Bledsoe County Correctional Complex
BY THE NUMBERS* 970: Beds in original Southeastern Tennessee State Regional Correctional Facility* 1,444: Beds in new Bledsoe County Correctional Complex* $208 million: Cost of Bledsoe project* 425: Jobs associated with new prison* 512: Number of beds planned for expansion* 45: New jobs added with planned expansion* $30 million: Cost of expansion* 1,956: Total new inmate bedsSource: Tennessee Department of Correction
The $208 million Bledsoe County Correctional Complex, completed in December, is slated for a $30.25 million expansion before the first inmate has even moved in.
The expansion funded in Gov. Bill Haslam’s 2013-14 budget will add 512 beds to the 1,444 the state will start filling in March, state Correction Department spokeswoman Dorinda Carter said.
“The facility was originally planned for this expansion,” Carter said this week. “The space for the two additional housing buildings is already within the secure perimeter, and utilities and other measures are in place to assimilate these new inmates.”
The just-completed 1,444 inmate beds join 970 existing beds at the Southeastern Tennessee State Regional Correctional Facility, which has taken on the Bledsoe Correctional Complex moniker. The coming expansion will bring the number of state inmate beds in Bledsoe County to 2,926, according to officials.