Debt (Nonrecourse Debt) (Details)	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended							0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) Bed	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Jan. 03, 2010 Bed	Aug. 31, 2012	Aug. 30, 2012	Aug. 31, 2010	Aug. 31, 2012 Municipal Corrections Finance L.P. USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Municipal Corrections Finance L.P. facility	Aug. 31, 2012 Municipal Corrections Finance L.P.	Dec. 31, 2012 MCFs Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2012 MCFs Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt	Dec. 31, 2013 Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt AUD	Sep. 30, 2013 Taxable Revenue Bonds STLDC USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Taxable Revenue Bonds STLDC	Dec. 31, 2014 Subordinate Notes STLDC USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Non Recourse Debt Northwest Detention Center USD ($)	Dec. 09, 2011 Non Recourse Debt 2011 Revenue Bonds USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 MCFs Non Recourse Debt	Dec. 31, 2014 Northwest Detention Center Non Recourse Debt Northwest Detention Center USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Northwest Detention Center Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Fullham [Member] Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Fullham [Member] Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt AUD	Dec. 31, 2013 Fullham [Member] Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Fullham [Member] Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt AUD
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of bed in detention Complex		1,904
Debt instrument, face amount																	$ 49,500,000			$ 57,000,000
Outstanding balance		1,625,958,000															17,200,000
Proceeds from funds held in trust																	17,300,000
Bonds fixed coupon rates minimum																		4.63%
Bonds fixed coupon rates maximum																		5.07%
Subordinated notes receivable																			5,000,000
Revised number of beds					1,575
Number of beds					1,030
Long term debt		1,462,819,000	1,485,536,000																		54,400,000
Stated interest rate								8.47%													6.40%			8.47%
Non-recourse debt													77,900,000		23,900,000	26,900,000						144,550,000	84,131,000			49,400,000			16,400,000	20,100,000
Current portion of non-recourse debt																										6,300,000
Current restricted cash																									4,300,000
Number of Facilities Purchased From Cornell										11
Ownership percentage						100.00%	0.00%				100.00%
Acquisition of ownership interests	35,154,000	0	0	35,154,000					35,200,000
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0	(20,657,000)	(8,462,000)								(8,500,000)					1,500,000
Payment of make-whole provision and other fees for early extinguishment of debt												14,900,000
Bond Redemption Costs												100,000
Fair value premium on non-recourse												6,400,000
Interest rate terms														variable rate quoted by certain Australian banks plus 140 basis points
Non current restricted cash																											$ 4,100,000	5,000,000