Stockard on the Stump: Tennessee prisons official diverts blame for riot

Staff errors were at the root of a June riot at the Trousdale Turner Correction Facility, which is operated by private prison company CoreCivic, said state Corrections Commissioner Frank Strada. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Tennessee’s correction commissioner is blaming officers at Trousdale Turner for a June riot that led to a staffer’s stabbing, not the private operator that runs the prison.

The riot could have happened at any prison in the state, Commissioner Frank Strada told a Senate Corrections Subcommittee Wednesday. He added he couldn’t guarantee another one wouldn’t happen anywhere in the state, though one senator pointed out that Trousdale Turner had plenty of warning signs for trouble.

“The incident that occurred there was just due to staff error. It wasn’t because of CoreCivic. It wasn’t a CoreCivic problem. It was just that the staff that were working there didn’t do what they were supposed to do,” Strada said.

Isn’t that convenient: blaming the lowest people on the totem pole instead of management and top leaders.

Nevertheless, since the incident took place, CoreCivic installed a new warden, increased officer pay and adopted new procedures as the state took out roughly 600 inmates and limited the population to inmates 50 years and older with four years or less on their sentences, according to Strada.

His comments came after Sen. Jeff Yarbro, a Nashville Democrat, asked what it takes to bring the prison under control.

The problems at Trousdale Turner are well-documented: officer vacancies and constant staff turnover, high death rates and sexual violence, gang extortion and smuggling. The list could go on.

U.S. Department of Justice opens investigation into CoreCivic Trousdale County prison

“When is enough enough?” Yarbro asked.

The Department of Justice has been conducting a civil rights probe of Trousdale Turner for more than a year, and lawmakers met recently with family members of Trousdale Turner inmates to hear their concerns, according to Yarbro. 

Three inmates suffered minor injuries and a staff member was stabbed in the riot when inmates commandeered an inner yard, destroyed property and refused to take orders, according to CoreCivic.

Formerly Corrections Corporation of America, the company runs four prisons in the state but has lost roughly $45 million in penalties since 2022 for failing to meet contractual requirements, mainly for staffing shortfalls.

Yet even though Strada said he’s not giving CoreCivic “a pass,” he added that he believes in Tennessee’s “partnership” with the company. 

The question is: How many free passes will CoreCivic get before the state decides to say farewell?

Prosecutorial headache

District Attorney General Jason Lawson detailed to lawmakers Wednesday the constant steps his office takes to deal with Trousdale Turner crime. 

Lawson’s district includes Wilson, Macon, Smith, Jackson and Trousdale counties but he spends an inordinate amount of time on prison crime.

Lawson’s office receives reports on new cases every four days, and the grand jury indicts about 90 a year, he said.

The state has experienced investigators who handle the cases on everything from murder to smuggling contraband, but the internal investigator at Trousdale Turner is overwhelmed with work, Lawson said, leading to problems with misplaced evidence and lost video of criminal activity.

Clearly, some inmates have reached the point of no return and don’t care if they have more time tacked on to their sentences.

CoreCivic inmate sues Trousdale Turner prison staff over alleged extortion

The penalty for possessing a cell phone is only a fine, Lawson said (That’s how gangs operate from inside prisons). But when caught with one, inmates “laugh and say, ‘Put it on my tab,’” Lawson said.

He described a litany of other problems, including inmates exposing themselves to female guards, staff having sexual relationships with guards, visitors smuggling items to inmates, inmates bribing guards and worse, inmates killing cell mates. Sometimes they pack a bag in advance of the murder, knowing they’ll be transferred, he said.

“Recurring problems is the reason we had the riot in June,” Lawson said. “The jury’s out. I’m praying that CoreCivic or the state gets this under control.”

Lawson suggested several changes, including body cams for officers, to bring the prison under control. 

Lawmakers told Strada later in the meeting to put together a financial analysis for equipping guards with body cameras. He agreed to do it but balked at the potential high cost as well as privacy concerns, saying not even the federal Bureau of Prisons uses body cams.

Maybe they could take some of the money CoreCivic foregoes for failing to meet state contracts and buy a handful of cameras. Of course, the guards have to turn them on before they work.

The cold shoulder?

A former client of the state’s Community Corrections program told lawmakers his problems started with a beer after baseball games and led to his sticking a needle in his neck to get high.

Yet after numerous jailings connected to addiction, Dickson resident Zach Grace said he found new life through the intensive probation program for people who, otherwise, would be bound for prison.

Grace isn’t the first person to tout the effectiveness of Community Corrections and the tough love it puts into rehabilitating people.

Still, Community Corrections agencies across Tennessee went out of business in 2022 when the Department of Correction put out a new request for proposals that would require them to spend more money on licensed counselors and day reporting centers. 

Since then, agencies such as Decatur County Community Corrections battled to keep operating. But after the state took a new set of bids this year, more agencies got back in the business, forcing 15% budget cuts and causing layoffs and service cuts.

Decatur, for instance, needed $192,000 to maintain its operations. Sen. Ed Jackson, a Jackson Republican, said he searched Cordell Hull and the Capitol high and low but couldn’t get anyone to agree to spend the money. He came up empty even though the Department of Correction has roughly $14 million in “carry-over” funds for Community Corrections, which has a yearly total budget at $13 million. 

They could take less than $2 million out of that pot and solve everyone’s problems.

Strada told the Lookout he doesn’t have the authority to tap the fund for extra money, saying he has a “responsibility” to taxpayers. Only the commissioner of Finance and Administration can release the funds, Strada said, adding he would bring up the matter during budget talks this year. 

Has he bothered asking?

Circular talk continued after the meeting as Strada said, “I will consider the request.”

Grace, who came out on the good side of a bad habit, was a bit more supportive of the spending, saying, without the program’s intervention, “I’d probably be dead.”

Who’s really in charge

Are Tennessee and federal leaders setting up a complete Memphis takeover?

Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower recently suspended Shelby County Commission’s ability to borrow money, without the comptroller’s approval, after declining to approve the county’s budget for fiscal 2026.

In a letter to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Shelby commissioners, Mumpower said the county failed to provide a detailed budget for all funds, including Memphis-Shelby County Schools, and neglected to explain negative balances and cash and fund balances for every county fund. Thus, he is suspending borrowing until July 2026. He had warned them last year to do a better budgeting job.

That’ll teach ’em. Cut off money to a city and county struggling with schools and losing jobs.

But it’s nothing new.

The legislature’s top leaders threatened to hold up Memphis’ share of state tax revenue a year ago for putting gun control measures on an election ballot.
Shelby County 2026 Budget Letter – 10.01.2025
Lawmakers wanted to take over the Shelby County-Memphis school district this year, too, but couldn’t muster the votes to hammer the majority minority city.

The latest decision brought criticism from Democratic Sens. Raumesh Akbari and London Lamar, who said in a joint statement the decision “jeopardizes critical investments in our community – from schools and roads to public safety and hospitals like Regional One.”

“While no one disputes the need for accountability and accuracy in country budgeting, the state’s approach here would punish families, workers and patients who depend on these investments the most,” they said.

Mumpower also took control of the finances in the town of Mason, a majority Black city of 1,500 in West Tennessee, even though its budgeting woes were caused by a previous administration. Similarly, he put Tennessee State University on notice that it needed to get a better handle on its budgeting. 

That came amid reports that the state shorted TSU up to $544 million over several decades and a separate federal analysis that found funding for the university fell short by $2.1 billion. Ask any TSU supporter, and they’ll give you an earful on this topic.

Getting back to the Memphis situation, this arises as President Donald Trump and Gov. Bill Lee agreed to send Tennessee National Guard troops to Memphis as part of a massive federal-state law enforcement buildup. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller flew into Memphis Wednesday, signaling that the feds are in control.

It’s always comforting to see top brass on the ground. Maybe they can help the Shelby County Commission balance its books.

Entering the fray

Gov. Lee is inserting himself into one of most combative Republican primaries to come around in – oh – about a year, choosing to endorse his former General Services Commissioner Matt Van Epps in the special election for the 7th Congressional District seat.

Lee called “MAGA Matt” the “conservative, America First fighter we need representing Tennessee.” 

Van Epps, a West Point grad, former Army special operations pilot and National Guard member, appeared to be floundering somewhat in the race against Republican Reps. Jody Barrett, Lee Reeves and Gino Bulso until he said he was going to Washington to hammer the “woke” people ruining America.

The governor’s endorsement gives him a boost against Barrett, of Dickson, who landed the endorsement of the American Freedom Caucus and former Rep. Mark Green’s ex-wife. 

In fact, most of the mud-slinging has been against Barrett, who had the gall to vote in opposition to Lee’s private-school voucher bill this year.

Reeves must be miffed since he was the governor’s favorite last year, drawing major independent expenditures from the School Freedom Fund in its effort to push the voucher bill to passage.

All is fair, of course, in love and war (and politics).

Surf’s up (not)

Republican Rep. Todd Warner’s lake quarry project was turned down this week in a Marshall County planning and zoning hearing, the Tennessee Journal reported.

Residents spoke out against the quarry lake, saying it was damaging their homes and disrupting the area.

Warner’s representatives said it should be approved because it is a legitimate agricultural operation. Eventually, it would take up 60 acres and require two pumps to bring in water from the Duck River to water two large fields.

But the county’s planning and zoning director said it is a mining operation with commercial rock sales and transportation, which he said are not farm uses.

The state initially told Warner he didn’t need a permit to operate it but then reversed course because of the quarrying and required him to get a federal pollution permit.

Warner previously told the Tennessee Journal he was being targeted by “political adversaries.” He declined to comment on the record to the Lookout last week and didn’t respond to a text message question Thursday.

Forget about Hawaii and Chapel Hill, looks like the surfin’ safari ain’t happening after all – at least not this fall.