26-03-2025
Tennessee bill to penalize CoreCivic for death rate advances in Senate
A Tennessee Senate committee on Tuesday unanimously voted for legislation that would financially penalize CoreCivic prisons for their soaring death rates.
The bill is a rare prison accountability measure to receive support in the Tennessee General Assembly. State leaders have expressed reluctance to substantially discipline the private prison operator over its systemic operational issues.
The bill, Senate Bill 1115, would allow the state Department of Correction to remove 10% of the prison population from any private prison in the state once that prison's death rate reaches twice the average death rate in Tennessee-run prisons.
As CoreCivic is paid according to its daily inmate population, the 10% reduction would immediately affect its profit margins in Tennessee. The legislation states the population reduction would continue "until the department determines that the conditions leading to the reduction have been corrected."
The Senate State & Local Government Committee voted unanimously to advance the bill on the heels of testimony from Tim Leeper, the father of Kyle Leeper, who died of a drug overdose in Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in 2023.
"CoreCivic cannot be trusted to keep inmates alive," Tim Leeper said. "They have become desensitized to death and human suffering."
The Tennessean in January reviewed death data dating back to 2020 across state and CoreCivic prisons and found deaths occurred disproportionately in CoreCivic facilities. Between 2020 and 2023, 529 people died in general population Tennessee prisons, excluding 162 deaths that occurred in a medical unit prison.
More than 50% of the 529 deaths occurred in CoreCivic's four facilities, despite CoreCivic housing less than 39% of the state's overall prison population during the same period. Familes and advocates sharply criticized CoreCivic facilities for its higher rates of death and sexual abuse compared to relatively fewer chances for education and mental health support than inmates have at state prisons.
More: Two systems of justice: Families, audits say Tennessee's CoreCivic prisons underperform
"At least in a [Tennessee Department of Correction] prison, they have a much better chance of staying alive and making it to the end of their sentence," Leeper said.
Meanwhile, CoreCivic is on track to received a $6.8 million budget bump this year from its state contract, the same contract it continues to routinely violate. The company has racked up nearly $30 million in fines for failing to meet staffing guidelines and other contractual obligations, but reform advocates argue the fines are not a clear incentive for CoreCivic to improve its facilities.
Leeper has accused CoreCivic of intentionally understaffing, a strategy that is "intentional and profitable."
"Inmates have become a profit center for CoreCivic. They use the state like their own personal ATM machine," Leeper said.
Still, Gov. Bill Lee and state corrections officials have indicated they're satisfied with the existing CoreCivic partnership and policy of levying fines for contract violations. CoreCivic's political action committee is among the biggest spenders in Tennessee politics, donating heavily to Republican leaders.
'I think we're holding them accountable, yes,' TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada said last month. 'I think they are doing the best that they can, and I do think they're a partner for us in the state, especially when it comes to population management.'
The House companion bill, HB 1144, is up for committee debate on Wednesday.
In a statement, CoreCivic said its facilities are subject to "multiple layers of oversight" from the state and American Correctional Association.
"The safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care and our dedicated staff is our top priority. This commitment is shared by our government partners at the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC)," said Ryan Gustin, CoreCivic director of public affairs. "Our facilities have trained emergency response teams who work to ensure that any individual in distress receives appropriate medical care, and we are deeply saddened by and take very seriously the passing of any individual in our care. Any death is immediately reported to our government partners and investigated thoroughly and transparently."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee bill to penalize CoreCivic for death rate advances in Senate
