(The Center Square) – Nearly four months after a riot at Tennessee’s Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, a panel of lawmakers questioned the Department of Corrections on Wednesday about what could be done to protect inmates.
The June riot injured one correctional officer and resulted in 12 indictments.
The prison, Tennessee’s largest, is operated by CoreCivic, a private company that operates three other facilities in Tennessee. The company receives $3.8 million a year from the state, according to the state’s Transparent Tennessee website.
Questions about management and safety have been raised.
The Department of Justice said in August 2024 that it was investigating the facility amid reports of “staffing shortages, physical and sexual assaults, murders and a 188% turnover rate among prison guards just last year.”
Sen. Jeff Yarbro, a member of the Senate State and Local Government Subcommittee, said he heard from family members of Trousdale inmates who told stories from families of inmates and the issues they are experiencing.
“When is enough, enough?” Yarbro asked Department of Corrections Commissioner Frank Strada. “What does it take to get actual control of that contract, this prison to make it actually a safe place?”
Strada said daily meetings were held with CoreCivic after the June riot. One of the strategies is a change in population.
“We are putting in inmates that are 50 and older with four years to go,” Strada said. “We have reduced the population. I think at the time of the incident there were 2,400. They’re around 1,800 right now.”
Strada said the issue could have happened at a state-run prison and was a staff error. He said security procedures at all facilities are tight.
“I am doing more than TSA, you have to take your shoes off, you have to go through three levels of scanning, so I stand by that statement,” Strada said. “I think my budget is proper, I have 450 correctional officer vacancies. That is resulting in some beds not being able to be filled because we don’t have staff to watch the inmates in those beds.”
Jason Lawson, district attorney for the 15th District Judicial Circuit that includes Trousdale, advocated for the plan to change the population at the facility. He also said the law defining contraband is not a deterrent to inmates. Tennessee law separates the crimes of smuggling and possession of drugs, weapons and cellphones. Possession of contraband is just a fine and not effective against inmates serving a double-life sentence, he said.
“Right now, the law as we have it, to be very candid, is ineffective,” Lawson said.
