Florida based GEO Group, got slammed by hundreds of Goodyear, Arizona residents, after GEO attempted to convince local authorities to let them build a new prison.

The Arizona Department of Corrections wants a new 5,000 bed prison.  They’ve picked 5 possible locations.  The prison will be run by a contractor, for 20 years.

So far several cities have indicated their desire to be the location of the new prison, but one city, Goodyear, made it clear they did not want a GEO run prison in their back yard.

It wasn’t just the people of Goodyear, but several businesses, and organizations as well. The list includes Duncan Family Farms; the Litchfield elementary school district, along with the city of Litchfield Park; property developers Sunbelt Holdings and Robson Resort Communities; and Sub-Zero refrigerator manufacturer.

A GEO representative tried to convince the Goodyear council that the prison could bring in an annual payroll of up to $51 million to the community.

Mayor Georgia Lord responded: “A prison does not grow anything but more prisoners.”

Along with the 5,000 bed prison, GEO is trying to get Arizona to build a smaller 3,000 bed prison in San Luis, near Yuma.