McRae-Helena, Georgia, with a population of about 8,700, is what you could call a prison town, times two. There’s a state prison at one end, and McRae Correctional — a private federal prison — at the other. Together, the two facilities house some 3,000 people. 

Lon Hamilton owns the Southern Star Grill, a family-style restaurant not far from the federal prison. 

“Since I’m the closest restaurant and the closest motel is next door, we do have the majority of the people that stay here,” he said. “Last weekend I think we had 21 that were here visiting.”

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Hamilton was on the county economic development council when it convinced CoreCivic, formely known as CCA, to build a prison here in the early 2000s.

“We spent a lot of money just to get them here,” he said, noting that the county expanded its water and sewer infrastructure and put in access roads. Even though it took months after the prison was finished before it started operating, Hamilton said the investment has paid off in taxes and some 350 jobs.

When the U.S. Bureau of Prisons announced last year that it would phase out its contracts with private-prison operators, residents of McRae launched a letter-writing campaign.

“And not only were we doing it," Hamilton said, "but every other community that had a prison was doing the same thing we were.”

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