There were more questions than answers today about how contraband, like drugs and weapons, get inside Tennessee prisons. The legislative Oversight Committee on Corrections met for a status report on the department’s effort to increase drug searches of visitors, inmates, and prison employees. Many senators, like Nashville democrat Thelma Harper wanted more concrete answers than the commissioner could give.
“I still have not been able to understand how it can get there. How it gets there in the first place if you’re really kickin’ it hard at the front door.”
Corrections Commissioner George Little admitted that search procedures may not be followed consistently at all prisons.
Meanwhile, the good news out of the committee meeting is that more of the state’s prisoners are earning GED’s and vocational degrees. Sharmila Patel is the Education Director for the Department of Corrections. She reported a 17% increase this year in the number of inmates who earned a GED.
“In terms of what works in reducing recidivism, the higher the education level of an inmate, the less likely he is to come back into the system and re-offend.”
Patel attributes the increase to a state program that reduces an inmate’s sentence by 60 days if he or she earns either a GED, 2- or 4-year degree, or a vocational degree while in prison. The program began two years ago, and not all prisoners are eligible for the educational credits. Serious felonies like sexual offenses and murder are considered disqualifying factors.
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