TN Republicans want a new public prison, as its private prison asks for more state dollars

Tennessee’s Department of Correction is asking for nearly $7 million in public funds to go toward the state’s for-profit prisons — a fraction of the money the state has fined the private prison operator, CoreCivic, for not fulfilling all aspects of its contract.

CoreCivic has had to pay nearly $45 million in fines since 2022, mostly for understaffing. One of its prisons, Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, has the highest homicide rate of any prison in the country and is currently the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation. The company reported $2 billion in revenue last year.

TDEC officials said during a budget hearing this week that nearly one-third of positions at the prison are vacant.

House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, told reporters Thursday that correctional officers are in high demand and low supply at all of the state’s prisons.

“What you don’t want is an underfunded prison, be it a private prison or a public prison,” Lamberth said.

Lamberth said the creation of a new public prison would help the state’s recidivism rate.

“Prisons are not built now the way they were 40 years ago,” Lamberth said. “They’re built with the understanding that you’re going to have a lot of programs within those prison walls. That’s a good thing to make sure those folks don’t get out and re-offend.”

In the fall, Gov. Bill Lee said that CoreCivic has been hiring more correctional officers, and the state has been sending fewer people to Trousdale Turner. CoreCivic is among Lee’s top donors.