The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) is a Cabinet-level agency within the Tennessee state government responsible for the oversight of more than 20,000 convicted offenders in Tennessee's fourteen prisons, three of which are privately managed by CoreCivic. The department is headed by the Tennessee Commissioner of Correction, who is currently Frank Strada. TDOC facilities' medical and mental health services are provided by Corizon.[2] Juvenile offenders not sentenced as adults are supervised by the independent Tennessee Department of Children's Services, while inmates granted parole or sentenced to probation are overseen by the Department of Correction (TDOC)/Department of Parole. The agency is fully accredited by the American Correctional Association.[3] The department has its headquarters on the sixth floor of the Rachel Jackson Building in Nashville.[4]
As of April30,2020[update], the Tennessee Department of Corrections supervised sixteen prisons (counting two women's prisons as distinct from the men's prisons on the same site), including four private prisons operated by CoreCivic. These facilities have a total of 24,069 beds and an operating capacity to house 23,202 imprisoned individuals. On that date, 20,965 people were held in Tennessee prisons.[5]
History
In 1923, the Administrative Reorganization Act created the Department of Institutions, charged with the management of the Tennessee prison system. In 1933, the General Assembly passed legislation that created an Industrial Division within the Department of Institutions.
In 1937, the name was changed to the Department of Institutions and Public Welfare, which had responsibility for a Confederate Soldier's Home, a School for the Blind, a School for the Deaf, a Tennessee Industrial School at the state penitentiary, the Blind Commission, the Clover Bottom Developmental Center, three regional psychiatric hospitals, and the Gailor Center.
In 1939, the Department of Institutions and Public Welfare was divided into a Department of Institutions and a separate Department of Public Welfare.
In 1953, the responsibility over mental health facilities was separated into the Department of Mental Health, and in 1955, the Department of Institutions arrived at its present name, the Department of Correction.
In 1961, the state legislature established the Division of Adult Probation and Parole within the department.
In 1963, an act created a Division of Youth Services and provided for an assistant commissioner.
In 1970, a Division of Rehabilitative Services was created by the General Assembly. In that same year, an act passed that relieved the Commissioner of the Department of Correction of the position of Chairman of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, with the position now being elected by Board members.
The Department of Corrections Central Office was moved to the Andrew Jackson State Office Building. In 1972, an act reformulated the Board of Pardons and Paroles, with the board now consisting of three full-time professional members appointed by the governor, including the chairman. In 1973, the Department of Corrections Central Office was moved to the First American Center. In 1974, the Tennessee Corrections Institute was created to train employees of the department. In 1978, the Board of Paroles expanded its membership to five. In 1979, the Department of Correction Central Office was again moved to the State Office Building, an act made the Board of Pardons and Paroles separate from the Department of Correction, the Board of Paroles became an autonomous unit, and the Department of Correction Supervision and Rehabilitation Fund was established.
In 1982, disbursement of funds for the fund was transferred from the Tennessee Department of Revenue to the Department of Correction. In the mid-1980s, the Department fell under federal oversight after a federal lawsuit was filed by inmates, who had complained of overcrowding and unfit conditions. In 1985, in a special session, the General Assembly funded over $320 million to improve the prison system as part of a Comprehensive Correction Improvement Act. In November 1994, Tennessee's prison systems were released from federal oversight.
Organization of the department
In 1989, Tennessee Department of Correction's facilities were organized into three regions, East, Middle, and West, with administrators appointed for each region. The Department of Youth Services was created, with all juvenile responsibilities and functions transferred from the Department of Correction. In March 1992, the operation of the South Central Correctional Center was contracted to the Corrections Corporation of America, with the facility being a test case of privatization of prison operations. In 1994, the department's final two institutions passed American Correctional Association accreditation audits, making the department the first adult correctional system in the country to have all its programs nationally accredited. In 1995, the department was reorganized, and the regional concept was abolished.
Recent legislation
In 1997, legislation created the Sex Offender Treatment Board and Provider Network. DNA testing of all sex offenders required by legislation was begun. Legislation established the Tennessee Internet Crime Information Center, which provides online registries of sex offenders, missing children, and out-of-state parole and probation supervision. The departmental management system was restructured, and a programming planning section was created. Educational programming in institutions was also restructured. During the 100th Tennessee General Assembly, legislation was introduced to expand privatization of prison operations, but was deferred until the following session, when it was withdrawn from consideration. The General Assembly also passed a bill that allowed members of a victim's immediate family to watch an execution through a closed television circuit in an area separate from other witnesses.
In 1998, the General Assembly established lethal injection as the method of execution for anyone that commits an offense on or after January 1, 1999. Legislation passed that transferred duties and responsibilities relating to probation services and community grant programs from the Department of Correction to the Board of Paroles, which had its name changed to the Board of Probation and Paroles. In 1999, the Department opened the first Security Threat Group in the Southeastern Tennessee State Regional Correctional Facility (Renamed Bledsoe County Correctional Complex). In 2000, the Governor signed legislation making lethal injection, rather than electrocution, the standard method of execution for any person sentenced to death. Inmates sentenced to death for offenses committed prior to January 1, 1999, will be executed by lethal injection, or electrocution if the inmate requests it.
Also becoming law in the year 2000 was a law that added a list of authorized witnesses for an execution. Additions may include one member of the defense counsel of the condemned as well as the Attorney General and the Reporter, or his or her designee. A Tennessee Volunteer Resource Board was created by the state legislature, which expanded the functions of the prior volunteer advisory board to include parolees as well as inmates and probationers. In 2001, a Director of Pre-Release Transition was appointed by the Commissioner of Correction to coordinate statewide pre-release programming, and a statewide contact to provide health care for the state's inmate population was added.
On October 31, 2002, Tennessee's Felony Offender Information Lookup was launched, allowing the public to search for an inmate's location, inmate number, and early release date. In 2002, the state also launched the "Tennessee Bridges" program, with the Department of Correction and the Board of Probation and Parole receiving a 1 million dollar federal grant.
As of 2016, Tennessee houses state inmates in four private prisons, all run by Corrections Corporation of America.[7] According to the state's Private Prison Contracting Act of 1986, which authorizes only one private prison for state inmates,[8] Tennessee contracts directly with CCA for inmates held at South Central Correctional Facility. For the other three facilities the state circumvents the statute by contracting with the local county. In turn the county signs an agreement with CCA.[9]
Death row
Male death row prisoners are housed in the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. All female death row inmates are housed at the Tennessee Prison for Women.[10] Men are housed in dedicated death row units, while women are not housed in special death row units because few women go on death row. Executions occur at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. From 1916 to 1960, executions occurred at the Tennessee State Prison.[11]
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Tennessee Department of Correction, 20 correctional employees have died in the line of duty.[12][13]
The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) is a state agency of Mississippi that operates prisons. It has its headquarters in Jackson. As of 2020 Burl Cain is the commissioner.
The Washington State Department of Corrections (WADOC) is a department of the government of the State of Washington. WADOC is responsible for administering adult corrections programs operated by the state. This includes state correctional institutions and programs for people supervised in the community. Its headquarters are in Tumwater, Washington.
The Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC), formerly the Arkansas Department of Correction, is the state law enforcement agency that oversees inmates and operates state prisons within the U.S. state of Arkansas. DOC consists of two divisions, the Arkansas Division of Corrections (ADC) and the Arkansas Division of Community Corrections (DCC), as well as the Arkansas Correctional School District. ADC is responsible for housing and rehabilitating people convicted of crimes by the courts of Arkansas. ADC maintains 20 prison facilities for inmates in 12 counties. DCC is responsible for adult parole and probation and offender reentry.
The Delaware Department of Correction is a state agency of Delaware that manages state prisons. It has its headquarters in the Central Administration Building in Dover. At one time the headquarters was located in Smyrna.
The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is a government agency of the State of Maryland that performs a number of functions, including the operation of state prisons. It has its headquarters in an unincorporated area of Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, with a Baltimore address. There are additional offices in Sykesville.
The Missouri Department of Corrections is the state law enforcement agency that operates state prisons in the U.S. state of Missouri. It has its headquarters in Missouri's capital of Jefferson City.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is responsible for all federal prisons and provides for the care, custody, and control of federal prisoners.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the penal law enforcement agency of the government of California responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacramento.
The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) is the government agency responsible for community corrections and operating prisons and correctional facilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The agency is fully accredited by the American Correctional Association and is one of the oldest functioning correctional agencies in the United States. Its headquarters is located in the state capital of Richmond.
The New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) is the government agency responsible for operations and management of prison facilities in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Corrections operates 9 correctional facilities, 11 Residential Community Release Programs, and 1 Assessment Center. The department is headquartered in Trenton.
The Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) is a government agency dedicated to the management and supervision of convicted felons in the U.S. state of Utah. It is currently led by the Executive Director Brian Nielson. It has its headquarters in the Utah Department of Corrections Administration Building in Draper.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails, and private correctional facilities, funding and certain oversight of community supervision, and supervision of offenders released from prison on parole or mandatory supervision. The TDCJ operates the largest prison system in the United States.
The Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Nevada. The NDOC headquarters is located on the property of the Stewart Indian School in Carson City.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is an agency of the state of Oklahoma. DOC is responsible for the administration of the state prison system. It has its headquarters in Oklahoma City, across the street from the headquarters of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. The Board of Corrections are appointees: five members are appointed by the Governor; two members are appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate; and two members are appointed by the Speaker of the house of Representatives. The board is responsible for setting the policies of the Department, approving the annual budget request, and working with the Director of Corrections on material matters of the agency. T. Hastings Siegfried is the current chairman of the board. The director, who serves at the pleasure of the governor, is the chief executive of the department. The current director of Corrections is Steven Harpe, who was appointed in October 2022.
The California State Prison System is a system of prisons, fire camps, contract beds, reentry programs, and other special programs administered by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Division of Adult Institutions to incarcerate approximately 117,000 people as of April 2020. CDCR owns and operates 34 prisons throughout the state and operates 1 prison leased from a private company.
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The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) is the government agency responsible for operating state prisons in the U.S. state of Florida. It has its headquarters in the state capital of Tallahassee.
The Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPS&C) is a state law enforcement agency responsible for the incarceration of inmates and management of facilities at state prisons within the state of Louisiana. The agency is headquartered in Baton Rouge. The agency comprises two major areas: Public Safety Services and Corrections Services. The secretary, who is appointed by the governor of Louisiana, serves as the department's chief executive officer. The Corrections Services deputy secretary, undersecretary, and assistant secretaries for the Office of Adult Services and the Office of Youth Development report directly to the secretary. Headquarters administration consists of centralized divisions that support the management and operations of the adult and juvenile institutions, adult and juvenile probation and parole district offices, and all other services provided by the department.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) is the Pennsylvania state agency that is responsible for the confinement, care, and rehabilitation of approximately 37,000 inmates at state correctional facilities funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The agency is headquartered in Hampden Township, Cumberland County in Greater Harrisburg, near Mechanicsburg.
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This template pertains only to agencies that handle sentenced felons (with sentences over 1-2 years). In many states, pre-trial detainees, persons convicted of misdemeanors, and felons sentenced under state law to less than one year are held in county jails instead of state prisons.
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