Press Release - Rivers Correctional Facility
Press Release
Rivers Correctional Facility
March 26, 2021
Upon learning of the “Executive Order on Reforming Our Incarceration System to Eliminate the Use of Privately Operated Criminal Detention Facilities” issued by President Biden on January 26th, 2021, the Hertford County Board of Commissioners immediately began discussions with representatives from the GEO Group (Rivers Correctional Facility) to identify viable options for saving the jobs of the community members employed at the Rivers Correctional Facility.
Hertford County representatives have been in frequent and constant contact with the GEO Group including several in person meetings to discuss and examine specific details, stakeholders and structures of a potential solution.
The Hertford County Board of Commissioners have directly contacted our North Carolina and United States Representatives to explain the significance of the personal and community loss should these 400 friends, family and neighbors lose their jobs as a result of the Executive Order. The Commissioners have also lobbied our Representatives to advocate on Rivers Correctional Facility’s behalf, which they have done and continue to do for us.
Despite the monumental efforts of the Hertford County Board of Commissioners, our State and Federal Legislators, community stakeholders and the GEO Group, a viable solution has yet to be identified but the work continues for the benefit of the staff at Rivers Correctional Facility and the community.
The County of Hertford stands ready as an active and engaged partner to find a solution.