Tennessee prison officials are proposing to close a Nashville facility as a cost-saving measure.
Correction Commissioner Derrick Schofield told the governor on Friday during a budget hearing that the system has plenty of empty beds at other prisons, and that closing the Charles B. Bass Correctional Complex, located at 7177 Cockrill Bend Blvd., will save $15 million a year.
“It gives us an opportunity to really be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money,” Schofield told Gov. Haslam. “At Charles B. Bass, we have a little more than 600 offenders. They are our lower-custody offenders. And they’re actually more expensive than most of prisons.”
Because of the facility’s layout, it takes more guards to watch the prisoners, compared to some of the state’s other facilities. The daily price tag: $92 per inmate.
Guards and other staff would also be re-assigned to other prisons.
If approved, the 119-acre site could be mothballed by June. According to the Davidson County Assessor’s office, the property is valued at $4.2 million.