By Sam Stockard
Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Department of Correction is seeking a $13 million contract increase for the state’s private-prison company amid questions about a riot and federal civil rights investigation.
Correction Commissioner Frank Strada did not mention the boost for Brentwood -based CoreCivic during Tuesday budget hearings with Gov. Bill Lee. But it is part of an $86 million increase the department is requesting for fiscal 2026-27, which would push its annual operating budget to $1.57 billion.
Strada, who has repeatedly called CoreCivic a “state partner,” said afterward the contract increase is necessary to deal with the “inflationary costs built into the contract” with the prison operator, in addition to “parity” for CoreCivic staff that would enable it to match Department of Correction pay. It would bump the private company’s contracts to a total of $243 million next year.
“We want to make sure they have adequate staffing just like we do because they’re a partner in this process,” Strada said.
CoreCivic is one of the largest political spenders in Tennessee. From 2010 to 2024 the private prison company spent more than $2.7 million to lobby lawmakers and made another $1 million in campaign contributions, according to the Lookout’s political spending database.
The company donated nearly $50,000 to Lee during his two campaigns for governor.
CoreCivic has come under fire repeatedly for a high staff turnover rate and high death rates at the four prisons it runs for the state. One of its facilities, Trousdale Turner, is under investigation by the Department of Justice for civil rights violations stemming from violence, murders and other problems at the prison.
A riot took place at Middle Tennessee’s Trousdale Turner this summer when inmates commandeered an inner yard, destroyed property and refused to take orders, leading to injuries for three inmates and the stabbing of a staff member.
The state has levied more than $45 million in penalties against the company since 2022 for failing to meet contractual requirements, mainly for staffing shortfalls. The state penalized CoreCivic by reducing its contract payout, by $4.6 million in 2024 and more than $2 million in 2025.
Republican lawmakers started to raise concerns about CoreCivic this year, passing legislation that would force the company to lose inmates if death rates at its prisons exceed those of state-run facilities.
Sen. Heidi Campbell of Nashville is among Democratic lawmakers critical of private companies running state prisons.
Campbell said today that she understands the reality of inflation but that a $13 million increase for CoreCivic ignores the “deeper structural problem” of the state’s incentive system.
“Private prison contracts reward occupancy, not outcomes – so simply increasing payments to a for-profit operator won’t meaningfully improve safety, rehabilitation or conditions,” Campbell said. “Until the contract’s incentive structure is redesigned to prioritize human and community outcomes rather than bed-count revenue, more money risks perpetuating the very overcrowded, dangerous and poorly-monitored environment threatening prisoner and employee safety.
The state is set to put $1.7 million more into behavioral health contracts for prisons next fiscal year, but it’s unclear how much of that would go to the private prisons, which make up 16% of the Department of Correction budget.
Adam Friedman contributed to this report.
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