[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6325425,"mediaKeyId","2333433-065a7854c1257d14d9c84cd005da713d","parentId",2333433,"title","Corrections budget: Tennessee DOC requests salary increases, higher clinical and hepatitis C funding as vacancies persist","audioSeconds",1482,"startMs",1668000,"endMs",3150000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2333433-065a7854c1257d14d9c84cd005da713d&start=1668&end=3150","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2333433-065a7854c1257d14d9c84cd005da713d/thumbnail_1668000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6325425/Tennessee/Corrections-budget-Tennessee-DOC-requests-salary-increases-higher-clinical-and-hepatitis-C-funding-as-vacancies-persist","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6325425-3f3f3be2fbca937f79a0b0cef708ff2f/orig.mp4?Expires=1770437393&Signature=LWoVL7keTdnEfGDbqw5l58WFvpL7SaqQR13d7ntyazKISO0ad60f0f9Tz2quVjdeEhJ4YBAaOOvO4zRXJT0~CDy46rdrh77C8ziCB2X-K4Ysu3faSgQJlpfporcGGoea61S-0EwltDSixBO5WNBFqZfcAaEddKJvoVHO2AIsVvAoHDHXWvsKbWaDtIdvjaSOEHtrEGncpBSk471qljX0vsnc5S1RSmUNezG85aUg8cRItkqLstkW8s~95zNVSLrVWnkgvXcBsS8~rwezURW4DZO1n3U0GANGw0QUN7br9yhxdXgoeZMpAU3r7nL-1WMMTxYScVeOFiy-3~LXO8yZlw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","TN State Legislature","date","2025-02-18T00:00:00Z","article","The Tennessee Department of Corrections presented its operating and contract cost increases to the Senate State and Local Government Committee on March 1, asking the panel to move its budget to the finance committee. The committee voted to send the budget forward.

The department’s leadership told the committee the agency is focused on recruiting and retention and has taken steps to raise pay and invest in equipment intended to reduce contraband and improve safety. Committee members pressed officials for details on vacancy counts, county jail backlogs and contract oversight.

Why it matters: The budget includes multi-million-dollar increases that affect the department’s ability to staff facilities, provide medical care, and fund contracted treatment and prison beds. Committee approval advances those funding requests to the finance committee and, eventually, the full legislature for consideration.

What committee members heard

- Leadership and staff: The commissioner (identified in testimony as the Department’s commissioner) introduced his budget team, including Landon Ketterlin, deputy director of budget; Valerie Murtha, assistant commissioner for finance; Richard Muckle, chief of staff; Gail Fenkell, assistant commissioner for rehabilitative services; and Heather Stanford, assistant commissioner for human resources and staff development.

- Staff vacancies and pay: The department reported a statewide correctional officer (CO) vacancy rate of 26.6%, down roughly 2 percentage points from the prior year. The department said turnover for COs was 31.8% for the last year. Testimony said the department has raised the starting salary for correctional officers to $51,204 and described a tiered increase that would bring pay to about $60,000 after 18 months; two figures were used in testimony ($60,720 and $60,270) and the committee discussion acknowledged the variance in numbers provided.

- Population and intake: The agency said its in-custody population is about 20,000, roughly 1,000 more than the prior year. Intake from county jails increased by roughly 13–15%, an increase described in testimony as about 5,000 additional intakes year-over-year. County jail population figures cited in testimony were approximately 5,700 inmates in county jails, of which roughly 2,400 were locally sentenced.

- Major cost increases in the requested budget: testimony and budget slides identified several specific increases that together accounted for roughly $91.5 million in requested cost increases: a $36.9 million increase to fund correctional officer pay increases; a $14.4 million increase for a new clinical services contract (reduced from the department’s original request through negotiating and accounting for offline beds); a $2.2 million increase for the community treatment collaborative (substance use treatment for certain probation and parole technical violators); and a $21.7 million increase for hepatitis C treatment due to rising numbers of inmates requiring that therapy.

- Contracts and oversight: Committee members asked about private-prison and food-service contract inflators, and department representatives said contract monitors are assigned to private facilities and that the department publicly posts fines and findings when contract terms are not met. The department cited working partnerships with private providers to manage state population levels and said incidents and contraband have declined in the past two years.

- County jails and daily rates: Committee members asked how many inmates are in county jails and how many are locally sentenced. Testimony cited roughly 5,700 county jail inmates with about 2,400 locally sentenced; the county per-diem payment figure cited in testimony was $41 per day, with an additional $3–$6 per inmate per day available if the county provides certain special educational incentives.

Committee action and questions

Committee members asked about Trousdale Turner vacancy rates (testimony cited a 33.7% vacancy rate at that facility and offered to provide the raw vacancy number on follow-up), the status of the department’s electronic health record rollout (witnesses said pilot locations were scheduled to go live by March), and ongoing challenges with contraband including cell phones, drugs, and drone deliveries. Members urged continued oversight of contracts and consideration of federal action that could affect cell-phone blocking in facilities.

Vote and next steps

The committee voted to pass the Department of Corrections budget and forward it to the finance committee; the clerk announced the vote as 9 ayes. The budget will be considered in finance and may be further amended as the session progresses.

Ending: Committee members encouraged site visits to correctional facilities to better understand operations and programming. The department promised to provide additional requested details on vacancy counts and program outcome data for reentry programs mentioned in testimony.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate State and Local Government Committee\tFeb 18, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","At a budget hearing the Department of Corrections told the Senate State and Local Government Committee it has a 26.6% statewide correctional officer vacancy rate, seeks roughly $91.5 million in cost increases (including a $36.9 million officer pay package), and highlighted rising hepatitis C and contracted clinical services costs.","taxTitle","State and Local Government, Senate, Committees, Legislative, Tennessee","taxId",36809,"location","Tennessee","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6325430,"State and Local Government Committee advances multiple bills, sends TDOC budget to finance",3268,1172000,4440000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2333433-065a7854c1257d14d9c84cd005da713d&start=1172&end=4440","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2333433-065a7854c1257d14d9c84cd005da713d/thumbnail_1172000.jpg","/articles/6325430/Tennessee/State-and-Local-Government-Committee-advances-multiple-bills-sends-TDOC-budget-to-finance","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6325430-5a145e61b7006de5b7f747c39756cacc/orig.mp4?Expires=1770437393&Signature=Ob5iOxRpWrK5zqvUE9Cjo2fbaRq9~9yj2xCbmp4dY0svAvBtNkzSGanL4DO5Zz2-uhEN39dqhiKGjiiWAiRIQJL4-RkuDafdqRjvHhm2Z1~iytEl0IsZoYccSz1yaO6-tCeew-MlT0l44rz2WVXBsaLBoCOFILw7M3fDWn6gbukB2Pv~XTtwjehkVd2BibRW85wuaH4V50Ap5EvcRN7ll50ulVX3-n1hy5XMyTvtcxZ72MkHsowkqg3YzPAuHzRewqTszXhNTakVl0LmJgrs~FzqrOkRw12eVhq4fa2Sw9kF8fMKPpwvVJUUHklMycqVcSfTvENbQIXlN7PoBdDm7Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Senate State and Local Government Committee on March 1 advanced a slate of bills and approved the Department of Corrections’ budget, sending the measures on for further consideration.

The committee acted on more than a half dozen bills during a session chaired by Chairman Briggs and moved each to the calendar or to the finance committee as appropriate. The votes recorded at the meeting were mostly unanimous; several items were referred to calendar and the Department of Corrections budget was referred to finance.

Why it matters: The votes change statutory thresholds and administrative requirements affecting liquor licensing for sports facilities, eligibility for ABLE savings accounts, local government audit enforcement, reporting on local government debt, and ethics/campaign finance oversight. The Department of Corrections budget vote advances spending and contract changes that the department said are intended to reduce staff vacancies and address rising medical costs.

Key votes and actions

- Senate Bill 320 (Massey): Lowers the county population threshold from “in excess of 500,000” to “in excess of 350,000” so a sports authority facility can qualify for a liquor-by-the-drink license. Motion moved by the chair; Senator Hatcher seconded. Tally: yes 9; outcome: referred to calendar.

- Senate Bill 452 (Massey): Amends state law governing ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts to align with federal law and to expand the disability-onset age from 26 to 46 for eligibility. Motion moved and seconded; Tally: yes 9; outcome: passed and referred to finance.

- Senate Bill 115 (Powers): Comptroller bill to withhold a percentage of state-shared sales tax revenue from municipalities with two or more past-due audits, until all outstanding audits are completed. Motion moved; Tally: yes 9; outcome: passed and will move to calendar.

- Senate Bill 114 (Harshbarger): Changes local government debt reporting to require all local governments to report defaults and covenant violations (including those with publicly traded debt), removing a gap that forced the comptroller to manually check the MSRB site. Motion moved; Tally: 8 yes, 1 pass; outcome: passed and moved to calendar.

- Senate Bill 111 (Lowe): Cleans up ABC (alcohol beverage control) law to allow single deeded properties that produce multiple types of alcohol (for example wine and distilled spirits) to operate a joint tasting room rather than duplicate facilities. Motion moved and seconded; Tally: yes 9; outcome: referred to calendar.

- Senate Bill 15 (Wally): Requires the state to assume costs for autopsy and burial transport for state prisoners who die in state-operated or state-contracted facilities (the bill does not change county responsibility for state inmates held in county jails). Motion moved and seconded; Tally: yes 9; outcome: passed and referred to finance.

- Senate Bill 380 (Wally, amended): Adds a reinstatement process and reduces continuing education hours from 12 to 6 for utility district commissioners who fall out of compliance with training requirements. An amendment reducing hours from 12 to 6 was adopted before the final vote. Tally after amendment: yes 9; outcome: moved to calendar.

- Senate Bill 229 (Briggs/Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance sponsor): A broad set of changes to campaign finance and ethics statutes including (a) a new registration fee for political campaign committees (commonly called PACs in ordinary language), (b) clarification on how parties and party caucuses may coordinate with candidates, (c) public access to sworn complaints in most circumstances, (d) expanded training requirements for senior governor’s staff, and (e) a proposal to allocate 80% of the annual professional privilege tax paid by registered lobbyists to the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance for IT upgrades. The bill passed committee (8 ayes, 1 no) and was referred to finance. The measure drew extended explanation and a number of questions from members.

- Senate Bill 306 (Briggs): Grants the Secretary of State limited authority to dissolve business entities formed or controlled by persons or governments designated as foreign adversaries by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce (countries listed in testimony included China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela). The bill passed committee with 8 ayes, 1 pass and will be referred to the calendar.

- Senate Bill 214 (Gordon H.): Prohibits naming public facilities after an elected official during the official’s term or within two years after the official leaves office, with exceptions for deceased officials and certain veterans; passed committee with 9 ayes and will move to the calendar.

- Senate Bill 244 (Gardenhire): Minor wording change to a housing-related bill from the prior year (shortens a required period referenced in law from perpetuity to 30 years); passed committee with an 8–0 tally recorded in committee and will be referred to the calendar.

Votes at a glance: counts reported by the clerk matched the oral roll calls at the meeting; most roll calls were unanimous (9 ayes). A small number of measures recorded an abstention or pass; when the transcript recorded a “pass” that was reflected in the committee’s announced tally.

What the committee record does not show: In several roll calls the clerk and individual members used slightly different spellings of member names in the transcript; this summary uses committee role and sponsor attributions exactly as recorded in the hearing, and tallies are the counts announced by the clerk.

Ending: The committee adjourned after finishing its calendar and will reconvene at the same time and place next week.","The Senate State and Local Government Committee voted to advance a package of bills — including changes to liquor licensing, ABLE accounts, local audit penalties and naming restrictions — and approved the Department of Corrections budget, sending both to the calendar or finance committee.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Corrections budget: Tennessee DOC requests salary increases, higher clinical and hepatitis C funding as vacancies persist

State and Local Government Committee advances multiple bills, sends TDOC budget to finance