Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 550,614	$ 510,185
Operating expenses	414,707	388,506
Depreciation and amortization	28,949	28,451
General and administrative expenses	42,586	34,061
Operating income	64,372	59,167
Interest income	11,977	4,557
Interest expense	(35,000)	(29,366)
Income before income taxes and equity in earnings of affiliates	41,349	34,358
Provision for income taxes	2,470	3,151
Equity in earnings of affiliates, net of income tax provision of $611 and $471, respectively	1,487	1,119
Net income	40,366	32,326
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	37	24
Net income attributable to The GEO Group, Inc.	$ 40,403	$ 32,350
Weighted-average common shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	113,599	110,813
Diluted (in shares)	114,478	111,300
Basic:
Income per common share attributable to The GEO Group, Inc. - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.36	$ 0.29
Diluted:
Income per common share attributable to The GEO Group, Inc. - diluted (in dollars per share)	0.35	0.29
Dividends declared per share (in US dollars per share)	$ 0.47	$ 0.43