TN Senate Votes To Curb Private Prisons Amid High Death Rates

Tennessee’s Senate passed legislation Monday that would force the state’s private-prison operator to lower the inmate population in facilities with high death rates. Senators voted 30-0 in favor of a bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Mark Pody, who wants to renew the legislature’s correction oversight board and take action if the private operator, CoreCivic, can’t bring down death rates, the Tennessee Lookout reports. The bill would require the inmate population at CoreCivic-run prisons to be reduced by 10% if the death rate there is twice as high as the rate at a comparable state-run prison. It also requires the company to resolve problems causing high death rates. The House version isn’t expected to be considered until House members approve a budget, likely within two weeks. Lebanon, Tn., resident Tim Leeper said after Monday’s vote he believes prison privatization has no benefits, except for CoreCivic shareholders. The Senate vote sends a message that lawmakers aren’t satisfied with private prisons, he added. “It puts us on record and it puts legislators on record, now we have a problem,” said Leeper, whose son died of an overdose at Trousdale Turner prison, one of four the company runs in Tennessee.

State Comptroller audits show Trousdale Turner had a 146% employee turnover rate in 2023, making it more difficult to check on prisoners and avert murders and drug overdoses. Trousdale Turner, which faces a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, has a correction officer vacancy rate of 33.7%, compared with 26% at state-run prisons, officials said earlier this year. Still, the state is seeking a $6.8 million contract increase for the private prison operator despite penalizing the company $44.78 million since 2022 for contractual shortfalls, $15 million in the last half year.  CoreCivic, which is paid based on the number of inmates it houses, doesn’t pay those penalties but simply forgoes state payments. A spokesperson for CoreCivic said prisoner safety, health and well-being is “top priority” and that each facility has emergency response teams to handle medical care. All deaths are reported immediately to the state for investigation, he said. Tennessee Correction Commissioner Frank Strada has called the company an important “partner.”