Tim Reaper testifies to be the father of a man who was later killed after being stabbed at a psychological facility. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout©2025)

Tennessee legislatures have been notified to state private prison operators to reduce mortality rates and face a decline in prison.

The House of Representatives voted in favor of House Bill 1144 by Lebanon Republican Rep. Clark Boyd. The Senate previously approved a version of the bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Mark Podi of Lebanon.

Boyd told lawmakers that the bill was designed to “put accountability for the number of prisoner deaths and violence” in private prisons in Tennessee. Inmates will be “absorbed” into state prisons without increasing costs to the state, he said.

“We’ll just lose 10% of the inmate population,” Boyd said. Boyd worked with Lebanon resident Tim Reaper.

Tennessee has collected $44.78 million in penalties for private prison operators over three years

Corecivic, a public company that operates prisons in four states, is struggling to place facilities at the level necessary for a state contract. The Department of Corrections has punished coreciv multiple times over the past few years, imposing $44.78 million in liquidation damages due to contractual shortages primarily related to low talent.

The state’s director-general audit shows that in 2023 Trousdale Turner accounted for 146% employee turnover, making it difficult to oversee prisoners. The prisons under the U.S. Department of Justice civil rights investigation had a staff vacancy rate of 33.7% recently, compared to 26% in state prisons, officials said.

State figures show that Trousdale Turner has had the highest death toll in state prisons for men in the past few years, with 98 confirmed death certificates from 2019 to 2022. The Whiteville Correctional Facility in Hardeman County has 53 deaths, of which 21 have died in these four years due to overdose. The Southern Central Correctional Facility, run by Corecivic, reported 46 deaths, of which nine died from overdose in that time frame.

In comparison, Morgan County Correctional Surgery, a state-run facility, had 41 deaths, including 11 overdose. Northwest Correctional Facility reported 44 deaths from 19 overdose over the past four years.

Despite its shortcomings, the Department of Corrections defends prison companies and calls it a valuable state “partner.” The state is also staffed in the remaining 10 prisons.

Corecivic says prisoner safety, health and well-being are “first priority,” and each facility has an emergency response team to handle medical care. The company also says all prison deaths will be reported immediately for investigation.