Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023	Sep. 30, 2022
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Amortization expense	$ 9.4	$ 14.8
Facility management contracts
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Weighted average period before renewal or extension	3 years 1 month 6 days

Weighted average period before the next renewal or extension for intangible assets with renewal or extension terms, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (d)
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482665/350-30-50-1

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AcquiredFiniteLivedIntangibleAssetWeightedAveragePeriodBeforeRenewalOrExtension
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The aggregate expense charged against earnings to allocate the cost of intangible assets (nonphysical assets not used in production) in a systematic and rational manner to the periods expected to benefit from such assets. As a noncash expense, this element is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-SubTopic 10
-Topic 230
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482740/230-10-45-28

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482686/350-30-45-2

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(2)
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482665/350-30-50-2

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Topic 926
-SubTopic 20
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147483154/926-20-50-5

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=geo_FacilityManagementContractsAndCustomerRelationshipsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: