| Prison Name: | Lea County Correctional Center |
| Location: | 6900 West Millen Drive, Hobbs, New Mexico |
| Classification: | medium security |
| Capacity: | 1200 |
| Opened: | 1998 |
| Managed By: | GEO Group |
| Director: | Dwayne Santistevan |
The Lea County Correctional Facility (LCCF) is a medium-security prison for men located four miles north-west of Hobbs, New Mexico, opened in 1998 on 60 acres of the former Hobbs Army Airfield, now adjacent to the Lea County Regional Airport.[1] The facility can house 1200 state inmates of the New Mexico Corrections Department, and is operated by the private GEO Group under a contract administered through the county.[2]
In its first year, LCCF was "the site of three fatal inmate stabbings, six nonfatal stabbings, a 'near-riot' and allegations of guards using excessive force, according to reports in both the Albuquerque Journal and Albuquerque Tribune."[3]
In April 2002 the U.S. Department of Justice found three LCCF guards guilty of civil rights conspiracy and obstruction charges after assaulting a prisoner, then falsifying reports and lying to investigators.[4]
In November 2011 the state of New Mexico imposed fines of $1.1 million against GEO Group for failing to maintain adequate staffing levels at LCCF. In March 2012 the state imposed another fine of nearly $300,000 for the company's failure to properly staff guards and health care workers; some positions had remained vacant for two months or longer.