Search Tennessee Public Records

How Are Inmate Records in Tennessee Created and Stored?

Inmate records are created by the justice system at different intervals as an offender moves through it. The paper trail begins when someone is arrested. The arresting officer usually fills out a RAP sheet containing the person's name, address, physical address, mugshots, and crime details. After that, everything else that happens to them is documented and kept in the file. The Tennessee Department of Correction is the agency in charge of maintaining and storing inmate records. They keep them in a consolidated database online so that the public may conduct an inmate search freely at any time.

What Does Tennessee’s Prison System Look Like?

The Tennessee prison system is fairly straightforward, with a few different types of facilities and programs to manage and rehabilitate offenders in the state. The entire operation is overseen by the Tennessee Department of Correction and Commissioner, Tony C. Parker. The facilities consist of:

Types of Jails and Prisons in Tennessee

Tennessee has eleven state prisons that hold felons who were sentenced to long-term stays in confinement. They also contract with four private prisons owned and run by CoreCivic. The federal government maintains two federal prisons in Tennessee for federal inmates who have broken federal laws inside the state. The Tennessee Department of Children's Services and the Office of Juvenile Justice operates one juvenile detention center for youth offenders, and the state has one hundred and twenty county jails as well to hold pretrial detainees and recently arrested suspects.

How Many People are Locked up in Tennessee?

Tennessee’s prison system holds 28,203 residents in various kinds of correctional facilities, from which 14,037 residents are held in state prisons, 8 in juvenile correctional facilities, and 6,725 in local jails.

Tennessee State Prisons

Tennessee has eleven state-run prisons that are overseen and managed by the Tennessee Department of Correction. One facility specifically caters to prisoners with serious physical or emotional needs, and another is specifically designed to house female inmates only. The state prisons in Tennessee include:

• Bledsoe County Correctional Complex.
• Morgan County Correctional Complex.
• Northeast Correctional Complex.
• Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility.
• Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.
• Tennessee Prison for Women.
• Turney Center Industrial Complex.
• Mark Luttrell Transition Center.
• Northwest Correctional Complex.
• West Tennessee State Penitentiary.
• Women's Therapeutic Residential Center.

Tennessee Federal Prisons

The state of Tennessee also has two federal prison facilities within state borders. These two facilities are operated and managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FOB). They have an extensive website with detailed pages on each institution and information on how to visit, call, or send money and gifts. The list of federal prisons in Tennessee are:

• Memphis FCI.
• Nashville RRM.

Tennessee County Jails

Tennessee has one hundred and twenty local county jails. Each of these are run by the local county Sheriff's Office and local law enforcement. The list of Tennessee jails includes:

• Anderson.
• Bedford.
• Blount.
• Bradley.
• Campbell.
• Cannon.
• Carroll.
• Carter.
• Cheatham.
• Chester.
• Claiborne.
• Clay.
• Cocke Jail.
• Cocke Annex.
• Coffee Annex.
• Coffee.
• Crockett.
• Cumberland.
• Davidson CJC.
• Davidson HDC.
• Davidson CDC.
• Davidson MCC.
• Davidson ORC.
• Davidson CCA (MDF).
• Decatur.
• DeKalb.
• Dickson.
• Dyer.
• Dyer Annex.
• Fayette.
• Fentress.
• Franklin.
• Gibson.
• Giles.
• Grainger Co. Det. Center.
• Greene Det. Center.
• Greene WH.
• Grundy.
• Hamblen.
• Hamilton Jail.
• Hamilton - Silverdale CCA.
• Hancock.
• Hardeman.
• Hardin.
• Hawkins.
• Haywood.
• Henderson.
• Henry.
• Hickman.
• Houston.
• Humpphreys.
• Jackson.
• Jefferson.
• Jefferson WH.
• Johnson.
• Johnson City (F).
• Knox - KCJ.
• Knox - RDWDF.
• Knox - KCWRC.
• Lake.
• Lauderdale.
• Lawrence.
• Lewis.
• Lincoln.
• Loudon.
• Macon.
• Madison Annex.
• Madison CJC.
• Madison PF.
• Marion.
• Marshall.
• Maury.
• McMinn.
• McNairy.
• Meigs.
• Monroe.
• Montgomery.
• Montgomery Workhouse.
• Moore.
• Morgan.
• Obion.
• Overton.
• Perry.
• Pickett.
• Polk.
• Putnam.
• Rhea.
• Roane.
• Robertson.
• Rutherford.
• Rutherford Work Center.
• Scott.
• Sequatchie.
• Sevier Jail.
• Sevier Annex.
• Shelby CJC.
• Shelby SCCC.
• Smith.
• Stewart.
• Sullivan.
• Sullivan Extension.
• Kingsport City.
• Sumner.
• Tipton.
• Trousdale.
• Unicoi Jail (F).
• Unicoi Annex (F).
• Union.
• Van Buren.
• Warren.
• Washington Det, Center.
• Washington WH.
• Wayne.
• Weakley.
• White.
• Williamson.
• Wilson.

Tennessee Juvenile Detention Centers

Tennessee has only one juvenile detention center called Wilder Youth Development Center. It is completely run and managed by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services and the Office of Juvenile Justice. This facility holds youth offenders and offers them education and a path to rehabilitation to turn their lives around before they become adults. The Wilder Youth Center works off the following guiding principles:

• Community Safety.
• Family-Centered/Community-Based Programs.
• Therapeutic Approach.
• Accountability.
• Data-Driven.
• Innovation.

Tennessee Private Prisons

Tennessee contracts with four private prisons to help alleviate overcrowding and shave off some of the responsibility and care for inmates. All four facilities are owned and operated by CoreCivic. However, the Tennessee Department of Correction still maintains direction over these facilities and their inmates. The private prison facilities in Tennessee are:

• Hardeman County Correctional Facility.
• South Central Correctional Facility.
• Trousdale Turner Correctional Center.
• Whiteville Correctional Facility.

Why are People Incarcerated in Tennessee?

There are about 58,000 people incarcerated in the state of Tennessee. Of that total, more than half (30,000) are in state prison, 19,000 are in local jails, 8,100 inmates are in federal prisons. Another 660 are in youth detention, and about 110 are involuntarily committed to mental hospitals. The number one reason (18.3%) inmates are in prison in Tennessee is due to homicide. The next most popular reason (17%) is drug charges. After that, the top reasons for incarceration in Tennessee are property offenses, robbery, assault, and sex crimes.

Tennessee’s Incarceration Rate and Statistics

Tennessee’s incarceration rate for year-end 2016 under state prison or local jail jurisdiction per 100,000 population was 422, which is lower than an average incarceration rate by 6%. The number of Tennessee prisoners at the year-end of 2016 was 28,203, from which 10% were female prisoners, whereas the number of male prisoners was 25,481 in 2016.

Where Do Tennessee Inmates Go When They are Released?

Most Tennessee inmates will return home to family friends once they are released from prison. Tennessee does have extensive reentry programs aimed at helping inmates transition successfully back into society. These programs offer assistance with job placement, housing, parenting, and treatment for mental illness or drug and alcohol addictions.

How Does Parole Work in Tennessee?

Parole is a privilege given only to inmates who do not pose a threat to society and who have behaved well in prison. The Tennessee parole board is the entity in charge of monitoring all prisoners' progress and granting parole when they feel it is warranted. Parole is a supervisory program where the inmate must check-in regularly with a parole officer and complete other tasks, or they will go back to prison.

Parole Population

How Does Someone Get Probation in Tennessee?

Often Tennessee judges will order probation for an offender rather than send them to prison. This generally applies to low-risk or first-time offenders. Probation is also a supervisory program where the probationer must follow all the court-ordered rules, including regular check-ins with their probation officer, or they will go to prison to serve out the rest of their sentence. Probation usually lasts a few months to a few years.

Probation Statistics