A Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) official explained on Wednesday that the agency seeks to hire and retain 600 new correctional officers following an audit that revealed Tennessee prisons continue to face “critical staffing shortages” and a high employee turnover rate.
As TDOC seeks to fill these positions across Tennessee, NewsChannel 5 recently reported the agency is offering incentives, including a $5,000 signing bonus. One prison warden told the outlet the work is challenging but rewarding. Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation warden Taurean James explained, “it is a job for individuals seeking a structured environment” and “looking to help individuals.”
“It’s a job where you may not get those ‘thank yous’ but sometimes you get to see your thank you when you’re out in the community,” James told the outlet, after noting that 90 percent of Tennessee prisoners will be “released back into the community” after serving a finite sentence.
The latest hiring drive from TDOC comes after an audit from the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office found the agency continues to face a “critical” staffing shortage despite taking actions to increase its ranks. According to the report, both TDOC and private prisons managed by CoreCivic are also “facing an ongoing and deeply rooted challenge of attrition within their ranks.”
Correctional officers start with an annual salary of $44,500, according to NewsChannel 5, and their pay is increased to $46,752 after a one-year probationary period. However, the report found that CoreCivic employees who are brought in from out of state are paid at a much higher scale than Tennessee residents, a practice labeled unsustainable by the auditors, which they also said contributed to the low morale.
Additionally, the report revealed that correctional officers claim to be forced to work alone in the prisons. One officer interviewed for the report claimed it was common knowledge that, should violence erupt, any correctional officers separated from other staff members would be abandoned by their colleagues.
As the Tennessee prison population swelled by nearly 2,000 individuals in 2022, the state’s crime rate fell.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) reported earlier this month that Tennessee saw a 7.9 percent increase in the total number of people incarcerated in 2022, consisting of 1,615 new male prisoners and 125 new female prisoners. Tennessee was one of just four states to see more than 1,500 new prisoners over the course of the year.
During the same period, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) reported in December that crime was down across the board, with a 9.54 percent decrease in murders, a 4.47 percent decline in aggravated assaults, and a 1 percent decline in the number of sexual offenses.
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Corrections Officer” by CoreCivic. CC BY-ND 2.0.
