Tennessee’s Department of Correction is requesting a $6.8 million contract increase for its private prison operator despite penalizing the company $44.78 million since 2022 for contractual shortfalls, $15 million in the last five months alone.
Correction officials told lawmakers Tuesday that Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, which is under a civil rights investigation by the Department of Justice, has a 33.7% vacancy rate for prison officers compared with 26% at state-run prisons. The facility is one of four prisons operated by CoreCivic, a publicly-traded company that runs facilities nationwide.
Trousdale Turner sustained a 146% turnover rate in 2023, making it more difficult to check on prisoners and avert safety risks.
“None of this makes sense where the state is increasing the amount it’s paying CoreCivic every year but also penalizing CoreCivic for not meeting the terms of the contract,” said Democratic Sen. Jeff Yarbro of Nashville. “It seems that we need to really take a close look at what’s being required in these contracts where CoreCivic’s falling short and what we can do about it.”
CoreCivic refuses to disclose what it pays officers, and in some instances when it has personnel shortages, it brings in officers from other states to boost staff.
Yarbro considers that a “transparency” problem and said CoreCivic has the resources to increase officer pay and benefits to meet the terms of the state contract. Tennessee boosted prison officer pay by 35% two years ago.
None of this makes sense where the state is increasing the amount it’s paying CoreCivic every year but also penalizing CoreCivic for not meeting the terms of the contract.
– Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville
Correction Commissioner Frank Strada continued to defend CoreCivic after a budget hearing Tuesday, calling the company a “partner” for the state and saying the prison system has monitors who determine whether the privately-run prisons are meeting contract demands. He said the CoreCivic prisons have seen a decrease in violent incidents and contraband but provided no statistics to back up that assertion.
“They are doing what they can for progress,” Strada said after the Senate State and Local Government Committee approved his budget request.
The state pays CoreCivic about $240 million annually despite audits detailing low staffing, violence, deaths and other problems. Tennessee’s overall prison budget could jump $91.6 million to $1.4 billion if lawmakers approve the department’s request.
Strada said the $6.8 million increase for CoreCivic is based on inflation, not a pay raise.
In spite of the increase in penalties against the company, Strada said his department is “holding them accountable.” He said CoreCivic has corrected 90% of the findings in a state audit conducted more than two years ago.
The total number of deaths in CoreCivic prisons from 2019 through 2022 was 221, more than a third of the 645 deaths reported in the entire state 14-prison system, including facilities for women, according to department figures. More than half of the prison system’s drug-related deaths in that time frame took place in the four private prisons out of 143 drug-related deaths overall. The department did not give death statistics for all of 2023 and 2024.
Frank Strada, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction, says his department is holding CoreCivic accountable despite since October 2024. (Photo: John Partipilo)
The Department of Correction provided information to the Tennessee Lookout Tuesday showing the state has levied fines totaling $44.78 million against CoreCivic since 2022, up some $15 million since last October. Those include $15.4 million assessed against Hardeman County Correctional Facility, $6.3 million against South Central Correctional Facility, $10.8 million against Trousdale Turner and $12.15 million against Whiteville Correctional Facility, according to the department.
An inmate died at Hardeman County Correctional Facility and several others were injured in December 2024.
Separately, a lawsuit was filed against CoreCivic last year claiming an inmate died of a drug overdose stemming from understaffing and a prison drug ring, according to news reports. The lawsuit said 418 calls for help were made about overdoses over three years at Trousdale Turner and that staff profited by allowing drugs to be smuggled into the facility.
CoreCivic declined to comment on the lawsuit at the time, but said it has a zero-tolerance policy for contraband.
A Tennessee law dating back to the 1980s when the company was founded as Corrections Corporation of America allows the state to have only one privately-run prison. The company gets around that law by contracting with counties where the prisons are located.
Since 2009, the company has spent $3.7 million on lobbying and campaign donations in the state, a Lookout analysis found.
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Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
SUMMARY: State Senator Bo Watson deferred a Senate committee hearing on a bill that could deny undocumented students public education, citing the need for additional time to refine the language. In response, two Nashville pastors met with Watson to express their opposition to the bill, emphasizing that children should not be punished for circumstances beyond their control. They argued for fair treatment under the law and criticized using children as political pawns. In their five-minute discussion, Watson acknowledged the need for immigration reform while also discussing the financial implications of illegal immigration in Tennessee. The bill is now set for review on April 1st.
Pastors confront sponsor of undocumented student bill
www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-25 08:51:00
(The Center Square) – A Tennessee bill that would establish a database for vaping products and sales would generate millions for the state’s general fund, the bill’s sponsor said Tuesday.
Senate Bill 763 would require vaping stores to register with the state. The legislation bans retailers from selling products. Civil penalties for failing to comply with the registry range from $500 to $1,500 for retailers and up to $10,000 for a manufacturer that sells a noncompliant product.
The legislation adds a tax on closed-system vapor products of 7 cents per milliliter of consumable material contained in the vapor product and a 10% tax on the wholesale price of open-system vapor products.
The bill initially directed revenue to a special fund. The Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee agreed to amend the bill Tuesday and send revenue to the general fund.
The estimated revenue is about $16 million, but the costs to maintain and establish the database are not known, said bill sponsor Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston.
Retailers told committees the bill would decimate the industry.
“This bill would immediately put 99% of vapor products off the market,” Danny Gillis, president of the Tennessee Smoke-Free Association and the owner of three vape stores, told a House committee earlier this month. “It will create a new and unfair wholesale tax structure. If this bill passes, it will put 700,000 adult nicotine consumers in Tennessee without access to safer, alternative products and approximately 700 stores will end up closing, including three of my own, and approximately 2,220 jobs will be lost.”
Yager said that is not the bill’s intention.
“We are not all advocating the closure of any vape stores,” Yager said. “What we are doing is that we are setting up guardrails to make sure that the practices in these stores do not in any way harm the lives of young people and comply with the laws of Tennessee.”
The committee recommended approval 9-2, sending it to the full Senate for consideration. Its House companion has a hearing before the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.
SUMMARY: Researchers at Mammoth Cave National Park recently identified a new ancient shark species, *Clavusodens mcginnisi* (McGinnis’ nail tooth), which lived about 340 million years ago. This small shark, measuring just three to four inches, thrived in Kentucky’s warm, shallow seas during the Mississippian Period. It likely fed on small crustaceans, worms, and brachiopods. The discovery, made in the Ste. Genevieve Formation, adds to the park’s Paleontological Resource Inventory. The shark is named after David McGinnis, a former park guide and fossil preservation advocate. Further analysis of this and other fossil finds will be released in the coming months.
