US Department of Justice launches investigation into CoreCivic Trousdale County Prison • Tennessee Lookout

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into private prison company CoreCivic and the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center it manages for alleged civil rights violations.

Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke announced the move Tuesday morning, citing a series of assaults, murders and staff shortages at the facility since it opened in 2016.

“People are locked up in Trousdale Turner Prison as punishment for their crimes, but in our legal system, violence and sexual abuse cannot and should not be punishment,” said Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

“Publicly available information indicates that Trousdale Turner has been plagued by serious problems since it opened,” said U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Henry C. Leventis. “These include reports of understaffing, physical and sexual assaults, murders, and a 188% turnover rate among prison guards in the last year alone.”

Private prison operator maintains close ties to lawmakers, thereby circumventing state laws

Clarke and Leventis pointed out that the ultimate responsibility for the treatment of incarcerated persons in correctional facilities lies with the state of Tennessee.

CoreCivic spokesman Steven Owen issued a statement on Tuesday saying they are taking the matter seriously and are working with the state and federal governments to resolve the issues.

“The safety and dignity of every person in our care is the highest priority of our leadership and staff at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center. That is why we have worked closely with the Tennessee Department of Corrections to identify and implement policies and processes that enhance safety while providing meaningful programs and services designed to help the individuals in our care prepare for successful reintegration,” Owen said in the statement.

The state is in the process of finalizing a five-year, $276 million contract with Trousdale County to operate the Trousdale Turner prison. The prison has previously been fined for inaccurate prisoner counts, problems with solitary confinement, inadequate staffing and allegations of excessive use of force against its guards.

The Legislature's Government Operations Committee in 2017 declined to extend the Tennessee Department of Correction's operations for more than two years due to understaffing and poor operations at CoreCivic prisons, particularly the Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility near Hartsville.

In 2019, the Human Rights Defense Center and No Exceptions Prison Collective found that over a five-year period, prisons operated by CoreCivic had twice as many inmate murders as Tennessee Department of Correction facilities. CoreCivic operates four state prisons, one under a contract with Tennessee and three under contracts with local governments.

Although audits by the state Comptroller General found that CoreCivic's prisons, including Trousdale Turner, lack adequate staff to monitor inmates, Corrections Commissioner Frank Strada has expressed confidence in CoreCivic, saying he is pleased with the company's efforts to improve its policies.

The company saw a 146% turnover rate in 2023 due to difficulties in hiring correctional officers, making it harder to monitor prisoners and avert safety risks. The state increased its payout to CoreCivic by $7 million this year after the publicly traded company earned $233 million from the state in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The upturn came despite CoreCivic having to pay $20 million in penalties in recent years for failing to meet contract requirements. The parents of three inmates who died in CoreCivic-operated prisons in 2021 accused the company of putting profits ahead of safety in a lawsuit against the state.

Since 2009, the company has donated $138,000 to Republican Party and caucus political action committees, and $47,500 to the Tennessee Democratic Caucus. Gov. Bill Lee was the biggest beneficiary, receiving $69,000, including a donation to his inauguration campaign, according to a Tennessee Lookout analysis.

Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally has received $65,000 over the past 15 years, and House Speaker Cameron Sexton has received $44,500 since his election in 2011.

Nashville attorney Daniel Horwitz welcomed the announcement Tuesday, saying the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center should be investigated for “chronic civil rights violations” and the Tennessee Department of Correction for “knowingly allowing” them to occur.

“The heinous abuses that regularly occur at the chronically understaffed facility are undisguised and have been documented year after year in dozens of wrongful death lawsuits and other cases that our firm and others have repeatedly filed against CoreCivic and its employees because CoreCivic allowed the prisoners in its care to be murdered, raped and stabbed without intervention. It is long past time to shut down this death factory,” Horwitz said in a statement.