The locally based provider of privatized correctional services announced Thursday the Florida Correctional Privatization Commission selected Atlantic Shores Healthcare Inc., a subsidiary of Wackenhut, to build and operate the 600-bed facility on 30 acres of state-owned land in the rural Southwest Florida county of DeSoto.

But that claim is not quite accurate, Mark Hodges, the commission's executive director, tells GlobeSt.com. Although he didn't fully identify the competitor, Hodges says a company going by the name of Liberty is contesting the bid on the facility. All negotiations have ceased until the dispute is settled.

Officials at Wackenhut did not respond to a request from GlobeSt.com for comment. Prior to the dispute, Hodges says, Wackenhut proposed a facility at a construction buildout of about $100 million. He expects the final contract to come in underneath that figure, however.