CoreCivic has appointed Patrick Swindle to the role of chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
Patrick Swindle
Courtesy of CoreCivic
According to a release, the move follows Swindle’s appointment as president and chief operating officer of the private prisons operator on Jan. 1, 2025 (read here).
Swindle will succeed Damon Hininger, who has served as CEO of the Brentwood-based company since August 2009. Relatedly, and effective Jan. 1, 2026, Hininger will resign from CoreCivic’s board and Swindle will be appointed to fill the vacancy.
The release does not note whom will replace Swindle as COO.
Similarly, it does not offer details as to Hininger’s looming departure; however, Hininger thanked CoreCivic employees, both current and retired, customers, and investors, noting in the release “it has been a tremendous honor and a privilege to work at the company.”
The looming change in leadership comes as CoreCivic is facing multiple lawsuits related to charges understaffing and mismanagement of facilities (read more here) and is preparing to reopen a West Tennessee prison to house federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees (read here), with the latter move having drawn some citizen concerns.
Swindle brings more than 18 years of industry experience, having served in various leadership positions at CoreCivic. He joined CoreCivic in 2007 as managing director, treasury, and later served as vice president, strategic development; senior vice president, operations; executive vice president and chief corrections officer; and executive vice president and chief operating officer before being promoted to president in 2025.
During his tenure, Swindle has enhanced CoreCivic’s practices for strategic development initiatives, improved the company’s operations department and, most recently, led the teams responsible for activations of various idle facilities.
In 2018, Swindle led efforts to restructure CoreCivic’s operational leadership team while standardizing core processes such as workforce management, resident programming and security functions.
Prior to joining CoreCivic, Swindle spent 10 years in equity research in the equity capital markets divisions of SunTrust Equitable Securities, Raymond James Financial Services and Avondale Partners.
Swindle holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Western Kentucky University.
“[Swindle’s] vision and expertise make him the ideal leader to guide CoreCivic into its next chapter,” Mark Emkes, CoreCivic board chairman, said in the release.
“As chief operating officer, he has overseen the largest component of the business, and he has proven his ability to develop people and solve challenging problems. Since his promotion to president, Patrick’s responsibilities have expanded, and he’s led CoreCivic’s teams exceptionally well during a period of rapid growth.”
