Fannin County Judge Spanky Carter says he's “100 percent confident” that the county will not have to take over operations after Florida-based GEO Group walks away from the Fannin County Jail management contract in June.
GEO announced it would be terminating the contract, including 121 jobs at the facility, earlier this month. That's a full year and a quarter before the contract actually expires, next September.
In a phone interview, Carter said that if G-E-O's walking away hurts the county financially, he will take the company to court. That's a big if, and how much the termination could hurt Fannin County depends on who takes over the management operations at the jail. Carter says he's been in talks with "several" private prison companies interested in taking over before GEO walks away.
Carter says there's "a zero percent chance" that Fannin County will have to foot the bill.
"Nothing will change except the management," he says.
GEO Group did not respond to a request for comment.
