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Visitation suspended at Tennessee prisons due to rise in COVID-19 cases

Staff file photo by Tim Barber / Chattanooga Times Free Press - Dec 4, 2012 - The Corrections Emergency Response Team stands at ease outside the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex where visitation has been suspended until further notice due to a rise in COVID-19 cases and low visitation numbers, state officials say.
Staff file photo by Tim Barber / Chattanooga Times Free Press - Dec 4, 2012 - The Corrections Emergency Response Team stands at ease outside the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex where visitation has been suspended until further notice due to a rise in COVID-19 cases and low visitation numbers, state officials say. Staff file photo by Tim Barber / Chattanooga Times Free Press - Dec 4, 2012 - The Corrections Emergency Response Team stands at ease outside the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex where visitation has been suspended until further notice due to a rise in COVID-19 cases and low visitation numbers, state officials say.

By Ben Benton 6 min read

Visitation has been suspended at four Tennessee Department of Correction prisons, including the one nearest Chattanooga in Bledsoe County, due to a statewide rise in COVID-19 cases.

Visitation is suspended at the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville, Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg, Turney Center Industrial Complex in Clifton and Mark Luttrell Transition Center in Memphis, according to a TDOC statement issued Tuesday.

The department first suspended visitation at all state penal facilities in early March, while those four prisons resumed visitation in late September and early October, officials said.

But TDOC officials now say the statewide increase in COVID-19 cases and a lower-than-expected number of visitors over the past few weeks revived suspension orders while the department monitors the potential impact on staff and inmates.

“Visitation at those four is now being suspended again in an effort to mitigate additional spread and protect offenders and staff,” TDOC spokesperson Robert Reburn said Wednesday. “So at this time, there is no visitation within any TDOC facilities.”