15.

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Legal Proceedings

General. The nature of CCA’s business results in claims and litigation alleging that it is liable for damages arising from the conduct of its employees, inmates, or others. The nature of such claims include, but is not limited to, claims arising from employee or inmate misconduct, medical malpractice, employment matters, property loss, contractual claims, and personal injury or other damages resulting from contact with CCA’s facilities, personnel or prisoners, including damages arising from a prisoner’s escape or from a disturbance at a facility. CCA maintains insurance to cover many of these claims, which may mitigate the risk that any single claim would have a material effect on CCA’s consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows, provided the claim is one for which coverage is available. The combination of self-insured retentions and deductible amounts means that, in the aggregate, CCA is subject to substantial self-insurance risk.

CCA records litigation reserves related to certain matters for which it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the range of such loss can be estimated. Based upon management’s review of the potential claims and outstanding litigation and based upon management’s experience and history of estimating losses, management believes a loss in excess of amounts already recognized would not be material to CCA’s financial statements. In the opinion of management, there are no pending legal proceedings that would have a material effect on CCA’s consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. Any receivable for insurance recoveries is recorded separately from the corresponding litigation reserve, and only if recovery is determined to be probable. Adversarial proceedings and litigation are, however, subject to inherent uncertainties, and unfavorable decisions and rulings could occur which could have a material adverse impact on CCA’s consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows for the period in which such decisions or rulings occur, or future periods. Expenses associated with legal proceedings may also fluctuate from quarter to quarter based on changes in CCA’s assumptions, new developments, or by the effectiveness of CCA’s litigation and settlement strategies.

Insurance Contingencies

Each of CCA’s management contracts and the statutes of certain states require the maintenance of insurance. CCA maintains various insurance policies including employee health, workers’ compensation, automobile liability, and general liability insurance. These policies are fixed premium policies with various deductible amounts that are self-funded by CCA. Reserves are provided for estimated incurred claims for which it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the range of such loss can be estimated.

Guarantees

Hardeman County Correctional Facilities Corporation (“HCCFC”) is a nonprofit, mutual benefit corporation organized under the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act to purchase, construct, improve, equip, finance, own and manage a detention facility located in Hardeman County, Tennessee. HCCFC was created as an instrumentality of Hardeman County to implement the County’s incarceration agreement with the state of Tennessee to house certain inmates.

During 1997, HCCFC issued $72.7 million of revenue bonds, which were primarily used for the construction of a 2,016-bed medium security correctional facility. In addition, HCCFC entered into a construction and management agreement with CCA in order to assure the timely and coordinated acquisition, construction, development, marketing and operation of the correctional facility.

HCCFC leases the correctional facility to Hardeman County in exchange for all revenue from the operation of the facility. HCCFC has, in turn, entered into a management agreement with CCA for the correctional facility.

In connection with the issuance of the revenue bonds, CCA is obligated, under a debt service deficit agreement, to pay the trustee of the bond’s trust indenture (the “Trustee”) amounts necessary to pay any debt service deficits consisting of principal and interest requirements (outstanding principal balance of $28.8 million at December 31, 2012 plus future interest payments), if there is any default. In addition, in the event the state of Tennessee, which is currently utilizing the facility to house certain inmates, exercises its option to purchase the correctional facility, CCA is also obligated to pay the difference between principal and interest owed on the bonds on the date set for the redemption of the bonds and amounts paid by the state of Tennessee for the facility plus all other funds on deposit with the Trustee and available for redemption of the bonds. Ownership of the facility reverts to the state of Tennessee in 2017 at no cost. Therefore, CCA does not currently believe the state of Tennessee will exercise its option to purchase the facility. At December 31, 2012, the outstanding principal balance of the bonds exceeded the purchase price option by $9.3 million.

Retirement Plan

All employees of CCA are eligible to participate in the Corrections Corporation of America 401(k) Savings and Retirement Plan (the “Plan”) upon reaching age 18 and completing one year of qualified service. Eligible employees may contribute up to 90% of their eligible compensation subject to IRS limitations. For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010, CCA provided a discretionary matching contribution equal to 100% of the employee’s contributions up to 5% of the employee’s eligible compensation to employees with at least one thousand hours of employment in the plan year. Prior to January 1, 2012, employer contributions were made to those who were employed by CCA on the last day of the plan year, and investment earnings or losses thereon become vested 20% after two years of service, 40% after three years of service, 80% after four years of service, and 100% after five or more years of service. Effective January 1, 2012, the Plan adopted a safe harbor provision that provides, among other changes, future employer matching contributions to be paid into the Plan each pay period and vest immediately.

During the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010, CCA’s discretionary contributions to the Plan, net of forfeitures, were $11.1 million, $9.2 million, and $8.3 million, respectively.

Deferred Compensation Plans

During 2002, the compensation committee of the board of directors approved CCA’s adoption of two non-qualified deferred compensation plans (the “Deferred Compensation Plans”) for non-employee directors and for certain senior executives. The Deferred Compensation Plans are unfunded plans maintained for the purpose of providing CCA’s directors and certain of its senior executives the opportunity to defer a portion of their compensation. Under the terms of the Deferred Compensation Plans, certain senior executives may elect to contribute on a pre-tax basis up to 50% of their base salary and up to 100% of their cash bonus, and non-employee directors may elect to contribute on a pre-tax basis up to 100% of their director retainer and meeting fees. During the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010, CCA matched 100% of employee contributions up to 5% of total cash compensation. CCA also contributes a fixed rate of return on balances in the Deferred Compensation Plans, determined at the beginning of each plan year. Vesting provisions for matching contributions and investment earnings thereon conform to the vesting provisions of CCA’s 401(k) Plan. However, CCA did not change the vesting provisions to conform with the 401(k) Plan effective January 1, 2012. Distributions are generally payable no earlier than five years subsequent to the date an individual becomes a participant in the Plan, or upon termination of employment (or the date a director ceases to serve as a director of CCA), at the election of the participant. Distributions to senior executives must commence on or before the later of 60 days after the participant’s separation from service or the fifteenth day of the month following the month the individual attains age 65.

During 2012, 2011, and 2010, CCA provided a fixed return of 5.9%, 6.0%, and 6.2% to participants in the Deferred Compensation Plans, respectively. CCA has purchased life insurance policies on the lives of certain employees of CCA, which are intended to fund distributions from the Deferred Compensation Plans. CCA is the sole beneficiary of such policies. At the inception of the Deferred Compensation Plans, CCA established an irrevocable Rabbi Trust to secure the plans’ obligations. However, assets in the Deferred Compensation Plans are subject to creditor claims in the event of bankruptcy. During 2012, 2011, and 2010, CCA recorded $0.5 million, $0.3 million, and $0.3 million, respectively, of matching contributions as general and administrative expense associated with the Deferred Compensation Plans. Assets in the Rabbi Trust were $12.6 million and $8.8 million as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. As of December 31, 2012 and 2011, CCA’s liability related to the Deferred Compensation Plans was $15.6 million and $12.2 million, respectively, which was reflected in accounts payable and accrued expenses and other liabilities in the accompanying balance sheets.

Employment and Severance Agreements

CCA currently has employment agreements with several of its executive officers, which provide for the payment of certain severance amounts upon termination of employment under certain circumstances or a change of control, as defined in the agreements.