A 206-page audit of public and private prisons in Tennessee was released last week, revealing both state and private facilities in the state remain understaffed and face high employee attrition rates while struggling to offer sufficient beds and services for inmates.
The audit, conducted by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office, found that the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) “has taken action to address critical staffing shortages,” but warned both TDOC and CoreCivic, which manages private prisons in Tennessee, “are facing an ongoing and deeply rooted challenge of attrition within their ranks.”
Some correctional officers reported being required to work alone among inmates, and not having partners in more than two years, while another reported that officers feared being abandoned by colleagues in the event of a violent incident with an inmate. TDOC reported a 30 percent vacancy rate in 2023, while CoreCivic facilities reported 42 percent of jobs remain open.
TDOC and CoreCivic both continue to rely on overtime to sufficiently staff their facilities, the auditors found, but CoreCivic also relies on rotating out-of-state employees to Tennessee prisons to shore up their numbers. The auditors determined this practice is unfair, as those who are rotated in by the company generally receive a higher base pay than other guards. Though they acknowledged CoreCivic’s practice was partially responsible for the company’s high rate of attrition, they determined it was not a sustainable practice to staff Tennessee prisons.
Auditors also noted that rehabilitation services Tennessee is required to offer prisoners are effectively out of reach due to the high number of prisoners, and found prison management failed to release some inmates with the necessary paperwork upon completion of their sentences.
Referencing the Jail Summary Report published in May, the auditors also noted that 3,539 convicted criminals were held in jails because Tennessee’s prisons reported not having a bed available. Auditors also determined TDOC “had 3,149 inactive beds” across the prison system, and that the average Tennessee prison is operating at 91.4 percent of its capacity. The auditors urged TDOC to “evaluate bed capacity to transfer offenders housed in local jails to correctional facilities” by finding “ways to reinstate inactive beds.”
The audit came as separate reports revealed a decline in Tennessee crime in 2022 coincided with an increase in the state’s prison population.
Data released by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) revealed that all types of crime were down in 2022, with public safety benefiting the most from a decrease in murders and domestic crime. In the same time period, the Department of Justice reported that Tennessee increased its prison population by 7.9 percent or 1,740 new inmates.
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
