines of business.

In addition, our Amended Credit Facility contains restrictive covenants and requires us to maintain specified financial ratios. Our ability to meet those financial ratios can be affected by events beyond our control, and we cannot assure you that we will meet those ratios. A breach of any of these covenants could result in a default under our Amended Credit Facility and/or the Senior Notes. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under our Amended Credit Facility, the lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under our Amended Credit Facility to be immediately due and payable and terminate

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all commitments to extend further credit. If we were unable to repay those amounts, the lenders under our Amended Credit Facility could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that indebtedness. We have pledged a significant portion of our assets as collateral under our Amended Credit Facility. If the lenders under that facility accelerate the repayment of borrowings, we cannot assure you that we will have sufficient assets remaining after we repay our Amended Credit Facility to repay other indebtedness, including the Senior Notes.

If we default on our obligations to pay our indebtedness we may not be able to make payments on the Senior Notes.

Any default under the agreements governing our indebtedness, including a default under our Amended Credit Facility that is not waived by the required lenders, and the remedies sought by the holders of such indebtedness could make us unable to pay principal, premium, if any, and interest and additional interest, if any, on the Senior Notes and substantially decrease the market value of the Senior Notes. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow and are otherwise unable to obtain funds necessary to meet required payments of principal, premium, if any, and interest and additional interest, if any, on our indebtedness, or if we otherwise fail to comply with the various covenants, including financial and operating covenants, in the instruments governing our indebtedness (including covenants in the indenture and our Amended Credit Facility), we could be in default under the terms of the agreements governing such indebtedness, including our Amended Credit Facility and the indenture. In the event of such default, the holders of such indebtedness could elect to declare all the funds borrowed thereunder to be due and payable, together with accrued and unpaid interest, the lenders under our Amended Credit Facility could elect to terminate their commitments thereunder, cease making further loans and institute foreclosure proceedings against our assets, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation. If our operating performance declines we may, in the future, need to obtain waivers from the required lenders under our Amended Credit Facility to avoid being in default. If we breach our covenants under our Amended Credit Facility and seek a waiver, we may not be able to obtain a waiver from the required lenders. If this occurs, we would be in default under our Amended Credit Facility, the lenders could exercise their rights, as described above, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.

Despite current indebtedness levels, we may still be able to incur substantially more debt. This could further exacerbate the risks described above.

The terms of the indenture governing our Senior Notes and our Amended Credit Facility restrict our ability to incur but do not prohibit us from incurring significant additional indebtedness in the future.  We have recently completed several expansion projects and anticipate commencing other projects at some future date, and we will likely need to finance these future outlays of capital since our cash on hand and cash flows from operations may not be sufficient to fully fund all of these potential expenditures.  Depending on market conditions and other factors, we will consider additional debt financing to fund these outlays of capital as well as to refinance a portion of our existing indebtedness.   If new indebtedness is added to our and our subsidiaries’ current debt levels, the related risks that we and they now face could intensify.

We are dependent on government appropriations, which may not be made on a timely basis or at all and may be adversely impacted by budgetary constraints at the federal, state and local levels.

Our cash flow is subject to the receipt of sufficient funding of and timely payment by contracting governmental entities. If the appropriate governmental agency does not receive sufficient appropriations to cover its contractual obligations, a contract may be terminated or the amounts payable to us may be deferred or reduced.  Also, we are dependent upon funding for anticipated future contracts.

Federal, state, county and local governments have encountered, and are expected to continue to encounter, significant budgetary constraints that may result in a reduction of spending on the outsourced services that we provide. Such budgetary limitations may cause the contractual commitments to be reduced or even eliminated, which would make it unprofitable to continue operating a certain facility and require us to find alternate customers or close such facility. Any delays in payment, or the termination of a contract, could have a material adverse effect on our cash flow and financial condition, which may make it difficult to satisfy our payment obligations on our indebtedness, including the Amended Credit Facility, in a timely manner.

In addition, as a result of, among other things, recent economic developments, federal, state and local governments have encountered, and may continue to encounter, unusual budgetary constraints. As a result, a number of state and local governments are under pressure to control additional spending or reduce current levels of spending which could limit or eliminate appropriations for the facilities that we operate. Additionally, as a result of these factors, we may be requested in the future to reduce our existing per diem contract rates or forego prospective increases to those rates. Budgetary limitations may also make it more difficult for us to renew our existing contracts on favorable terms or at all. Further, a number of states in which we operate are experiencing significant budget deficits for fiscal year 2010 and may continue to experience budget

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deficits in subsequent years. We cannot assure that these deficits will not result in reductions in per diems, delays in payment for services rendered or unilateral termination of contracts. We received IOU’s from the State of California which were subsequently paid in full during the third quarter of 2009. We do not currently hold any IOU’s from the State of California. In addition, delays in the passage of budgets (such as experienced in the State of Pennsylvania in 2009) may lead to temporary delays in the repayment of our receivables from operations in such states. This would lead to a temporary increase in our receivables, as evidenced by the increase in our accounts receivable-trade at September 30, 2009. As the State of Pennsylvania did not pass a fiscal 2010 budget until mid-October 2009, the majority of the cities and counties in Pennsylvania chose to defer their payments (during the state budget impasse present through the third quarter of 2009) until the state budget had been adopted. Upon adoption of their fiscal 2010 budget, the various cities and counties in Pennsylvania resumed their normal payment practices. While we will closely monitor such situations, we do not currently expect this to have a significant negative impact on the repayment of our receivables related to our facilities in such locations.

Moreover, certain states, such as Arizona (whom we serve at our Great Plains Correctional Facility) which currently utilize private entities (on both an in-state as well as an out-of-state basis) have indicated budgetary pressures may influence the future extent of their use of such private entities, particularly out-of-state. We believe outsourcing to private providers can offer economically positive alternatives to our customers. However, a reduction in the use of our services could have a material adverse effect on our business.

As a result of this increased budgetary pressure, in certain cases we have granted a few of our customers relief from formulaic increase provisions in their agreements and some of our customers have not included in their appropriation legislation amounts that would increase the per diem rates payable to us or have otherwise attempted to reduce the contract value. Contractual rate increases are generally intended to offset increases in expenses and inflation. To the extent rates are not increased or are reduced, our profitability will be adversely affected.  Examples of this budget pressure include the need of the federal government to operate under a continuing resolution as a result of its failure to pass a new 2008/2009 year budget and reported budget pressures in most states including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas.

We depend on a limited number of governmental customers for a significant portion of our revenues.

We currently derive, and expect to continue to derive, a significant portion of our revenues from the BOP and various state agencies. The loss of, or a significant decrease in, business from the BOP or those state agencies could seriously harm our financial condition and results of operations. Our BOP contracts accounted for approximately 34.7% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2009 ($143.1 million), 34.2% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2008 ($132.3 million) and 32.6% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2007 ($117.5 million). We expect to continue to depend upon the BOP and a relatively small group of other governmental customers for a significant percentage of our revenues.

We are subject to the short-term nature of government contracts.

Many governmental agencies are legally limited in their ability to enter into fixed long-term contracts that would bind elected officials responsible for future budgets. Therefore, many contracts with government agencies, including the BOP, typically either have a very short term or, even when for a longer term, are subject to termination on short notice without cause. The majority of our contracts have primary terms of one to three years. Our contracts with governmental agencies may contain one or more renewal options that may be exercised only by the contracting governmental agency. Some of these contracts may not be renewed by the governmental agency and no assurance can be given that the governmental agency will exercise a renewal option in the future. In addition, the governmental agency may elect to solicit bids pursuant to a RFP or RFQ rather than exercise a renewal option. We may not be successful in a bid responding to a RFP or RFQ.

The non-renewal or termination of any of our significant contracts with governmental agencies, our inability to secure new facility management contracts from others or our failure to successfully bid in response to a RFP or RFQ could materially adversely affect our financial condition, results of operation and liquidity. To the extent we have made significant capital expenditures and have short-term contracts with our customers that are not renewed or extended, we may not recover our entire capital investment.

 Our ability to win new contracts to develop and manage correctional, detention and treatment facilities depends on many factors outside our control.

Our growth is generally dependent upon our ability to win new contracts to develop and manage new or expanded correctional, detention and treatment facilities. This depends on a number of factors we cannot control, including crime rates

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and sentencing patterns in various jurisdictions. Accordingly, the demand for our facilities could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction and sentencing practices or through the legal decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by criminal laws. For instance, changes in laws relating to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could reduce the number of persons arrested, convicted and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them and community-based services to transition offenders back into the community. Similarly, reductions in crime rates could lead to reductions in arrests, convictions and sentences requiring correctional facilities.

When seeking bids, most governmental entities evaluate the financial strength of the bidders. To the extent they believe we do not have sufficient financial resources, we will be unable to effectively compete for bids. Additionally, our success in obtaining new awards and contracts may depend, in part, upon our ability to locate land that can be leased or acquired on favorable terms. Furthermore, desirable locations may be in or near populated areas and, therefore, may generate legal action or other forms of opposition from residents in areas surrounding a proposed site.

Our profitability may suffer if the number of offenders occupying our correctional, detention and treatment facilities decreases or there is a shift in occupancy among our divisions.

Our correctional, detention and treatment facilities are dependent upon governmental agencies supplying offenders and we do not control occupancy levels at our facilities. We believe the rate of growth experienced in the adult secure sector during the late 1980s and early 1990s is stabilizing.

Historically, a substantial portion of our revenues has been generated under contracts that specify a net rate per day per resident, or a per diem rate, sometimes with no minimum guaranteed occupancy levels, even though most correctional facility cost structures are relatively fixed. Under such a per diem rate structure, a decrease in occupancy levels at a particular facility could have a material adverse effect on the financial condition and results of operations at such facility. A decrease in the occupancy of certain juvenile justice, education and treatment facilities would have a more significant impact on our operating results than a decrease in occupancy in the Adult Secure division due to higher per diem revenue at certain juvenile facilities.

Certain social commentators and various political or governmental representatives suggest that community-based corrections of adults may be emphasized in the future as alternatives to traditional incarceration. We have historically experienced higher operating margins in the Adult Secure and the Adult Community-Based sectors than in the juvenile services sector. A shift in occupancy among our segments of business operations could result in a decrease in our profitability.

A failure to comply with existing regulations could result in material penalties or non-renewal or termination of our contracts.

Our industry is subject to a variety of federal, state, county and local regulations, including education, environmental, health care and safety regulations, which are administered by various regulatory authorities. We may not always successfully comply with these regulations, and failure to comply could result in material penalties or non-renewal or termination of facility management contracts. The contracts typically include extensive reporting requirements and supervision and on-site monitoring by representatives of contracting governmental agencies. Corrections officers are customarily required to meet certain training standards, and in some instances facility personnel are required to be licensed and subject to background investigation. Certain jurisdictions also require that subcontracts be awarded on a competitive basis or that we subcontract with businesses owned by members of minority groups. The failure to comply with any applicable laws, rules or regulations and the loss of any required license could adversely affect the financial condition and results of operations at our affected facilities.

Governmental agencies may investigate and audit our contracts and, if any improprieties are found, we may be required to refund revenues we have received, and/or to forego anticipated revenues and may be subject to penalties and sanctions, including prohibitions on our bidding in response to RFPs.

Governmental agencies we contract with have the authority to audit and investigate our contracts with them. As part of that process, some governmental agencies review our performance on the contract, our pricing practices, our cost structure and our compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards. If the agency determines that we have improperly allocated costs to a specific contract, we may not be reimbursed for those costs and we could be required to refund the amount of any such costs that have been reimbursed. If a government audit uncovers improper or illegal activities by us or we otherwise determine that these activities have occurred, we may be subject to civil and criminal penalties and administrative

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sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeitures of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspension or disqualification from doing business with the government. Any adverse determination could adversely impact our ability to bid in response to RFPs in one or more jurisdictions and significantly reduce the probability of our success in the bid process for future contracts.

If we fail to satisfy our contractual obligations, our ability to compete for future contracts and our financial condition may be adversely affected.

Our failure to comply with contract requirements or to meet our client’s performance expectations when performing a contract could materially and adversely affect our financial performance and our reputation, which, in turn, would impact our ability to compete for new contracts. Our failure to meet contractual obligations could also result in substantial actual and consequential damages. In addition, our contracts often require us to indemnify clients for our failure to meet performance standards. Some of our contracts contain liquidated damages provisions and financial penalties related to performance failures. Although we have liability insurance, the policy limits may not be adequate to provide protection against all potential liabilities.

Competitors in our industry may adversely affect the profitability of our business.

We must compete with government entities and other private operators on the basis of cost, quality and range of services offered, experience in managing facilities, reputation of personnel and ability to design, finance and construct new facilities on a cost effective competitive basis. While there are some barriers for companies seeking to enter into the management and operation of correctional, detention and treatment facilities, these barriers have not been sufficient to materially limit additional competition. Certain areas of our operation may not pose a significant barrier to entry into the market by private operators. For example, private operators may not find it as difficult to bid for juvenile treatment, educational and detention services and pre-release correctional and treatment services as they do adult correctional and detention services.

Further, our government customers may assume the management of a facility currently managed by us upon the termination of the corresponding management contract or, if such customers have capacity at their facilities, may take inmates currently housed in our facilities and transfer them to government run facilities. The resulting decrease in occupancy levels would reduce our revenue due to the per diem rate structure and could result in a significant decrease in the profitability of our business.

A disturbance or violent occurrence in one of our facilities could result in closure of a facility or harm to our business.

An escape, riot, disturbance or violent occurrence at one of our facilities could adversely affect the financial condition, results of operations and liquidity of our operations. Among other things, the negative publicity generated as a result of an event could adversely affect our ability to retain an existing contract or obtain future ones. In addition, if such an event were to occur, there is a possibility that the facility where the event occurred may be shut down by the relevant governmental agency. A closure of certain of our facilities could adversely affect the financial condition, results of operations and liquidity of our operations. Such negative events (including an occurrence at a competitor’s facility) may also result in a significant increase in our liability insurance costs.

Negative media coverage, including inaccurate or misleading information, could adversely affect our reputation and our ability to bid for government contracts.

The media frequently focuses its attention on private operators’ contracts with governmental agencies. If the media coverage of private operators is negative, it could influence government officials to slow the pace of outsourcing government services, which could reduce the number of RFPs. The media may also focus its attention on the activities of political consultants engaged by us, even when their activities are unrelated to our business, and we may be tainted by adverse media coverage about their activities. Moreover, inaccurate, misleading or negative media coverage about us could harm our reputation and, accordingly, our ability to bid for and win government contracts.

We often incur significant costs before receiving related revenues, which could result in cash shortfalls and a risk of not recovering our investment.

When we are awarded a contract to manage a new facility, we may incur significant expenses before we receive contract payments. These expenses include purchasing real estate, constructing new facilities, leasing office space, purchasing office equipment and hiring and training personnel. As a result, when the government does not fund a facility’s pre-opening and start-up costs, we may be required to invest significant sums of money before receiving related contract payments. In

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addition, payments due to us from governmental agencies may be delayed due to billing cycles or as a result of failures by our governmental customers to attain necessary budget approvals and finalize contracts in a timely manner. Several juvenile services contracts related to educational services provide for annual collection several months after a school year is completed. In addition, a contract may be terminated prior to its scheduled expiration and as a result we may not recover these expenses or realize any return on our investment.

We may choose to undertake development projects without written commitments to make use of such facilities. We may not be able to obtain contracts for these facilities in a timely fashion, if at all. To the extent we do not obtain contracts, we could be unable to recover our investment and our financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

We may be unable to attract and retain sufficient qualified personnel necessary to sustain our business.

Our delivery of services is labor-intensive. When we are awarded a contract, we must hire operating management, security, case management and other personnel. The success of our business requires that we attract, develop, motivate and retain these personnel. Our ability to recruit and retain qualified individuals varies by facility and is related to the socio-economic factors in the particular community in which the facility operates. The Department of Labor wages we offer our employees are often higher than wages they could obtain elsewhere in the community. However, if the local economy where a facility is located is robust and unemployment is low, we may have difficulty hiring and retaining qualified personnel. In addition, there are inherent risks associated with the nature of the services we provide, which could cause certain qualified individuals to seek other employment opportunities. We have typically experienced high turnover of personnel in our juvenile and adult secure facilities within the first year of their employment. Our inability to hire sufficient personnel on a timely basis or the loss of significant numbers of personnel could adversely affect our business.

If we do not successfully integrate the businesses that we acquire, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

We may be unable to manage businesses that we may acquire profitably or integrate them successfully without incurring substantial expenses, delays or other problems that could negatively impact our results of operations. Acquisitions generally require the integration of facilities, some of which may be located in states in which we do not currently have operations.

Moreover, business combinations involve additional risks, including:

·      diversion of management’s attention;

·      loss of key personnel;

·      assumption of unanticipated legal or financial liabilities;

·      our becoming significantly leveraged as a result of the incurrence of debt to finance an acquisition;

·      unanticipated operating, accounting or management difficulties in connection with the acquired entities;

·      amortization or possible impairment charges of acquired intangible assets, including goodwill; and

·      dilution to our earnings per share.

Also, client dissatisfaction or performance problems with an acquired business could materially and adversely affect our reputation as a whole. Further, the acquired businesses may not achieve the revenues and earnings we anticipated.

Because environmental laws impose strict, as well as joint and several, liability for clean up costs, unforeseen environmental risks could prove to be costly.

Our facilities, and any facilities that we may acquire in the future, may be subject to unforeseen environmental risks. The federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) imposes strict, as well as joint and several, liability for certain environmental cleanup costs on several classes of potentially responsible parties, including current owners and operators of the property. Other federal and state laws in certain circumstances may impose liability for environmental remediation, which costs may be substantial. Further, the operation of our facilities, and the development of new facilities, requires that we obtain, and comply with, permits and other authorizations under environmental laws. Obtaining such permits and authorizations may affect our existing facilities or could delay the opening of new facilities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

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We have in the past incurred, and may continue to incur, significant expenses for facilities that we no longer operate.

If we close a facility, we may remain committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease, which would include, among other things, payment of the base rent for the balance of the lease term. We may also be required to incur other expenses with respect to such facilities. The potential losses associated with our inability to cancel leases may result in our keeping open underperforming facilities. As a result, ongoing lease operations at closed or under-performing facilities could impair our results of operations. At December 31, 2009, we had one leased facility, Mesa Verde Community Correctional Facility, for which we did not have an operating contract.

We may continue to operate under unprofitable contracts at facilities that we own to offset expenses associated with ownership of the facility.

If our operations are unprofitable at a leased facility or if the leased facility is performing significantly below targeted levels, we would typically terminate the contract and the lease. However, we may continue to operate our contract at an owned facility to offset the expenses associated with ownership. Continued performance of such a contract could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Because our revenues can fluctuate from period to period, we may face short-term funding shortfalls from time to time.

Revenues can fluctuate from year to year due to changes in government funding policies, changes in the number of clients referred to our facilities by governmental agencies, the opening of new facilities or the expansion of existing facilities and the termination of contracts for a facility or the closure of a facility. Our revenues fluctuate from quarter to quarter, based on the number of contracted days in each quarter and the number of clients served in our facilities. Because our revenues can vary, we may face short-term funding shortfalls from time to time. In addition, full-year results are not likely to be a direct multiple of any particular quarter or combination of quarters.

Resistance to privatization of correctional and detention facilities could result in our inability to obtain new contracts or the loss of existing contracts.

Management of correctional and detention facilities, particularly of adult secure facilities, by private entities has not achieved complete acceptance by either the government or the public. The movement toward privatization of correctional and detention facilities has also encountered resistance from certain groups, such as labor unions, local sheriff’s departments, religious organizations and groups believing that correctional and detention facility operations should only be conducted by government agencies. Changes in the dominant political party in any market in which correctional facilities are located could have an adverse impact on privatization. Furthermore, some government agencies are not legally permitted to delegate their traditional management responsibilities for correctional and detention facilities to private companies.

In addition, as a private prison manager, we are subject to government legislation and regulation restricting the ability of private prison managers to house certain types of inmates, such as inmates from other jurisdictions or inmates at medium or higher security levels. Legislation has been enacted in several states, and has previously been proposed in the United States House of Representatives, containing such restrictions. Any such legislation may have a material adverse affect on us.

Any of these resistances may make it more difficult for us to renew or maintain existing contracts, to obtain new contracts or sites on which to operate new facilities or to develop or purchase facilities and lease them to government or private entities, any or all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We are subject to significant insurance costs.

Worker’s compensation, employee health and general liability insurance represent significant costs to us. We may continue to incur increasing insurance costs, typically due to adverse claims experience or rising healthcare costs in general. Due to concerns over corporate governance and recent corporate accounting scandals, liability and other types of insurance have become more difficult and costly to obtain. In addition, stockholder lawsuits will generally serve to increase our directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. Unanticipated additional insurance costs could adversely impact our results of operations and cash flows, and the failure to obtain or maintain any necessary insurance coverage or the inability of an insurance carrier to perform under its obligations through issued coverage could have a material adverse effect on us.

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We are subject to risks associated with ownership of real estate and related operation of our facilities.

Our ownership of correctional and detention facilities subjects us to risks typically associated with investments in real estate. Moreover, correctional and detention facilities are relatively illiquid and therefore, our ability to divest ourselves of one or more of our facilities promptly in response to changed conditions is limited. Investments in correctional and detention facilities subject us to risks involving potential exposure to uninsured loss. Our operating costs may be affected by the obligation to pay for the cost of complying with existing laws, ordinances and regulations, as well as the cost of complying with future legislation.  Our facilities are also subject to hazards such as fire, hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters. In addition, although we maintain insurance for many types of losses, there are certain types of losses, such as losses from earthquakes, riots and acts of terrorism, which may be either uninsurable or for which it may not be economically feasible to obtain insurance coverage. As a result, we could lose both our capital invested in, and anticipated profits from, one or more of the facilities we own. Further, we could experience losses that may exceed the limits of our insurance coverage.

We may be adversely affected by inflation.

Several of our facility management contracts provide for fixed management fees or fees that increase by only small amounts during their term. If, due to inflation or other causes, our operating expenses, such as wages and salaries of our employees, and insurance, medical and food costs, increase at rates faster than increases, if any, in our management fees, then our profitability would be adversely affected.

ITEM 1B.       UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None

ITEM 2.          PROPERTIES

We lease office space for our corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas and a regional administrative office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We also lease various facilities we are currently operating or developing. For a listing of owned, leased and managed facilities, see “Business - Facilities” in Item 1 of this report.

ITEM 3.          LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are party to various legal proceedings, including that noted below. While management presently believes that the ultimate outcome of these proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position, overall trends in results of operations or cash flows, litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties, and unfavorable rulings could occur. An unfavorable ruling could include monetary damages or equitable relief, and could have a material adverse impact on the net income of the period in which the ruling occurs.

Valencia County Detention Center

In April 2007, a lawsuit was filed against the Company in the Federal District Court in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by Joe Torres and Eufrasio Armijo, who each alleged that he was strip searched at the Valencia County Detention Center (“VCDC”) in New Mexico in violation of his federal rights under the Fourth, Fourteenth and Eighth amendments to the U.S. Constitution.  The claimants also alleged violation of their rights under state law and sought to bring the case as a class action on behalf of themselves and all detainees at VCDC during the applicable statutes of limitation.  The plaintiffs sought damages and declaratory and injunctive relief.  Valencia County is also a named defendant in the case and operated the VCDC for a significantly greater portion of the period covered by the lawsuit.

In December 2008, the parties agreed to a proposed stipulation of settlement and, in July 2009, the Court granted final approval of the settlement.  The settlement amount under the terms of the agreement is $3.3 million.  Cornell’s portion of the stipulated settlement, based on the number of inmates housed at VCDC during the time Cornell operated the facility in comparison to the number of inmates housed at the facility during the time Valencia County operated the facility, is $1.2 million and was funded principally through our general liability and professional liability coverage. The claims administration process is underway and we expect it to be completed in the first half of 2010.

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In the year ended December 31, 2007, we previously provided insurance reserves for this matter (as part of our regular review of reported and unreported claims) totaling approximately $0.5 million.  During the fourth quarter of 2008, we recorded an additional settlement charge of approximately $0.7 million and the related reimbursement from our general liability and professional liability insurance.  The charge and reimbursement were recognized in general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2008.  The reimbursement was funded by the insurance carrier in the first quarter of 2009 into a settlement account, where it will remain until payments are made to the settlement class members.

Other

We currently and from time to time are subject to claims and suits arising in the ordinary course of business, including claims for damages for personal injuries or for wrongful restriction of or interference with offender privileges and employment matters. If an adverse decision in these matters exceeds our insurance coverage, or if our coverage is deemed not to apply to these matters, or if the underlying insurance carrier was unable to fulfill its obligation under the insurance coverage provided, it could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

While the outcome of such other matters cannot be predicted with certainty, based on the information known to date, we believe that the ultimate resolution of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, but could be material to operating results or cash flows for a particular reporting period.

ITEM 4.          SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

None.

PART II

ITEM 5.                             MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “CRN.”  As of February 19, 2010, there were approximately 550 shareholders of record of our common stock. The quarterly high and low closing sales prices for our common stock for fiscal years 2009 and 2008 are shown below.

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain excess cash flow, if any, for use in the operation and expansion of our business (which could also include the reduction of outstanding borrowings or the repurchase of common stock) and do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. The payment of dividends is within the discretion of the Board of Directors and is dependent upon, among other factors, our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements, restrictions, if any, imposed by financing commitments and legal requirements. Our 10.75% Senior Notes, as well as our Amended Credit Facility contain certain restrictions on our ability to pay dividends. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources — Long-Term Credit Facilities” in Item 7 of this report.

We did not purchase any of our common stock in the fourth quarter of 2009.

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The following table summarizes as of December 31, 2009 certain information regarding equity compensation to our employees, officers, directors, and other persons under our plans:

(1)          Includes 115,273 shares issuable pursuant to our Employee Stock Purchase Plan and 57,555 shares issuable pursuant to our 2000 Directors Stock Plan.  Also includes 1,090,650 shares issuable pursuant to our 2006 Incentive Plan.

Equity Compensation Plans Not Approved by Security Holders

Deferred Compensation Plan

We maintain a Deferred Compensation Plan for the purpose of providing deferred compensation for eligible employees and non-employee directors. The Deferred Compensation Plan is a nonqualified plan.

A participant in the Deferred Compensation Plan may defer into an account a percentage of compensation each year up to 75.0% of the employee participant’s compensation and up to 100% of the non-employee director participant’s compensation received from Cornell. In addition, we may make contributions to the Deferred Compensation Plan on behalf of each participant. Compensation deferred by a participant, or contributions made by us on behalf of a participant, will be invested in mutual funds or the common stock of Cornell. Participants are fully vested in their accounts and may elect to receive the amounts credited to their accounts either in a lump sum or in five or ten-year annual installment payments. In the event of a change of control (as defined in the Plan), the amounts in each participant’s account will be paid to the participant in a lump sum.

In conjunction with the approval of the amended and restated 2006 Incentive Plan and amendments to the 2000 Director Stock Plan by the Company’s shareholders in June 2009, the Company agreed not to thereafter issue shares under the Deferred Compensation Plan.

Warrants

In conjunction with the issuance of subordinated notes in July 2000 (which notes are no longer outstanding), we issued warrants to purchase 290,370 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $6.70. The warrants could only be exercised by payment of the exercise price in cash to us, by cancellation of an amount of warrants equal to the fair market value of the exercise price, or by the cancellation of indebtedness owed to the warrant holder. During 2001, 168,292 shares of common stock were issued in conjunction with the exercise and cancellation of 217,778 warrants.  During 2007, the remaining 72,592 shares of common stock were issued in conjunction with the exercise and cancellation of the remaining 72,592 warrants.

2000 Broad-Based Employee Plan

Under our 2000 Plan, we may grant non-qualified stock options to our employees, directors and eligible consultants for up to the greater of 400,000 shares or 4.0% of the aggregate number of shares of common stock issued and outstanding immediately after the grant of any option under the 2000 Plan. However, in conjunction with the approval of the amended and restated 2006 Incentive Plan and the amendments to the 2000 Directors Stock Plan by the Company’s shareholders in

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June 2009, the Company agreed not to thereafter grant any additional awards under the 2000 Broad-Based Employee Plan. The 2000 Plan options vest over a period of up to five years and expire ten years from the grant date. The vesting schedule and term are set by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. The exercise price of options issued pursuant to the 2000 Plan could be no less than the market price of our common stock on the date of grant.

Upon notice of an extraordinary transaction (as defined in the 2000 Plan), options granted under the 2000 Plan become fully vested. Upon consummation of the extraordinary transaction, such options, to the extent not previously exercised, automatically terminate.

Performance Graph

The following performance graph compares our cumulative total stockholder return at December 31, 2009 to the Russell 2000 Stock Index and the Company’s peer group, assuming the investment of $100 on January 1, 2005, at closing prices on December 31, 2004 and reinvestment of dividends. The peer group companies are Corrections Corporation of America and The Geo Group, Inc.

Comparison of 5 Year Cumulative Total Return

Assumes Initial Investment of $100

December 2009

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ITEM 6.          SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

The following data has been derived from our audited financial statements, including those included in this Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto and Item 7 - “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this report.

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Notes to Selected Consolidated Financial Data

(1)                    Income from operations for the year ended December 31, 2006 includes a charge of approximately $0.4 million to record impairments to the carrying value of two of our adult community-based facilities.

(2)                    The statement of operations and balance sheet data presented for the year ended December 31, 2005 includes the assets, liabilities and operations of Correction Systems, Inc. (“CSI”) acquired in April 2005.

(3)                    Residential service capacity is comprised of the number of beds currently available for service in our residential facilities.

(4)                    At certain residential facilities, the contracted capacity is lower than the facility’s service capacity. We could increase a facility’s contracted capacity by obtaining additional contracts or by renegotiating existing contracts to increase the number of beds covered. However, we may not be able to obtain contracts that provide occupancy levels at a facility’s service capacity or be able to maintain current contracted capacities in future periods.

(5)                    Occupancy percentages reflect less than normalized occupancy during the start-up phase of any applicable facility, resulting in a lower average occupancy in periods when we have substantial start-up activities.

(6)                    Average contract occupancy percentages are calculated based on actual occupancy for the period as a percentage of the contracted capacity for residential facilities in operation. These percentages do not reflect the operations of non-residential community-based programs. At certain residential facilities, our contracted capacity is lower than the facility’s service capacity. Additionally, certain facilities have and are currently operating above the contracted capacity. As a result, average contract occupancy percentages can exceed 100% if the average actual occupancy exceeded contracted capacity.

(7)                    Service capacity for non-residential programs is based on either contractual terms or an estimate of the number of clients to be served. We update these estimates at least annually based on the program’s budget and other factors.

(8)                    Data presented excludes discontinued operating facilities.

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ITEM 7.                             MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

General

Cornell is a leading provider of correctional, detention, educational, rehabilitation and treatment services outsourced by federal, state and local government agencies. We provide a diversified portfolio of services for adults and juveniles through our three operating divisions: (1) Adult Secure Services; (2) Abraxas Youth and Family Services; and (3) Adult Community-Based Services. At December 31, 2009, we operated 64 facilities with a total service capacity of 20,555 and had four facilities with a service capacity of 837 beds that were vacant. Our facilities are located in 15 states and the District of Columbia.

The following table (which excludes data related to discontinued operating facilities) sets forth for the periods indicated total residential service capacity and contracted beds in operation at the end of the periods shown, average contract occupancy percentages and total non-residential service capacity.

(1)                    Residential service capacity is comprised of the number of beds currently available for service in our residential facilities.

(2)                   At certain residential facilities, the contracted capacity is lower than the facility’s service capacity. We could increase a facility’s contracted capacity by obtaining additional contracts or by renegotiating existing contracts to increase the number of beds covered. However, we may not be able to obtain contracts that provide occupancy levels at a facility’s service capacity or be able to maintain current contracted capacities in future periods.

(3)                   Occupancy percentages reflect less than normalized occupancy during the start-up phase of any applicable facility, resulting in a lower average occupancy in periods when we have substantial start-up activities.

(4)                   Average contract occupancy percentages are calculated based on actual occupancy for the period as a percentage of the contracted capacity for residential facilities in operation. These percentages do not reflect the operations of non-residential community-based programs. At certain residential facilities, our contracted capacity is lower than the facility’s service capacity. Additionally, certain facilities have and are currently operating above the contracted capacity. As a result, average contract occupancy percentages can exceed 100% if the average actual occupancy exceeded contracted capacity.

(5)                   Service capacity for non-residential programs is based on either contractual terms or an estimate of the number of clients to be served. We update these estimates at least annually based on the program’s budget and other factors.

Our operating results for 2009 were impacted by a few significant events.  We completed the 700 bed expansion at D. Ray James Prison at the beginning of April 2009 and completed construction during the fourth quarter of 2009 of a new 1,250 bed facility in Hudson, Colorado.  We began receiving inmates under a contract with the Alaska Department of Corrections (“AKDOC”) at the Hudson Correctional Facility in late November 2009. Our 2008 results of operations were positively affected by a $1.5 million contract-based revenue adjustment recorded in March 2008 related to the Regional Correctional Center and a $1.55 million legal settlement (against which we incurred approximately $0.2 million in expenses in 2008) we received relating to a lawsuit we had brought against certain parties with regard to the operation of the Cornell Abraxas Academy facility. During 2008, we also completed and activated expansions at several facilities including the D. Ray James Prison (300 beds in February 2008), the Great Plains Correctional Facility (1,100 beds in September 2008) and the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility (500 beds in September 2008).

Although we believe we will continue to see steady demand across our various business segments and our customer base (federal, state and local) in 2010, we are monitoring the declining economic trends (which began in 2008) and the related impact on government budget plans and the effect tightened spending plans could have on our business (with respect to possible areas including utilization, per diem rates, etc). We expect key areas of focus for our performance in 2010 to include the transition of the customer at our D. Ray James Prison from the Georgia Department of Corrections to the Federal Bureau of

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Prisons (by the fourth quarter of 2010). This will include the ramp-down of the current population, preparation of the facility for the new customer and subsequent ramp-up of the BOP population. We also intend to focus on the options for our Great Plains Correctional Facility, including the continued utilization by the Arizona Department of Corrections of the facility or the potential utilization by other customers. We also plan to remain focused on our operating margins, on increasing utilization (particularly in the Abraxas division and in our Adult Secure facilities) and improving customer mix as we believe those initiatives are key elements of our financial performance.

Management Overview

Demand.  Our business is driven generally by demand for incarceration or treatment services, and specifically by demand for private incarceration or treatment services, within our three primary business segments: Adult Secure Services; Abraxas Youth and Family Services; and Adult Community-Based Services. The demand for adult and juvenile corrections and treatment services has generally increased at a steady rate over the past ten years, largely as a result of increasing sentence terms and/or mandatory sentences for criminals as well as a greater range of criminal acts, increasing demand for incarceration of illegal aliens and a public recognition of the need to provide services to juveniles that will increase the possibility that they will lead productive lives. Moreover, demand for our services is also affected by the amount of available capacity in the government systems to enable governments to provide the services themselves, as well as desire and ability of these systems to add additional capacity. In addition, the balance between community-based corrections treatment of adults as an alternative to traditional incarceration continues to be analyzed by many political and societal parties.  Among other things, we monitor federal, state and industry communications and statistics relative to trends in prison populations, juvenile justice statistics and initiatives, and developments in alternatives to traditional incarceration or detention of adults for opportunities to expand our scope or delivery of services.

The federal government contracts with private providers for the incarceration of adults, whether they are serving prison sentences, detained as illegal aliens, detained in anticipation of pending judicial administration or transitioning from prison to society.  Chief among the federal agencies which use private providers are the BOP, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) and USMS. We provide adult secure and adult community-based services to the federal government. Most of the federal involvement in juvenile administration in the federal system is handled via Medicare and Medicaid assistance to state governments. Although there are circumstances in which we may contract with a federal agency on a sole source basis, the primary means by which we secure a contract with a federal agency is through the RFP bidding process.  From time to time, we contract to provide management services to a local governmental unit who then bids on a federal contract.

States and smaller governmental units remain divided on the issue of private prisons and private provision of juvenile and community-based programs, although a majority of states permit private provision for our services.  We anticipate that increasing budget pressure on states and smaller governmental units may cause more states and smaller governmental units to consider utilizing private providers such as us to provide these services on a more economical basis. We believe capital budget constraints of prison agencies may encourage them to continue to explore outsourcing to private operators as an alternative to deploying their own capital for prison construction or major refurbishment. Although it varies from governmental unit to governmental unit, the primary political forces who typically oppose privatization of prisons are organized labor and religious groups.

Private juvenile and community-based programs are utilized by states and local governmental units and are organized on a profit and not-for-profit basis.  We monitor opportunities in these segments via our corporate and business division development officers.  Many opportunities are not published in any manner and, accordingly, we believe that taking the initiative at the state and local levels is key in developing sole source opportunities.

Performance.  We track a number of factors as we monitor financial performance.  Chief among them are:

·        capacity (the number of beds within each business segment’s facilities),

·        occupancy (utilization),

·        per diem reimbursement rates,

·        revenues,

·        operating margins, and

·        operating expenses.

Capacity.  Capacity, commonly expressed in terms of number of beds, is primarily impacted by the number and size of the facilities we own or lease and the facilities we operate on behalf of a third party owner or lessee.  We view capacity as one of the measures of our development efforts, through which we may increase capacity by adding new projects or by

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expanding existing projects (as we have done in 2007 through 2009 at several of our facilities including Great Plains Correctional Facility, D. Ray James Prison and the Hudson Correctional Facility).  As part of the evaluation of our development efforts, we assess (a) whether a given development project was brought into service in accordance with our expectation as to time and expense; and (b) the number of projects in development or under consideration at the relevant point in time.  In addition to the focus on new projects, capacity will reflect our success in renewing and maintaining existing contracts and facilities.  It will also reflect any closure of programs or facilities due to underutilization or failure to earn an adequate risk-adjusted rate of return.  We must also be cognizant of the possibility that state or local budgetary limitations may cause the contractual commitment to a given facility to be reduced or even eliminated, which would require us to either secure an alternate customer or close the operation.

Occupancy.  Occupancy is typically expressed in terms of percentage of contract capacity utilized.  We look at occupancy to assess the efficacy of both our efforts to market our facilities and our efforts to retain existing customers or contracts.  Because revenue varies directly with occupancy, occupancy is a driver of our revenues. Our industry experiences significant economies of scale, whereby as occupancy rises, operating costs per resident decline. Some of our contracts are “take-or-pay,” meaning that the agency making use of the facility is obligated to pay for beds even though they are not used.  Historically, occupancy percentages in many of our facilities have been high and we are mindful of the need to maintain such occupancy levels.  As new development projects are brought into service, occupancy percentages may decline until the projects reach full utilization (as, for example, with the activations of the 1,100 bed expansion at Great Plains Correctional Facility during the fourth quarter of 2008, the 700 bed expansion at D. Ray James Prison during the second quarter of 2009 and the 1,250 bed Hudson Correctional Facility during the fourth quarter of 2009). Where we have commitments for utilization before the commencement of operations, occupancy percentages reflect the speed at which a facility achieves full service/implementation. However, we may decide to undertake development projects without written commitments to make full use of a facility. In these instances, we have performed our own assessment, based on discussions with local government or other potential customer representatives and analysis of other factors, of the demand for services at the facility.  There is no assurance that we would recover our initial investment in these projects.  We will monitor occupancy as a measure of the accuracy of our estimation of the demand for the services of a development facility, and will incorporate this information in future assessments of potential projects. In addition, the ramp phase for our youth facilities is typically longer than that experienced in our adult facilities, which will impact our occupancy in the Abraxas Youth and Family Services division in a given period.

Per Diem Reimbursement Rates.  Per diem reimbursement rates are another key element of our gross revenue and operating margin since per diem contracts represent a majority of our revenues (61.0% for the year ended December 31, 2009).  Per diem rates are a function of negotiation between management and a governmental unit at the inception of a contract or through the bidding process.  Actual per diem rates vary dramatically across our business segments, and within each business segment depending upon the particular service or program provided. The initial per diem rates often change during the term of a contract in accordance with a schedule.  The amount of the change can be a fixed amount set forth within the contract, an amount determined by formulas set forth within the contract or an amount determined by negotiations between management and the governmental unit (often these negotiations are along the same lines as the original per diem negotiation — a review of expenses and approval of an amount to recompense for expenses and assure the potential of an operating profit).  In recent years, as budgetary pressures on governmental units have increased, some of our customers have negotiated relief from formulaic increase provisions within their agreements or have declined to include in their appropriation legislation amounts that would increase the per diem rates payable under the contract. Based on the economic turmoil which began in the second half of 2008 and continued throughout 2009, we are expecting such pressures to continue in 2010 for many of our customers. In similar prior situations we have attempted to mitigate the impact of these developments by negotiating services provided, obtaining commitments for increased volume and other measures. Customers may choose to reduce per diem rates through the reduction of contract services we may provide. We may also choose to consider terminating an existing relationship at a given facility and replacing it with a new customer (as was done with the Great Plains Correctional Facility in 2007 and as we intend to do with the D. Ray James Prison in 2010).

Revenues.  We derive substantially all of our revenues from providing adult corrections and treatment and juvenile justice, educational and treatment services outsourced by federal, state and local government agencies in the United States. Revenues for our services are generally recognized on a per diem rate based upon the number of occupant days or hours served for the period, on a guaranteed take-or-pay basis or on a cost-plus reimbursement basis. For the year ended December 31, 2009, our revenue base consisted of 61.0% for services provided under per diem contracts, 33.7% for services provided under take-or-pay and management contracts, 3.3% for services provided under cost-plus reimbursement contracts, 1.8% for services provided under fee-for-service contracts and 0.2% from other miscellaneous sources.  For the year ended December 31, 2008, our revenue base consisted of 54.0% for services provided under per diem contracts, 40.0% for services provided under take-or-pay and management contracts, 3.8% for services provided under cost-plus reimbursement contracts, 2.0% for services provided under fee-for-service contracts and 0.2% from other miscellaneous sources.  The increase in

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revenues in 2009 provided under per diem contracts (and the corresponding decrease in revenues provided under take-or-pay and management contracts) primarily reflects the transition of our contract at the Great Plains Correctional Facility with the Arizona Department of Corrections from a take-or-pay contract to a per diem contract upon the activation (and subsequent ramp in the fourth quarter of 2008) of its 1,100 bed expansion. We also initiated our per diem contract with the Alaska Department of Corrections at our Hudson Correctional Facility in November 2009. In addition, we also terminated several management contracts in 2008 (including the Salt Lake Valley Detention Center and the Lincoln County Detention Center in September 2008 and February 2008, respectively).

Revenues can fluctuate from year to year due to changes in government funding policies, changes in the number or types of clients referred to our facilities by governmental agencies, changes in the types of services delivered to our customers, the opening of new facilities or the expansion of existing facilities and the termination of contracts for a facility or the closure of a facility.

Factors considered in determining billing rates to charge include: (1) the programs specified by the contract and the related staffing levels and support costs; (2) wage levels customary in the respective geographic areas; (3) whether the proposed facility is to be leased or purchased; and (4) the anticipated average occupancy levels that could reasonably be expected to be maintained and the duration of time required to reach such occupancy levels.

Revenues-Adult Secure Services.  Revenues for our Adult Secure Services division are primarily generated from per diem, take-or-pay and management contracts.  For the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007, we realized average per diem rates on our adult secure facilities of approximately $54.53, $54.07 and $54.69, respectively. The 2008 average per diem rate benefited from a contract-based revenue adjustment for the contract year ended March 2008 in the amount of approximately $1.5 million at the RCC. We periodically have experienced pressure from contracting governmental agencies to limit or even reduce per diem rates. Many of these governmental entities are under severe budget pressures and we anticipate that governmental agencies may periodically approach us about per diem rate concessions (or decline to provide funding for contractual rate increases).  Decreases in, or the lack of anticipated increases in, per diem rates could adversely impact our operating margin.

Revenues-Abraxas Youth and Family Services.  Revenues for our Abraxas Youth and Family Services division are primarily generated from per diem, fee-for-service and cost-plus reimbursement contracts.  For the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007, we realized average per diem rates on our residential Abraxas Youth and Family Services facilities of approximately $197.98, $192.15 and $174.93, respectively. The increase in the average per diem rate for 2008 (as continued in 2009) reflects the continued ramp-up of the Cornell Abraxas Academy (reactivated in the fourth quarter of 2006), the reactivation of the Hector Garza Residential Treatment Center in August 2007, as well as changes in the mix of services provided and customers served at our other facilities.  For the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007, we realized average fee-for-service rates for our non-residential community-based Abraxas Youth and Family Services facilities and programs, including rates that are limited by Medicaid and other private insurance providers, of approximately $44.65, $48.28 and $44.35, respectively. The changes in the average fee-for-service rates are due to changes in the mix of services provided at our non-residential facilities. The majority of our Abraxas Youth and Family Services contracts renew annually.

Revenues-Adult Community-Based Services.  Revenues for our Adult Community-Based Services division are primarily generated from per diem and fee-for-service contracts. For the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007, we realized average per diem rates on our residential adult community-based facilities of approximately $66.94, $68.47 and $62.91, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007, we realized average fee-for-service rates on our non-residential Adult Community-Based Services facilities and programs of approximately $11.50, $11.00 and $13.70, respectively.  Our average fee-for-service rates fluctuate from year to year principally due to changes in the mix of services provided by our various Adult Community-Based Services programs and facilities.

Operating Margins.  We have historically experienced higher operating margins in our Adult Secure Services and Adult Community-Based Services divisions as compared to our Abraxas Youth and Family Services division. Our operating margin, in a given period, will be impacted by both utilization at active facilities as well as by those facilities which may either be dormant or have been reactivated during the period. As previously discussed, we have reactivated several facilities, including the Cornell Abraxas Academy and the Hector Garza Residential Treatment Center in 2006 and 2007, respectively. We have also expanded several of our Adult Secure facilities (D. Ray James Prison, Great Plains Correctional Facility and Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, for example), which provides the opportunity to leverage existing infrastructure. Additionally, our operating margins within a division can vary from facility to facility based on whether a facility is owned or leased, the level of competition for the contract award, the proposed length of the contract, the mix of services provided, the occupancy levels for a facility, the level of capital commitment required with respect to a facility, the anticipated changes in operating costs over the term of the contract and our ability to increase a facility’s contract revenue. Under take-or-pay

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contracts, such as the contract at the Moshannon Valley Correctional Center, operating margins are typically higher during the early stages of the contract as the facility’s population ramps up (as revenues are received at contract percentages regardless of actual occupancy). As the variable costs (primarily resident-related and certain facility costs) increase with the growth in population, operating margins will generally decline to a stabilized level. Following its activation in April 2006, we experienced such operating margin impact pertaining to the Moshannon Valley Correctional Center in the third and fourth quarters of 2006. Such an impact would also be anticipated at our D. Ray James Prison upon the activation of its transition to the BOP in the fourth quarter of 2010 (see — “Significant 2009-2010 Events”). A decline in occupancy at our Abraxas Youth and Family Services facilities and programs can have a more significant impact on operating margins than our Adult Secure Services division due to the longer periods typically required to ramp resident population at a youth facility.

We have experienced and expect to continue to experience interim period operating margin fluctuations due to factors such as the number of calendar days in the period, higher payroll taxes (generally in the first half of the year) and salary and wage increases and insurance cost increases that are incurred prior to certain contract rate increases. Periodically, many of the governmental agencies with whom we contract may experience budgetary pressures and may approach us to limit or reduce per diem rates (including contractual price increases as well). We anticipate such customer behavior may occur in 2010. Decreases in, or the lack of anticipated increases in, per diem rates could adversely impact our operating margin. Additionally, a decrease in per diem rates without a corresponding decrease in operating expenses could also adversely impact our operating margin. Furthermore, our margins may be negatively impacted during a customer transition at a facility due to the required population ramp patterns and timing as we change customers.

Operating Expenses.  We track several different areas of our operating expenses.  Foremost among these expenses are employee compensation and benefits and expenses, risk related areas such as general liability, medical and worker’s compensation, client/inmate costs such as food, clothing, medical and programming costs, financing costs and administrative overhead expenses. Increases or decreases in one or more of these expenses, such as our experience with rising insurance costs, can have a material effect on our financial performance.  Operating expenses are also impacted by decisions to close or terminate a particular program or facility.  Such decisions are based on our assessments of operating results, operating efficiency and risk-adjusted returns and are an ongoing part of our portfolio management.  In addition, decisions to restructure employee positions will typically increase period costs initially (at the time of such actions), but generally reduce post-restructuring expense levels.

We are responsible for all facility operating costs, except for certain debt service and interest or lease payments for facilities where we have a management contract only. At these facilities, the facility owner is responsible for all debt service and interest or lease payments related to the facility. We are responsible for all other operating expenses at these facilities. We operated 11 facilities under management contracts at December 31, 2009, 14 facilities at December 31, 2008 and 15 facilities at December 31, 2007. Included in the 11 facilities under management contracts at December 31, 2009 were the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility and the eight Los Angeles County Jails, which represented 1,714 beds of service capacity, and approximately 96.5% of the total residential service capacity of our management contracts.

A majority of our facility operating costs consists of fixed costs. These fixed costs include lease and rental expense, insurance, utilities and depreciation.  As a result, when we commence operation of new or expanded facilities, fixed operating costs may increase. The amount of our variable operating costs, including food, medical services, supplies and clothing, depend on occupancy levels at the facilities. Our largest single operating cost, facility payroll expense and related employment taxes and expenses, has both a fixed and a variable component. We can adjust a facility’s staffing levels and the related payroll expense to a certain extent based on occupancy at a facility; however a minimum fixed number of employees is required to operate and maintain any facility regardless of occupancy levels. Personnel costs are subject to increases in tightening labor markets based on local economic environments and other conditions.

We incur pre-opening and start-up expenses including payroll, benefits, training and other operating costs prior to opening a new or expanded facility (including customer transitions) and during the period of operation while occupancy is ramping up. These costs vary by contract (and the pace/scale of the activation and related population ramp). We incurred such costs at our Hudson Correctional Facility in conjunction with its activation during the fourth quarter of 2009 and would also expect to incur similar costs in conjunction with the planned customer transition at our D. Ray James Prison in the second half of 2010. Since pre-opening and start-up costs are generally factored into the revenue per diem rate that is charged to the contracting agency, we typically expect to recover these upfront costs over the life of the contract. Because occupancy rates during a facility’s start-up phase typically result in capacity under-utilization for at least 90 to 180 days, we may incur additional post-opening start-up costs. We do not anticipate post-opening start-up costs at any adult secure facilities operated under any future contracts with the BOP which are take-or-pay contracts, meaning that the BOP will generally pay at least 80.0% of the contractual monthly revenue once the facility opens, regardless of actual occupancy.

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Newly opened facilities are staffed according to applicable regulatory or contractual requirements when we begin receiving offenders or clients. Offenders or clients are typically assigned to a newly opened facility on a phased-in basis over a one- to six-month period. Our start-up period for new juvenile operations is 12 months from the date we begin recognizing revenue unless break-even occupancy levels are achieved before then. The actual time required to ramp a juvenile facility (with approximate capacity of 100 to 200 beds) may be a period of one to three years. Our start-up period for new adult operations is nine months from the date we begin recognizing revenue unless break-even occupancy levels are achieved before then.  The approximate time to ramp an adult facility of approximately 1,000 beds may be a period of three to six months, depending upon the customer requirements.  Although we typically recover these upfront costs over the life of the contract, quarterly results can be substantially affected by the timing of the commencement of operations as well as the development and construction of new facilities.

Working capital requirements generally increase immediately prior to commencing management of a new or expanded facility as we incur start-up costs and purchase necessary equipment and supplies before facility management revenue is realized.

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of costs for corporate and administrative personnel who provide senior management, legal, finance, accounting, human resources, investor relations, payroll and information systems, costs of business development and outside professional and consulting fees.

Significant 2009-2010 Events

D. Ray James Prison

In August 2007, we announced that we were initiating a second expansion of the D. Ray James Prison.  This expansion project increased the facility’s service capacity by an additional 700 beds for a total service capacity of approximately 2,800 beds.  This expansion project, with a cost of approximately $36.6 million, began in the first quarter of 2008 and was completed in the second quarter of 2009.  In January 2010, we received a contract award from the BOP to house up to 2,507 low-security adult males at the facility. The contract has an anticipated effective date of October 1, 2010 and has an initial four-year term with three two-year option periods. We anticipate we will spend between $5.0 million to $10.0 million prior to the effective date of the BOP contract in order to prepare the facility for the BOP inmates. In conjunction with the preparations for the BOP population during 2010, we will be transitioning from the Georgia Department of Corrections’ inmates currently housed at this facility.

Hudson, Colorado

In August 2008, we entered into an agreement pursuant to which we will lease a new 1,250 bed adult secure facility in Hudson, Colorado.  The facility is owned by a third party and was built on land we sold to the third party.  We retained approximately 270 acres out of the original 320 acres we acquired in 2007.  Construction of the facility began in the third quarter of 2008 and was completed in early November 2009.  We have a contract with the AKDOC to house up to 1,000 state prisoners at the facility.  The contract became effective September 16, 2009 and has an initial term through June 30, 2012, with annual renewal options for the period July 1, 2012 through October 31, 2019.  Under the contract, the AKDOC will house up to 1,000 adult male inmates at the facility, with an agreed-upon 800 bed guarantee.  The intake of approximately 800 inmates began in late November 2009 and was completed by December 2009.

California Facilities

In October 2009, we were notified by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) that they were terminating their contracts at our two small California male community correctional facilities (Baker Community Correctional Facility and Mesa Verde Community Correctional Facility) which represent a combined 622 beds of service capacity. We are considering potential alternate customers for these facilities, but we can make no assurances as to who the customer will be or what the possible timing might be.

Texas Adolescent Treatment Center

During the fourth quarter of 2009, we transitioned the population from this facility to our Hector Garza Residential Treatment Center (both of which are located in San Antonio, Texas). In December 2009, we entered into a contract to sell the facility at a price slightly above our carrying cost. We currently anticipate the transaction will close during the second quarter of 2010.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

General. Our primary capital requirements are for (1) purchases, construction or renovation of new facilities, (2) expansions of existing facilities, (3) working capital, (4) pre-opening and start-up costs related to new operating contracts, (5) acquisitions of businesses or facilities, (6) information systems hardware and software and (7) furniture, fixtures and equipment.  Working capital requirements generally increase immediately prior to commencing management of a new facility (or activation of facility expansion) as we incur start-up costs and purchase necessary equipment and supplies before facility management revenue is realized.

Cash Flows From Operations. Cash provided by operations was approximately $51.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 compared to $59.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2008.  The decrease from the prior period was principally due to (1) a decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities in the year ended December 31, 2009 due to the timing and amount of vendor payments, as partially offset by (2) an increase of approximately $3.9 million in net income in the year ended December 31, 2009, and (3) a decrease in accounts receivable-trade due to the timing of receipt of customer payments (refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources - Future Liquidity” for more information concerning this activity).

Cash Flows From Investing Activities.  Cash used in investing activities was approximately $22.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 due to (1) capital expenditures of $22.3 million primarily related to the 700 bed expansion at the D. Ray James Prison completed in the second quarter of 2009 and furniture and equipment at the Hudson Correctional Facility and (2) net payments to the bond fund payment account of approximately $2.4 million.  Additionally, we had proceeds from insurance recoveries (related to the Reid Community Residential Facility) of approximately $2.7 million. Cash used in investing activities was approximately $81.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 due to (1) capital expenditures of $79.9 million related primarily to the facility expansion projects at the Great Plains Correctional Facility and the D. Ray James Prison, (2) net payments to the bond fund payment account of approximately $2.9 million, (3) proceeds from the sale of property and equipment of $0.8 million and (4) sales of investment securities of $0.3 million.

Cash Flows From Financing Activities.  Cash used in financing activities was approximately $16.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 due primarily to (1) payments of MCF bonds of $12.4 million and (2) net payments on our Amended Credit Facility of $5.0 million.  Additionally, we had net proceeds from the exercise of stock options and employee purchase plan contributions of approximately $0.6 million. Cash provided by financing activities was approximately $34.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 due to (1) net borrowings on our Amended Credit Facility of $45.0 million (primarily related to facility expansions) and (2) proceeds from the exercise of stock options of $0.6 million, partially offset by payments on MCF bonds of $11.4 million.

Long-Term Credit Facilities.  Our Amended Credit Facility provides for borrowings up to $100.0 million (including letters of credit) and matures in December 2011. At our election, outstanding borrowings bear interest at either the LIBOR rate plus a margin ranging from 1.50% to 2.25%, or a rate which ranges from 0.00% to 0.75% above the applicable prime rate. The applicable margins are subject to adjustments based on our total leverage ratio. The available commitment under our Amended Credit Facility was approximately $17.9 million at December 31, 2009.  We had outstanding borrowings under our Amended Credit Facility of $70.0 million and we had outstanding letters of credit of approximately $12.1 million at December 31, 2009.  Subject to certain requirements, we have the right to increase the commitments under our Amended Credit Facility up to $150.0 million, although the indenture for our Senior Notes limits our ability, subject to certain conditions, to expand the Amended Credit Facility beyond $100.0 million.  We can provide no assurance that all of the banks that have made commitments to us under our Amended Credit Facility would be willing to participate in an expansion to the Amended Credit Facility should we desire to do so.  The Amended Credit Facility is collateralized by substantially all of our assets, including the assets and stock of all of our subsidiaries. The Amended Credit Facility is not collateralized by the assets of Municipal Corrections Finance, LP, a special purpose entity (“MCF”).

Our Amended Credit Facility contains financial and other restrictive covenants that limit our ability to engage in certain activities.  Our ability to borrow under the Amended Credit Facility is subject to compliance with certain financial covenants, including bank leverage, total leverage and fixed charge coverage ratios.  At December 31, 2009, we were in compliance with all such covenants.  Our Amended Credit Facility includes other restrictions that, among other things, limit our ability to: incur indebtedness; grant liens; engage in mergers, consolidations and liquidations; make investments, restricted payments and asset dispositions; enter into transactions with affiliates; and engage in sale/leaseback transactions.

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MCF is obligated for the outstanding balance of its 8.47% Taxable Revenue Bonds, Series 2001.  The bonds bear interest at a rate of 8.47% per annum and are payable in semi-annual installments of interest and annual installments of principal.  All unpaid principal and accrued interest on the bonds is due on the earlier of August 1, 2016 (maturity) or as noted under the bond documents.

The bonds are limited, nonrecourse obligations of MCF and collateralized by the property and equipment, bond reserves, assignment of subleases and substantially all assets related to the facilities included in the 2001 Sale and Leaseback Transaction (in which we sold eleven facilities (as identified in Item 1 - Facilities of this report) to MCF).  The bonds are not guaranteed by Cornell.

In June 2004, we issued $112.0 million in principal of 10.75% Senior Notes (the “Senior Notes”) due July 1, 2012.  The Senior Notes are unsecured senior indebtedness and are guaranteed by all of our existing and future subsidiaries (collectively, “the Guarantors”).  The Senior Notes are not guaranteed by MCF (the “Non-Guarantor”).  Interest on the Senior Notes is payable semi-annually on January 1 and July 1 of each year, commencing January 1, 2005.  On or after July 1, 2008, we were able to redeem all or a portion of the Senior Notes at the redemption prices (expressed as a percentage of the principal amount) listed below, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on the Senior Notes redeemed, to the applicable date of redemption, if redeemed during the 12-month period commencing on July 1 of each of the remaining years indicated below:

As the Senior Notes are redeemable at our option (subject to the requirements noted) we anticipate we will monitor the capital markets and continue to assess our capital needs and our capital structure, including a potential refinancing of the Senior Notes.

Upon the occurrence of specified change of control events, unless we have exercised our option to redeem all the Senior Notes as described above, each holder will have the right to require us to repurchase all or a portion of such holder’s Senior Notes at a purchase price in cash equal to 101% of the aggregate principal amount of the notes repurchased plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on the Senior Notes repurchased, to the applicable date of purchase.  The Senior Notes were issued under an indenture which limits our ability and the ability of our Guarantors to, among other things, incur additional indebtedness, pay dividends or make other distributions, make other restricted payments and investments, create liens, incur restrictions on the ability of the Guarantors to pay dividends or other payments to us, enter into transactions with affiliates, and engage in mergers, consolidations and certain sales of assets.

Future Liquidity

Our shelf registration statement on Form S-3 for potential offerings from time to time of up to $75.0 million in gross proceeds of debt securities, common stock, preferred stock, warrants or certain other securities was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission in September 2008.

We expect to use existing cash balances, internally generated cash flows and borrowings from our Amended Credit Facility to fulfill anticipated obligations such as capital expenditures, working-capital needs and scheduled debt maturities over at least the next twelve months. As of December 31, 2009 we have approximately $17.9 million of available capacity under our Amended Credit Facility. We will continue to analyze our capital structure, including a potential refinancing of our Senior Notes and financing for our expected future capital expenditures, including any potential acquisitions. We will consider potential acquisitions from time to time. Our principal focus for acquisitions is anticipated to be in our Adult Secure Services and Adult Community-Based Services divisions, although we would also pursue attractively priced acquisitions in our Abraxas Youth and Family Services division. We may decide to use internally generated funds, bank financing, equity issuances, debt issuances or a combination of any of the foregoing to finance our future capital needs. We may also seek, from time to time, to retire or purchase some of our common stock and/or outstanding debt through open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions or otherwise.  Such repurchases, if any, will depend on prevailing market conditions, our liquidity requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors.  In July 2009, our Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program which provides for up to $10.0 million in purchases through December 2010.  In September 2009, we adopted a 10b5-1 Plan to facilitate purchases of our common stock pursuant to such stock repurchase plan.  The Company may also repurchase our common stock in open market purchases.  At December 31, 2009 we believe we have sufficient liquidity necessary to complete those projects (including the facility modifications to be performed in association with the contract transition preparation at D. Ray James Prison) for which we have outstanding commitments.

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Our internally generated cash flow is directly related to our business. Should the private corrections and juvenile businesses deteriorate, or should we experience poor results in our operations, cash flow from operations may be reduced. We have, however, continued to generate positive cash flow from operating activities over recent years and expect that cash flow will continue to be positive over the next year. Our access to debt and equity markets may be reduced or closed to us due to a variety of events, including, among others, industry conditions, general economic conditions, market conditions, credit rating agency downgrades of our debt and/or market perceptions of us and our industry. The volatility seen in the financial markets beginning in the third quarter of 2008 has continued throughout 2009 and is expected to be present (at some level) for the near term. Such volatility could result in decreased availability of capital at economical terms (or at various times) and could also put additional financial and budgetary pressure on our customers. Such conditions could potentially result in our inability to pursue additional future growth opportunities (such as facility expansions or new facility construction) and, if coupled with unexpected client, operational or other issues affecting our cash flow, in a need to seek additional financing at terms we would otherwise not accept.

In addition, our accounts receivable are with federal, state, county and local government agencies, which we believe generally reduces our credit risk.  However, it is possible that situations such as continuing budget resolutions, delayed passage of budgets or budget pressures may increase the length of repayment of certain of these receivables. For example, during 2009 the State of California notified vendors providing services to the state that it would temporarily issue IOU’s. We received IOU’s from the State of California which were subsequently paid in full during the third quarter of 2009. We do not currently hold any IOU’s from the State of California. In addition, delays in the passage of budgets (such as experienced in the State of Pennsylvania in 2009) may lead to temporary delays in the repayment of our receivables from operations in such states. This would lead to a temporary increase in our receivables, as evidenced by the increase in our accounts receivable-trade in the third quarter of 2009. As the State of Pennsylvania did not pass a fiscal 2010 budget until mid-October 2009, the majority of the cities and counties in Pennsylvania chose to defer their payments (during the state budget impasse present through the third quarter of 2009) until the state budget had been adopted. Subsequent to the passage of the state’s fiscal 2010 budget, our various Pennsylvania customers returned to their historic payment patterns. While we will closely monitor such situations, we do not currently expect this to have a significant negative impact on the repayment of our receivables related to our facilities in such locations.

Contractual Uncertainties Related to Certain Facilities

Regional Correctional Center.  The Office of Federal Detention Trustee (“OFDT”) holds the contract for the use of the RCC on behalf of ICE, USMS and the BOP with Bernalillo County, New Mexico (the “County”) through an intergovernmental services agreement, and we have an operating and management agreement with the County.  In July 2007, we were notified by ICE that it was removing all ICE detainees from the RCC and the removal was completed in early August 2007.  The facility is still being utilized by the USMS and since May 2008 by the BOP, but not at its full capacity.  In February 2008, ICE informed us that it would not resume use of the facility.  In February 2008, OFDT attempted to unilaterally amend its agreement with the County to reduce the number of minimum annual guaranteed mandays under the agreement from 182,500 to 66,300.  Neither we nor the County believe OFDT has the right to unilaterally amend the contract in this manner, and OFDT has been informed of our position. Although either party to the intergovernmental services agreement has the right to terminate upon 180 days notice, neither party has exercised such right as of December 31, 2009.  During the third quarter of 2009, we filed a claim against the United States, acting through the United States Department of Justice, OFDT and ICE (collectively, “Defendants”) for breach of contract and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, arising out of the Defendants’ improper modification of the intergovernmental services agreement (the “Contract”) and subsequent failure to pay for the shortfalls in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 minimum annual guaranteed mandays specified in the Contract.

There is a pending lawsuit against the County concerning the County jail system, know as the “McClendon” case.  In 1994, plaintiffs sued the County in federal district court in the District of New Mexico over conditions at the county jail, which was then located at what is now the RCC and run by the Company.  The County subsequently built their new Metropolitan Detention Center to house the County inmates and also negotiated two stipulated agreements in 2004 designed to end the McClendon lawsuit.  These stipulated settlements covered the Metropolitan Detention Facility and were approved by the Court in 2005 (the “2005 settlement agreements”).

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In March 2009, the Federal Judge presiding over the case issued an Order based on motions filed by Plaintiffs class counsel asking the Judge to reform the 2005 settlement agreements to allow for access to the RCC.  In those motions, the Plaintiffs also requested alternative relief in the form of withdrawal of the Court’s approval of the 2005 settlement agreements.  Based on our interpretation of the Order, the Judge denied Plaintiffs’ request for access to the RCC, granted the alternative relief requested, withdrew her approval of the 2005 settlement agreements and granted the option to Plaintiffs to rescind their 2005 settlement agreements.  The Plaintiffs chose to rescind the 2005 settlement agreements.  In the Order, the Judge concluded that the RCC, at least to the extent it is used to house detainees by Bernalillo County pursuant to the intergovernmental services agreement, is part of the county jail system.  The County has informed us that it does not believe McClendon should apply to the RCC and the County has filed an appeal of the Order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.  We are not party to this lawsuit and the ramifications of the Court’s Order to our operation of the RCC are unclear.

The 2005 settlement agreements imposed various conditions on the Metropolitan Detention Center that resulted in material increases to its operating costs.  The effect of the rescission of the 2005 settlement agreements is unclear since those settlement agreements replaced prior settlement agreements approved in 1996.  We do not believe we are contractually obligated to bear any incremental costs of complying with any settlement agreements in the McClendon case although the County has expressed to us that it may want us to absorb a portion of any costs that would be incurred.  We currently plan to continue to operate the facility and also continue with our marketing plans for the RCC.

Revenues for this facility were approximately $14.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 and approximately $9.9 million (including a $1.5 million contract-based revenue adjustment for the contract year ended March 2008 due to the OFDT’s shortfall of mandays usage as compared to the annual guarantee) for the year ended December 31, 2008. The net carrying value of the leasehold improvements for this facility was approximately $0.6 million and $1.1 million at December 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. Our lease for this facility requires monthly rent payments of approximately $0.13 million for the remaining term of the lease (which was extended through June 2010). To date, although we have several federal agencies using the RCC, the facility still has available capacity.  Our inability to expand the existing population with current or new customers or any disruption of our operations due to activity in the McClendon case could have an adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.  We believe there has been no impairment to the carrying value of the leasehold improvements at this facility.

California Facilities. In October 2009, we were notified by the CDCR that they were terminating our contracts at our two small California male community correctional facilities (Baker Community Correctional Facility (“Baker”) and Mesa Verde Community Correctional Facility (“Mesa”)) which represent a combined 622 beds of service capacity.

Revenues for Baker were approximately $3.9 million and $5.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. The net carrying value of this owned facility was approximately $2.8 million and $2.7 million at December 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. We are considering potential alternate customers for this facility, but we can make no assurances as to who the customer will be or what the possible timing might be. We believe that there has been no impairment to the carrying value of this facility.

Revenues for Mesa were $5.7 million and $7.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. The net carrying value of the leasehold improvements for this facility was approximately $0.6 million at December 31, 2009 and 2008. Our lease for this facility requires monthly rent payments ranging from approximately $0.14 million to $0.16 million over the remaining term of the lease through June 2015. We are considering potential alternate customers for this facility, but we can make no assurances as to who the customer will be (or what the possible timing might be). We believe that there has been no impairment to the carrying value of the leasehold improvements at this facility.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of our financial statements in conformity with authoritative guidance requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the balance sheet date and the amounts of revenues and expenses recognized during the reporting period. We analyze our estimates based on our historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. However, actual results could differ from such estimates. The following is a discussion of our critical accounting estimates. Management considers an accounting estimate to be critical if:

·      it requires assumptions to be made that were uncertain at the time the estimate was made; and

·                  changes in the estimate or different estimates that could have been selected could have a material impact on our consolidated financial position or results of operations.

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For a summary of all of our significant accounting policies see “Note 2-Significant Accounting Policies” of the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8 of this Form 10-K.

Revenue Recognition

Substantially all of our revenues are derived from contracts with federal, state and local governmental agencies which pay either per diem rates based upon the number of occupant days or hours served for the period, on a take-or-pay basis, management fee basis, cost-plus reimbursement or fee-for-service basis.  Revenues are recognized as services are provided under our established contractual agreements to the extent collection is considered probable.

Accounts Receivable and Related Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

We extend credit to the governmental agencies contracted with and other parties in the normal course of business.  We regularly review our outstanding receivables and historical collection experience and provide for estimated losses through an allowance for doubtful accounts. In evaluating the adequacy of our allowance for doubtful accounts, we make judgments regarding our customers’ ability to make required payments, economic events and other factors.  As the financial condition of these parties change, circumstances develop or additional information becomes available, adjustments to the allowance for doubtful accounts may occur. If, after reasonable collection efforts have been made, a receivable is determined to be uncollectible, it is written off.

Insurance Reserves

We maintain insurance coverage for various aspects of our business and operations.  We retain a portion of losses that occur through the use of deductibles and retention under self-insurance programs.  We regularly review our estimates of reported and unreported claims and provide for these losses through insurance reserves. These reserves are influenced by rising costs of health care and other costs, increases in claims, time lags in claims information and levels of insurance coverage carried. As claims develop and additional information becomes available to us, adjustments to the related loss reserves may occur.  Our reserves for medical and worker’s compensation claims are subject to change based on our estimate of the number and the magnitude of claims to be incurred.

Use of Estimates

Our financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, which require that we make certain estimates and judgments that affect our reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and the disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. We evaluate our estimates on an on-going basis, based on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable based on the information available. Actual results could differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. The significant estimates that we make in the accompanying consolidated financial statements include the allowance for doubtful accounts, accruals for insurance and legal claims, valuation allowance for deferred tax accounts, the realizability of long-lived tangible and intangible assets and the fair value of financial instruments.

Accounting for Long-Lived Assets

We review our long-lived assets (including our facilities at a facility-by-facility level) for impairment at least annually or when changes in circumstances or a triggering event indicates that the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable. Authoritative guidance requires that long-lived assets to be held and used recognize an impairment loss only if the carrying amount of the long-lived asset is not recoverable from its estimated future undiscounted cash flows and to measure an impairment loss as the difference between the carrying value and the fair value of the asset. Assets to be disposed of by sale are recorded at the lower of their carrying amount or fair value less estimated selling costs. We estimate projections of undiscounted cash flows, and also fair value, based upon the best information available, which may include expected future discounted cash flows to be produced by the asset and/or available market prices. Factors that significantly influence estimated future cash flows include the periods and levels of occupancy for the facility, expected per diem or reimbursement rates, assumptions regarding the levels of staffing, services and future operating and capital expenditures necessary to generate forecasted revenues, related costs for these activities and future rate of increases or decreases associated with these factors. Information typically utilized will also include relevant terms of existing contracts (for similar services and customers), market knowledge of customer demand (both present and anticipated) and related pricing, market competitors, and our historical experience (as to areas including customer requirements, contract terms, operating requirements/costs, occupancy trends, etc.). We may also consider the results of any appraisals if a fair value is necessary. Estimates for factors such as per diem or reimbursement rates may be highly subjective, particularly in circumstances where there is no current

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operating contract in place and changes in the assumptions and estimates could result in the recognition of impairment charges.

The most subjective estimates made in our impairment analysis for 2009 related to Baker and the Hector Garza Residential Treatment Center (“Hector Garza”), particularly with respect to estimated timing of occupancy (at Baker) and resident mix (at Hector Garza). The approximate carrying values at December 31, 2009 for Baker and Hector Garza were $2.8 million and $3.9 million, respectively. The estimated undiscounted future cash flow values exceeded the carrying values noted for these facilities, and Hector Garza had operating contracts in place. If the underlying assumptions for the deemed subjective estimates in the 2009 analyses were adjusted to reflect reasonable likely changes the undiscounted cash flows would still exceed the carrying value of the assets assessed for impairment.

The most subjective estimates made in our impairment analysis for 2008 related to Cornell Abraxas 1 and Hector Garza, particularly with respect to estimated occupancy. The approximate carrying values at December 31, 2008 for Cornell Abraxas 1 and Hector Garza were $10.4 million and $4.0 million, respectively. The estimated undiscounted future cash flow values exceeded the carrying values noted for the facilities, and all facilities had operating contracts in place. During 2009, there were no significant events that caused us to believe that an impairment of these facilities had occurred.

We may be required to record an impairment charge in the future if we are unable to successfully negotiate a replacement contract on any of our facilities for which we currently have an operating contract. Given the nature of the evaluation of future cash flows and the application to specific assets and specific times, it is not possible to reasonably quantify the impact of changes in these assumptions.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

We account for goodwill in accordance with current authoritative guidance which states that there is no amortization of goodwill or intangible assets with indefinite lives.  Impairment of these assets is assessed annually or if there has been a triggering event which would result in a potential impairment, to determine if the estimated fair value of the reporting unit exceeds the net carrying value of the reporting unit, including the applicable goodwill.  The estimates of fair value are based upon our estimates of the present value of future cash flows.  We make assumptions which include the estimated cash flows of the reporting units (and the underlying components including levels of occupancy, expected per diems, capital expenditures necessary to generate forecasted revenues, related costs for these activities and future rate of increases or decreases associated with these factors) and inflation factors. If the underlying assumptions in the 2009 analysis were adjusted to reflect reasonable likely changes, the estimates of fair value would still exceed the carrying value of the goodwill.

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Results of Operations

Material fluctuations in our results of operations are principally the result of the level of new contract development activity, the timing and effect of facility expansions, occupancy or contract rates, contract renewals or terminations and facility closures and non-recurring charges.

The following table sets forth for the periods indicated the percentages of revenue represented by certain items in our Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income.