Tennessee Republican files bill aimed at ending private prison usage in state

A Tennessee Republican wants his state to stop using private prisons.

It's an uphill battle, considering national private prison giant CoreCivic calls Nashville home and more than one-third of the state's 22,000 inmates are housed in CoreCivic prisons. 

But Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Crosby, said the state should stop outsourcing its constitutional responsibility.

"The U.S. Constitution says that government is supposed to carry out justice," Faison said in a recent telephone interview.

"Our Tennessee state Constitution says that government is supposed to carry out justice, not, 'somebody who’s trying to make money gets to carry out justice.' That's crazy." 

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Faison and state Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, introduced legislation Faison believes could phase out private prisons.

The bill would prevent future private prison contracts from containing what's known as an occupancy guarantee. It's a promise from the state to keep the prison at 90 percent capacity, or pay the contractor as though the prison were 90 percent full even if it's not. 

Such guarantees are one of the main critiques of private prison opponents: they argue it's a monetary incentive for states to keep prisons full. 

"If they don’t have a guarantee of money, their investors…they're going to get nervous, because they don't have a guarantee. They're going to have to earn a living like the rest of us to do," said Faison, who runs a pest control business when not at the legislature. 

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Faison predicted state and private prison officials would fight the legislation. However, statements from department and CoreCivic spokeswomen indicated the opposite. 

"While the Tennessee Department of Correction hasn’t had the opportunity to review the bill, the department would not be opposed to such a bill," department spokeswoman Neysa Taylor said. 

CoreCivic spokeswoman Amanda Gilchrist said the company does not require occupancy guarantees in its contracts. 

"In fact, fewer than half of our contracts include such a provision. Those contracts that include a guarantee ensure our government partners that sufficient space to safely and securely house their offenders in the facility is available to them," Gilchrist said in an emailed statement. 

"Even then, our contracts include explicit language that allows our government partners to terminate the contract if capacity isn’t needed."

The bill comes after Faison, Bell and other Republicans joined state Democrats in blasting CoreCivic's operations at the newest state prison, Trousdale Turner Correctional Center.

The state Comptroller in a scathing audit called into question Trousdale's operations, causing lawmakers to issue a procedural rebuke to the state and CoreCivic. 

Trousdale is one of four private prisons in Tennessee, all operated by CoreCivic. Contracts for the Hardemann County Correctional Facility and South Central Correctional Facility in Clifton, Tenn., and are up this May and June, respectively. The contracts for Trousdale and Whiteville Correctional Facility expire in 2021, according to Taylor.

Faison said he expects some opposition to his bill, but he plans continued legislative pressure until the state stops using private prisons. 

"We just need to stop it altogether. It might take me a couple years, but I’m coming after it," Faison said. 

Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892, dboucher@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.