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CoreCivic operates four prisons in Tennessee thanks to contractual web

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Who is in charge of the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, the troubled Tennessee prison that is at the center of the federal investigation announced last week into alleged civil rights abuses?

The situation is complicated because a web of state contracts allows CoreCivic, the Brentwood-based private prison company, to circumvent a law that prevents the state of Tennessee from awarding contracts to more than one private prison.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced a civil investigation into conditions at Trousdale, which has long been the subject of lawsuits and grim government audits related to staffing shortages and violence.

Former inmates and family members of current prisoners described a nightmare climate of overdoses, physical assaults and extortion, accompanied by inadequate medical care and alleged corruption among guards.

More: Inmates and families describe the hell of drugs, gangs and death in Tennessee's largest prison

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke made it clear that the onus lies with Tennessee. She said last week that the state government, not just the private company, is responsible for the treatment of incarcerated people because “private prisons are not above the law.”

How CoreCivic contracts work

Although the Tennessee Department of Correction is ultimately responsible for overseeing CoreCivic, the prison's contracting arrangement is unusual in the state. Current state law only allows contracts for one maximum-security prison in the state, but CoreCivic flouts that law through a series of subcontracts with local counties rather than the state government.

Tennessee uses local governments as pass-through providers rather than paying CoreCivic directly. And not all CoreCivic facilities have the same contractual arrangements with the state.

Although CoreCivic has a stake in four Tennessee state prisons, Trousdale is the only one that is privately owned and operated entirely by CoreCivic.

CoreCivics Trousdale contracts directly with Trousdale County, which in turn contracts with the county to provide millions of public funds to fund the jail and house state prisoners.

The Hardeman County Correctional Facility and the Whiteville Correctional Facility are both operated by CoreCivic but are owned by a Hardeman County correctional facility.

The South Central Correctional Facility in Wayne County is operated by CoreCivic but owned by the State of Tennessee. It is the only facility that Tennessee has contracted directly with CoreCivic under state law.

TDOC is now responsible for contract management, which means making sure CoreCivic complies with its contract terms, such as staffing requirements. TDOC employs a team of contract monitors to oversee CoreCivic's compliance with its contracts. These taxpayer-funded positions are responsible for overseeing areas ranging from medical treatment to drug testing to prison weapons storage.

The company has significantly violated its state contract on personnel costs in recent years, experiencing triple-digit turnover rates last year, in addition to regular compliance issues in other areas. The contract violations were most severe in Trousdale, which experienced a 188% staff turnover in 2023. CoreCivic's contract states that contract staff turnover “shall not exceed” 50% per year.

Contract monitors report chronic vacancies in key positions at Trousdale, according to state contract penalty reports obtained by The Tennessean. The most common vacancies are for correctional officers in inmate housing units.

Funding increases for CoreCivic

Yet lawmakers earlier this year approved a $7 million increase in funding for CoreCivic as part of a budget increase for the Tennessee Department of Corrections — just two months after the state's auditor general released a scathing report on the private prison operator's failings.

Trousdale will receive $2.4 million of that increase as part of its contract with the county. Hardeman and Whiteville will each receive about $1.6 million, and South Central will receive the remaining $1.2 million.

With the increase, the state is expected to spend more than $80 million on its contract with Trousdale County in the current fiscal year, $52 million for Hardemon County, $48 million for Whiteville and just over $52 million for South Central.

CoreCivic's management of Trousdale has been rocky from the start after it opened in December 2015 with a five-year, $276 million contract.

CoreCivic replaced Trousdale's first warden less than 90 days after the prison opened. In May 2016, the Tennessee Department of Correction asked the prison to stop accepting new inmates due to concerns about the facility's management, allegations of excessive use of force, and solitary confinement.

Damon Hininger, CEO of CoreCivic, publicly admitted that the company made mistakes during the prison's rocky opening.

“We have work to do, clearly we have work to do,” Hininger said in an interview with The Tennessean in December 2016. Hininger described the problems in opening the prison as growing pains and “inconsistencies in operations.”

Ongoing litigation and the state's own audits show that Trousdale never found a solid operating footing, stemming from years of staffing problems and damning audits. Trousdale has never met its staffing obligations to the state and has amassed nearly $15 million in fines since 2019 that appear to have done little to address the problem, while TDOC's own facilities have seen marked improvements in staff recruitment and retention.

CoreCivic and its political connections

Meanwhile, Hininger maintains a good relationship with politicians in the state of Tennessee and even seems to be increasing his own political ambitions as his company continues to violate its contract with the state.

Hininger has not denied speculation that he is considering a run for governor in 2026. In recent months, he has paid top salaries to associate with Tennessee's Republican elite, while CoreCivic continues to be one of the state's most politically invested companies.

CoreCivic's political action committee is among the largest donors in Tennessee politics, having donated more than $100,000 to candidates during the 2022 and 2018 election cycles, and $73,000 so far this year. Lee's campaign received at least $85,300 directly from CoreCivic Inc. and its partner PAC during the 2018 and 2022 election cycles.

In June, Hininger chaired the annual Tennessee Republican Statesman's Dinner, where he and his wife personally paid for souvenir glasses engraved with the Tennessee Republican Party logo as mementos for the approximately 1,200 guests.

The following month, Hininger traveled to Milwaukee as a Republican delegate to the Republican National Convention, where he and CoreCivic hosted a four-hour event at American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers.

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