George W. Hill Correctional Facility

Last updated
George W. Hill Correctional Facility
George W. Hill Correctional Facility
Location500 Cheyney Road, Thornton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
StatusOpen
Capacity1883
Opened1998
Former nameBroadmeadows
Delaware County Prison
Managed by Delaware County
Warden Laura Williams

George W. Hill Correctional Facility is a county jail and prison located in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in the townships of Thornbury and Concord. [1] [2] It has a Thornton postal address, [3] and is within the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Contents

Founded in 1998, the jail was previously managed and operated by Boca Raton, Florida's GEO Group until 2009 and was run by West Caldwell, New Jersey based company, Community Education Centers (CEC). In April 2017, GEO Group completed an acquisition of CEC, regaining management of the prison. [4] Currently, the facility is managed by Delaware County, which took back control of the jail as of April 6, 2022 and generally houses inmates with sentences of two years less one day or a state sentences of five years less one day. [5] [6] The facility was Pennsylvania's last privately operated county jail.

The jail occupies fewer than 144 acres (58 ha) of land on a more than 414-acre (168 ha) plot of county property. [1]

Controversy

Between 2005 and 2008, at least eight people died when GEO Group-operated the facility. Several of those deaths resulted in lawsuits by family members who said the facility did not provide adequate medical care or proper supervision for offenders. On December 31, 2008, GEO pulled out of operations at this facility, "citing underperformance and frequent litigations" as the reasons. [7] According to the Delaware County Medical Examiner's office six suicides have occurred at George W. Hill since CEC took over operations of the facility in 2009. [8]

The prison was reacquired by GEO Group in April 2017, after GEO group completed an acquisition of Community Education Centers.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delaware County, Pennsylvania</span> County in Pennsylvania, United States

Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the fifth-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the third-smallest in area. The county was created on September 26, 1789, from part of Chester County and named for the Delaware River. The county is part of the Southeast Pennsylvania region of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solebury Township, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Solebury Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,709 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warminster Township, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Warminster Township, also referred to as Warminster, is located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was formally established in 1711. The township is 13.7 miles north of Philadelphia and had a population of 33,603 according to the 2020 U.S. census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Thornbury Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,017 at the 2010 census. It is adjacent to, and was once joined with, Thornbury Township, Delaware County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethel Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Bethel Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It contains the two unincorporated communities of Booth's Corner and Chelsea. The population was 8,791 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Concord Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 17,231 at the 2010 census. It contains the unincorporated communities of Concordville and Glen Mills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Thornbury Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the population was 8,028, up from 7,093 at the 2000 census. It is adjacent to, and was once joined with, Thornbury Township in Chester County. It includes part of the census designated place of Cheyney University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheyney University of Pennsylvania</span> Public historically black university in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, US

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is a public historically black university in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1837 as the Institute for Colored Youth, it is the oldest of all historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States. It is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The university offers bachelor's degrees and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Chester Area School District</span> School district in Pennsylvania, United States

The West Chester Area School District (WCASD) serves the borough and surrounding townships of West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States. The other parts include the surrounding townships of East Bradford, East Goshen, Thornbury, West Goshen, West Whiteland, and Westtown, all in Chester County, as well as Thornbury Township in adjacent Delaware County. The WCASD consists of eleven elementary schools, three middle schools, and three high schools, as of the fall 2022 school year. Elementary schools include grades 1-5, middle schools grades 6-8, and high schools grades 9-12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Route 926</span> State highway in Pennsylvania, US

Pennsylvania Route 926 is a 26.2-mile-long (42.2 km) state route located west of Philadelphia in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The western terminus of the route is at PA 10 in Upper Oxford Township. The eastern terminus is at PA 3 in the Philadelphia suburb of Willistown Township. The route is known as Street Road for its entire length. For 0.9 miles (1.4 km), PA 926 runs along the county line between Delaware and Chester counties. The route passes through a mix of suburban and rural areas along its extent. PA 926 is two lanes and undivided its entire length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Mills, Pennsylvania</span> Unincorporated community in Pennsylvania, United States

Glen Mills is an unincorporated community in Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, located approximately 27 miles west of Philadelphia. The ZIP Code for Glen Mills is 19342.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheyney, Pennsylvania</span> Place in Pennsylvania, United States

Cheyney is an unincorporated community that sits astride Chester and Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It corresponds to the census-designated place known as Cheyney University, which had a population of 988 at the 2010 census, and 565 at the 2020 census. It is the home of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. The university derives its name from George Cheyney's Farm, which became the current campus of Cheyney University in 1902. George Cheyney's Farm and the surrounding area was part of the original land grant given to William Penn in 1681.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Route 112</span> Highway in Pennsylvania, United States

Pennsylvania Route 112 (PA 112) was a 4+34-mile-long (7.6 km) state highway located in Delaware and Chester counties in Pennsylvania. Running along current day Cheyney Road, PA 112 began at an intersection with U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Markham, headed northward, and terminated at an intersection with PA 926 in the community of Tanguy.

Pennsylvania State Senate District 9 includes parts of Chester County and Delaware County. It is currently represented by Democrat John I. Kane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 160</span> American legislative district

Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 160 includes parts of Chester County and Delaware County. It is currently represented by Republican Craig Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaver Valley, Delaware and Pennsylvania</span> Unincorporated community in Delaware and Pennsylvania, United States

Beaver Valley straddles the Pennsylvania and Delaware border in Delaware County, PA and New Castle County, DE. An unincorporated place name, it is traversed by several streams which drain to Beaver Run which itself empties into the Brandywine River. It is approximately bounded by US Route 202 to the east, The Brandywine River to the west, Thompsons Bridge Road to the south, and Smithbridge Road to the north, with Beaver Valley Road encircling a large portion of the valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Mills Schools</span> Youth detention center in Pennsylvania

The Glen Mills Schools was a youth detention center for juvenile delinquents located near Glen Mills in Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, for boys between 12 and 21 years of age. The school was founded in 1826 and was the oldest surviving school of its type in the United States until all residents were ordered removed on March 25, 2019, by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. The school's licenses were subsequently revoked for not complying with the state's Human Services Code and regulations.

Community Education Centers, Inc. was a private corrections company based in West Caldwell, New Jersey that operated residential reentry facilities, jails, and in-prison drug treatment programs in seventeen American states and Bermuda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelsea, Pennsylvania</span> Unincorporated community in Pennsylvania, United States

Chelsea is an unincorporated community in Bethel Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Chelsea is located at the intersection of Concord Road, Chelsea Road, Foulk Road, and Valley Brook Road in the northern part of the township.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thornton, Pennsylvania</span> Place in Pennsylvania, United States

Thornton is an unincorporated community spanning Thornbury Township, Concord Township and Middletown Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States.

References

  1. 1 2 "Delaware County Open Space, Recreation, and Greenway Plan Volume III: County Parks and Recreation Plan" (PDF). Delaware County, Pennsylvania. April 2015. pp. 1–13 (PDF p. 31). Retrieved 2018-09-26. For example, the County Prison in Thornbury and Concord Townships, sits on over 414 acres of land, less than 144 acres of which is developed for the prison.
  2. Maps:
  3. "Delaware County Prison". Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2018-09-26. Location: 500 Cheyney Road Thornton, PA 19373
  4. "Press Release". investors.geogroup.com. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  5. "Delaware County PA". co.delaware.pa.us. Archived from the original on 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  6. "CEC". cecintl.com. Retrieved 2014-12-15. 1998
  7. Rose, Alex. "A changing of the guard at county prison". delcotimes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  8. Scala, Kristina. "County probing two suicides at prison". delcotimes.com. Archived from the original on 2015-08-05. Retrieved 2015-09-17.

39°54′10″N75°30′51″W / 39.90289°N 75.51417°W / 39.90289; -75.51417