Increase Decrease in vesting percentage based on performance relative to annual performance criteria

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Increase decrease investing percentage based on shareholder return relative to peer group.

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Value of share instruments newly issued under a share-based compensation plan.

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Amount of expense for award under share-based payment arrangement. Excludes amount capitalized.

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Amount of cost not yet recognized for nonvested award under share-based payment arrangement.

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Weighted-average period over which cost not yet recognized is expected to be recognized for award under share-based payment arrangement, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

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Period over which grantee's right to exercise award under share-based payment arrangement is no longer contingent on satisfaction of service or performance condition, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Includes, but is not limited to, combination of market, performance or service condition.

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Description of service or performance condition required to be met for earning right to award under share-based payment arrangement. Includes, but is not limited to, combination of market, performance or service condition.

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Fair value of share-based awards for which the grantee gained the right by satisfying service and performance requirements, to receive or retain shares or units, other instruments, or cash.

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Number of shares authorized for issuance under share-based payment arrangement.

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The difference between the maximum number of shares (or other type of equity) authorized for issuance under the plan (including the effects of amendments and adjustments), and the sum of: 1) the number of shares (or other type of equity) already issued upon exercise of options or other equity-based awards under the plan; and 2) shares (or other type of equity) reserved for issuance on granting of outstanding awards, net of cancellations and forfeitures, if applicable.

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Number of shares issued under share-based payment arrangement.

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STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2025	Dec. 31, 2024	Dec. 31, 2023	Dec. 31, 2022
2020 Stock Incentive Plan
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Number of shares authorized for issuance of awards				5.9
Number of shares available for issuance	4.4
Restricted stock based awards
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Fair value of restricted common stock units issued by CoreCivic to certain of its employees and non-employee directors	$ 23.9	$ 23.5
Increase Decrease in vesting percentage based on performance relative to annual performance criteria	150.00%
Increase Decrease in vesting percentage based on shareholder return relative to peer group	114.90%
Allocated share-based compensation expense	$ 27.7	25.7	$ 20.8
Unrecognized compensation cost	$ 17.6
Remaining period for recognizing the unrecognized compensation cost, in years	1 year 6 months
Total fair value of RSUs that vested	$ 37.1	32.1	17.8
Restricted stock based awards \| Minimum
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Increase Decrease in vesting percentage based on performance relative to annual performance criteria	0.00%
Increase Decrease in vesting percentage based on shareholder return relative to peer group	80.00%
Restricted stock based awards \| Maximum
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Increase Decrease in vesting percentage based on performance relative to annual performance criteria	150.00%
Increase Decrease in vesting percentage based on shareholder return relative to peer group	120.00%
Restricted stock based awards \| General and Administrative
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Allocated share-based compensation expense	$ 26.6	24.1	19.2
Restricted stock based awards \| Operating
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Allocated share-based compensation expense	$ 1.1	$ 1.6	$ 1.6
Restricted stock based awards \| Employees And Non Employee Directors
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Restricted common stock units issued by CoreCivic	1.2	1.6
Restricted stock based awards \| Employees And Non Employee Directors \| General and Administrative
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Restricted common stock units issued by CoreCivic	1.1	1.5
Restricted stock based awards \| Employee \| Operating
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Restricted common stock units issued by CoreCivic	0.1	0.1
Restricted stock based awards \| Officers And Executive Officers
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Vesting period	3 years
Vesting description	CoreCivic has established performance-based vesting conditions on a portion of the RSUs awarded to its officers and executive officers that, unless earlier vested under the terms of the agreements, are subject to vesting over a three-year period based upon the satisfaction of certain annual performance criteria. The RSUs awarded to officers and executive officers in 2023, 2024 and 2025 consist of a combination of awards with performance-based conditions and time-based conditions. Unless earlier vested under the terms of the RSU agreements, the RSUs with time-based vesting conditions vest in equal amounts over three years on the later of (i) the anniversary date of the grant or (ii) the delivery of the audited financial statements by the Company's independent registered public accountant for the applicable fiscal year. The RSUs with performance-based vesting conditions are divided into one-third increments, each of which is subject to vesting based upon satisfaction of certain annual performance criteria established at the beginning of the fiscal years ending December 31, 2023, 2024, and 2025 for the 2023 awards, December 31, 2024, 2025, and 2026 for the 2024 awards, and December 31, 2025, 2026, and 2027 for the 2025 awards, and which can be increased up to 150% or decreased to 0% based on performance relative to the annual performance criteria, and further increased or decreased using a modifier of 80% to 120% based on CoreCivic's total shareholder return relative to a peer group. Based on performance achieved for 2025, the RSUs subject to performance-based vesting criteria were increased by 150%; and were further increased by a 114.9% modifier based on CoreCivic's total shareholder return relative to the peer group. Because the performance criteria for the fiscal years ending December 31, 2026 and 2027 have not yet been established, the values of the third RSU increment of the 2024 awards and of the second and third increments of the 2025 awards for financial reporting purposes will not be determined until such criteria are established. A portion of the RSU award granted to CoreCivic's Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") in 2024 contains a single performance-based vesting condition that results in full vesting on the later of (i) the second anniversary of the award or (ii) the delivery of the audited financial statements by the Company's independent registered public accountant for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, if the performance criteria is met for the year ending December 31, 2025, or no vesting if the performance criteria is not met for such year.
Restricted stock based awards \| Non Employee Directors
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Vesting period	1 year
Restricted stock based awards \| Other Employees
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]
Vesting description	Time-based RSUs issued to other employees, unless earlier vested under the terms of the agreements, generally vest in equal amounts over three years on the later of (i) the anniversary date of the grant or (ii) the delivery of the audited financial statements by the Company's independent registered public accountant for the applicable fiscal year.