Summary of Business Organization, Operations and Significant Accounting Policies (Details Textual)	12 Months Ended								12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended						3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($) bed facility person state agency		Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)		Aug. 31, 2012	Aug. 30, 2012	Jan. 01, 2012 USD ($)	Jan. 02, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Facility Management Contracts	Dec. 31, 2013 Technology	Dec. 31, 2013 Foreign Subsidiaries USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Foreign Subsidiaries USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 GEO Amey USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 GEO Amey GBP (£)	Dec. 31, 2012 GEO Amey USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 GEO Amey GBP (£)	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum Facility Management Contracts	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum Facility Management Contracts	Dec. 31, 2013 Building and Building Improvements Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Building and Building Improvements Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Equipment and Furniture and Fixtures Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Equipment and Furniture and Fixtures Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Tacoma, Washington Bed	Dec. 31, 2012 Brush, Colorado USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 LIBOR GEO Amey	Dec. 31, 2013 LIBOR Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 LIBOR Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Base Rate, Bank of England GEO Amey	Dec. 31, 2013 Cornell Companies, Inc.
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Revenue Based on Performance of Certain Targets	1.00%
Ownership percentage					100.00%	0.00%							50.00%	50.00%			20.00%		50.00%
Summary of Business Organization
Number of beds	77,000
Correctional, detention and residential treatment facilities including projects under development	98
Provision of monitoring services tracking offenders	70,000
Number of federal, state and local correctional agencies to which company provide services	900
Number of states in which the company operates	50
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 52,125,000		$ 31,755,000				$ 43,378,000	$ 38,088,000			$ 20,400,000	$ 24,800,000
Accounts Receivable
Minimum period for payment receivable in arrears for services	30 days
Maximum period for payment receivable in arrears for services	60 days
Accounts receivable one year past due and still accruing																															1 year
Trade receivables	800,000		500,000
Notes Receivable
Interest rate for subordinated loan extended to the former joint venture partner	13.00%
Notes receivable from its former joint venture partner	2,000,000		2,300,000
Principal amount and accrued interest at LIBOR																											3.00%	1.75%	2.75%	0.50%
Line of Credit, amount outstanding													19,800,000	12,000,000	20,400,000	12,600,000
Accrued interest included under line of credit													1,500,000	900,000	1,000,000
Number of beds in detention center																									1,575
Federal and state income tax overpayments	22,400,000
Property and Equipment
Useful life																	1 year				2 years	50 years	3 years	10 years
Asset Impairments
Property and equipment, net	1,727,798,000	[1]	1,687,159,000	[1]
Number of vacant beds at its idle facilities	6,000
Number of marketed idle facilities	6
Carrying values of idle facilities	193,600,000
Impairment of long-lived assets, held for sale																										2,400,000
Other Intangible Assets
Amortization period									13 years 4 months 24 days	7 years								3 years		18 years
Debt Issuance Costs
Deferred debt issuance cost, accumulated amortization	19,500,000		9,800,000
Debt issuance costs included in other non-current assets	$ 33,100,000		$ 23,400,000

[1] As of December 31, 2013 and 2012 Canada did not have any significant long-lived assets.