Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.
NASHVILLE — Tennessee Correction Commissioner Derrick Schofield, whose sometimes-rocky tenure as chief over state prisons prompted protests last year by guards and legislative hearings, is resigning to take a job in the private sector, Gov. Bill Haslam announced today.
The 55-year-old Schofield, who began his career in Georgia’s Corrections Department, will join GEO Group Inc. in Florida as executive vice president for continuum of care. His last day at the helm of Tennessee’s vast prison system is June 20.
GEO Group provides correctional services worldwide.
“Tennessee has been extremely fortunate to have someone of Derrick’s caliber as commissioner of the Department of Correction,” Haslam said in a news release. “I am personally grateful for Derrick’s professional approach and personal integrity as he worked to reduce recidivism, improve offender outcomes and assure a safe and secure environment in our corrections system.”
Schofield became Tennessee’s prison chief in 2011 at the start of the Haslam’s administration. The governor’s office says he has been “an integral voice” in shaping the Haslam’s public safety agenda and also while serving on the governor’s Public Safety Subcabinet since its inception.
The administration credits Schofield with helping fashion the Public Safety Act of 2016 which has a goal of making “smarter use of prison bed space, among other important safety objectives.”
But Schofield’s tenure has not been without controversy. Charges the commissioner’s office changed long-standing policies dealing with inmate-on-guard assaults to make prisons appear safer dogged Schofield for months and prompted rare legislative hearings.
The commissioner also came under fire for implementing controversial changes on correctional officers’ work schedules, leading to a flood of departures by guards who said they were being overworked while losing some overtime due to the new schedules.
Critics contended both the assault redefinitions and work schedule changes put both the guards’ and ultimately public safety at risk.
With legislative hearings in the works, Schofield continued to deny most problems but brought in the American Correctional Association for an independent review. The professional advisory group found that while Tennessee prisons were generally safe, it recommended the assault definitions be revised. Schofield agreed and implemented changes with the new reporting system leading to higher levels of violence being reported.
Prison workers were also offered some choice on the work schedules.
Still, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, the Republican Senate speaker, suggested in an interview last December that it was time for “new leadership” at the agency.
Ramsey, the Senate speaker, said that since Schofield works for Haslam, the decision was “completely up to” the governor.
“But there are times that come in every department where a change at the top would help,” Ramsey added.
Haslam later told WKRN-TV that Schofield was “absolutely not” under pressure to resign.
“I want to be as clear as I can: Derrick Schofield has been a great commissioner of correction,” the governor said. “He got a wonderful job offer. I begged him to say. It’s a really good offer that he thinks is the right thing for him. But I couldn’t be more grateful for the work he’s done here, and I will miss him.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Schofield said he is “thankful for the ability to serve under Gov. Haslam’s leadership and am proud of the work that we accomplished together. I am especially proud of the hard work the more than six thousand correctional professionals have put into making the Tennessee Department of Correction one of the best in the nation.”
The state’s system is comprised of 14 prisons, collectively housing some 21,000 felons. TDOC has more than 6,500 employees and under changes initiated by Haslam and implemented by Schofield now supervises 79,000 more offenders who are on probation, parole or in the community corrections program.
In moving to the GEO Group, Schofield will be working for a company that says it is the leading provider of correctional, detention, and community reentry services with 104 facilities, approximately 87,000 beds and 20,500 employees worldwide.
Copyright 2016 the Chattanooga Times/Free Press