TDOC official ‘satisfied' with CoreCivic contract, says TN is ‘holding them accountable'

Yahoo

19-02-2025

A Senate committee on Tuesday approved a $7 million funding boost for private prison operator CoreCivic amid an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged violations at the company's Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, and chronic state contract violations that have resulted in nearly $30 million in fines.
Members of the Senate State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved the Department of Corrections' budget request – including a $91.5 million spending increase this year.
Of the $91.5 million in new funding, $36.9 million will go toward boosting TDOC employee salaries, $21.7 million will go toward Hepatitis C treatments for inmates, and the remainder will go to contract inflators, including the $7 million boost for private prison operator CoreCivic.
CoreCivic, a publicly traded, for-profit company, runs four state prisons through a series of contracts with the state and local county governments. CoreCivic's Trousdale facility ― the largest state prison in Tennessee ― has come under scrutiny amid an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, launched last year.
While requesting the committee approve the contract increase for the private prison company, TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada touted the state's 'very strong relationship' with CoreCivic.
'We have a very good partnership with the privates. They help us with population management,' Strada said. 'When you have close to 20,000 inmates, they help us with those inmates that we can't house in the state facilities.'
CoreCivic's political action committee is among the biggest spenders in Tennessee politics, donating heavily to Republican leaders. The PAC contributed more than $100,000 to candidates in the 2022 and 2018 cycles. Gov. Bill Lee's campaign directly received at least $85,300 from CoreCivic Inc. and its partner PAC during the 2018 and 2022 cycles.
Advocates have called for an external oversight panel to uphold prison standards and bolster inmate and staff safety in light of the ongoing nationwide corrections staffing crisis. Strada has balked at the suggestion.
Tennessee routinely fines CoreCivic millions of dollars for failing to meet the requirements of its state prison contracts, often for insufficient staffing. While corrections systems nationwide are facing a staffing crisis, vacancies and turnover are pronounced at CoreCivic-run facilities in Tennessee, audits have repeatedly found.
Since 2022, the state has fined CoreCivic $29.5 million for contract violations across all four facilities, and at least $15 million since 2019 for contract violations at Trousdale alone.
Chronic understaffing at Trousdale has led to prisoner assaults, overdoses, lack of medical treatment, and families forced to pay extortion payments in hopes of keeping their loved ones safe from incarcerated gang members. Former inmates, guards and families have brought lawsuits, testified in legislative hearings, and spoken publicly about how short staffing at Trousdale have led to prisoner injuries and deaths.
More: Why former guard and others say CoreCivic understaffs this troubled small town prison
Despite persistent contract failures, Strada said the state is successfully requiring CoreCivic to deliver on its obligations to taxpayers.
'I think we're holding them accountable, yes,' Strada said. 'I think they are doing the best that they can, and I do think they're a partner for us in the state, especially when it comes to population management.'
Strada defended the state's system of fines as effectively holding CoreCivic accountable, but offered no evidence of progress the corporation has made toward fulfilling contractual staffing obligations.
'We have contract monitors at each location that enforce our contract,' Strada said. 'Where they're not meeting the contract, we do fine them.'
Since opening in 2016, CoreCivic's Trousdale facility has still never been in full compliance with its state contract. The company saw more than $2 billion in revenue last year.
'Costs go up – it's not a pay raise, it's an inflator,' Strada told reporters Tuesday. 'It's built in every contract, not just in the private prison contract.'
Incidentally, CoreCivic's contract inflator covers a significant portion of the cost of the state fines for contract violations.
Although the Justice Department's investigation into conditions at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center centers on TDOC, CoreCivic officials have said the company would work with TDOC and the DOJ to address areas of concern. Company spokespeople have noted staffing challenges in corrections across the nation and said it is taking steps to address understaffing at the prison, including hosting recruiting events in surrounding counties and raising pay in recent years.
Strada on Tuesday touted CoreCivic's work to reduce contraband and incidents over the last two years, despite persisting reports of drugs being delivered by drone into Trousdale, and at least 16 inmate deaths by overdose at Trousdale between January and November 2024, according to to Department of Health records.
'Their incidents have gone down. We've seen a reduction in contraband and other hard contraband issues,' Strada said Tuesday.
Committee Chair Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, acknowledged the many challenges TDOC is facing, including the presence of contraband cell phones, and drugs being smuggled into prison facilities.
"We've got a new ... problem with drones flying over and dropping contraband in. I don't think we have even good suggestions yet on that," Briggs said, adding, with a chuckle, "I was wondering if get some good old boys with shotguns might help us. But they're doing it at night, and they may be hard to see."
Strada has previously told reporters that drones flying drugs and other contraband into state prison facilities is not in the department's purview.
"I have no authority with the drones. There's no authority that the Department of Corrections has on taking the drone down ― that would have to be at the federal level," Strada told reporters after an October hearing.
Inmates died of overdoses primarily from combinations of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and xylazine, an illicit drug made from horse tranquillizer and fentanyl. Inmate deaths occur disproportionately at CoreCivic-run facilities. Assignment between TDOC-run prisons and CoreCivic facilities is arbitrary ― essentially creating two systems of justice within Tennessee state prisons.
More: Two systems of justice: Families, audits say Tennessee's CoreCivic prisons underperform
Asked how he squares claims of progress reducing contraband with the overdose deaths, Strada said TDOC has been active in preventing incidents.
'We fine them. We go in there, we do a review of what happened, and we change whatever procedures we need to change to prevent that,' Strada told reporters after the hearing.
TDOC officials said Tuesday the current staff vacancy rate at Trousdale is 33.7% – compared to the statewide vacancy rate of 26.6% across all facilities, including those run by CoreCivic. In 2019, the department's vacancy rate was 20.2%.
When asked how many vacancies that would translate to, Strada's chief of staff Richard Muckle told Senators that vacancies would total a maximum of about 50 – 'top end.'
According to CoreCivic, there are 320 current employees at Trousdale. The current vacancy rate would indicate that at least 105 staff posts are currently empty.
When asked about the issue by The Tennessean after the hearing, Strada said he would "have to go back and look and see if your numbers are accurate."
TDOC later clarified to The Tennessean that there are 134 total staff vacancies at Trousdale as of January, including 60 vacant corrections officer positions. Non-officer positions would include other vital staff positions such as medical care, case worker, or other security staff.
'Just like us, they're doing everything that they can to decrease their vacancy rate," Strada said. "We'd like to have it lower, but we're managing with what we have right now.'
Reporter Evan Mealins contributed to this report.
Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee's Frank Strada defends CoreCivic's reduction of contraband