Commissioner Frank Strada of the Tennessee Department of Correction says private prison contractor CoreCivic is a “great” partner, despite the company being under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.(Photo: John Partipilo)
The Tennessee Department of Correction wants to pay $6.8 million more to the state’s private-prison operator next year despite the cloud of a federal civil rights probe and the company’s consistent failure to fulfill contract obligations.
The 3% increase, which officials are justifying to meet increased expenses, would push CoreCivic’s payout up to $244.5 million to operate four state prisons, 15% of the state’s $1.63 billion Correction Department budget request.
Correction Commissioner Frank Strada stood by his previous support for CoreCivic and called the relationship between the state and company a “great partnership.”
Yet the publicly-traded company has paid more than $29.5 million in liquidated damages — fees paid for breach of contract — since 2022 for failing to meet state contractual requirements, mainly for staffing shortages. The company experienced a 146% turnover rate in 2023 because of difficult hiring correctional officers, which makes it more difficult to monitor prisoners and avert safety risks.
The state’s vacancy rate is 26.4% at nine prisons run by the Department of Correction, down from 47.5% when it opted to increase pay a few years ago.
The Department of Justice cited a record of assaults, murders and understaffing at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center since it opened in 2016 as justification for a civil rights investigation that started in August.
The state monitors staffing guidelines for CoreCivic-run prisons and levies penalties if the company fails to meet them. But that is unrelated to the federal investigation into Trousdale Turner, Strada said this week after presenting his budget plan to Gov. Bill Lee.
Trousdale Turner had a 188% turnover rate for prison guards last year, according to a state comptroller report.
Strada said Tuesday the figures for officer turnover are inflated because the company brings in personnel temporarily from across the country to fill staffing gaps and monitor prisoners.
The commissioner said the Correction Department has adopted new policies, put more resources toward Trousdale Turner and visited the prison frequently to prevent contraband from being smuggled into the prison. Strada also acknowledged the state made adjustments to manage the prison population and deal with staffing shortages at Trousdale Turner.
“We work with them, meet with them and talk with them on a daily basis,” he said.
Lee, the state’s top beneficiary for CoreCivic political contributions, has referred to the company as an “important partner” for the state. His main question for Strada during Tuesday’s budget hearing dealt with the percentage of increase in the company’s contracts, one of which is up for bids in the coming year.
Lawmakers, mainly Democrats, have criticized the state’s use of the private contractor with some saying it is wrong to “profit” from overseeing prisoners.
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