KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
—
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday that private prison company CoreCivic filed against the city of Leavenworth.
The company wants to reopen its prison in Leavenworth to use for ICE detainees.
This comes after the Department of Justice backed CoreCivic with a Statement of Interest in September.
The parties met Tuesday morning in Topeka before Judge Toby Crouse, who dismissed the first lawsuit between the parties in May.
They were in court Tuesday because CoreCivic filed a complaint against the city of Leavenworth and a request for an injunction asking that the federal court enjoin the state court’s injunction, essentially asking the federal court to step in and take over.
They were also there on Leavenworth’s motion to dismiss CoreCivic’s complaint.
The judge denied CoreCivic’s motion for an injunction and granted the city’s motion to dismiss the company's lawsuits.
“The City greatly appreciates the time and attention that the judge obviously took to look at all the issues,” said David Waters, city attorney. “From the very beginning, we did not believe that this was a matter that was appropriate to be brought in the federal court, given that the state courts have already considered these matters and granted city a temporary injunction against CoreCivic’s operating without a special use permit. So we're very pleased by the judge's ruling.”
Before this, there were two lawsuits — one in state court and one in federal court.
Tuesday got rid of the federal lawsuit.
The state court issued an injunction against CoreCivic that temporarily keeps it from operating as an ICE detention facility.
While the state court action was pending, CoreCivic filed a lawsuit in federal court.
CoreCivic appealed that injunction to the Kansas State Court of Appeals.
The court of appeals will most likely hear that in February, Waters said.
There could still be other actions at the lower state level, but those have been stayed, pending the resolution of the state court issue.
CoreCivic renewed its contract with ICE at the end of September.
Leavenworth City Manager Scott Peterson said the city is "pleased" with the outcome and that CoreCivic is still "welcome" to apply for a special use permit at any time.
"As we process today's court decision, we maintain our legal position that we should be able to lawfully operate our facility, as we've done for almost 30 years," a CoreCivic spokesperson said in a statement to KSHB 41. "That said, we are assessing all available avenues to find a successful conclusion to this matter for us, our stakeholders and our community, up to and including filing for the Special Use Permit."
—
