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 past 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.”