About Tennessee Department of Corrections
The Tennessee Department of Corrections is the state agency charged with running the state’s rehabilitation and corrections functions. This department oversees about 20,000 convicted offenders in Tennessee's fourteen prisons and three privately-run facilities under the Corrections Corporation of America. It also operates a medical and mental health establishment that serves all its facilities while supervising parolees and probationers. Juveniles who are not convicted as adults are supervised by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services. This department is based at the Rachel Jackson Building in Nashville.
The primary aim of this government agency is to keep the state citizens safe by putting away criminals. In addition, it also ensures the safety of all prisoners, and personnel serving in the corrections department. Employees in this department receive training every 12 months to ensure that they are well equipped and skilled to perform their roles. As a result, they are always prepared in the event of an emergency. Ideally, the department collaborates flawlessly with all its stakeholders to dispense their services as entrusted by the public.
The Department’s History
The TDOC created in 1923 by the Administrative Reorganization Act to supervise Tennessee's prison system. The General Assembly created the Industrial Division of the Department of Institutions in 1933.
Confederate Soldiers Home, School for the Blind, School for the Deaf, Tennessee Industrial School in the state prison, Clover Bottom Developmental Center, three regional psychiatric hospitals, and Gailor Center were all under the Department of Institutions and Public Welfare.
However, in 1939, the Department of Institutions and Public Welfare was separated into institutions and public welfare. Later, the Department of Institutions was renamed the Department of Correction in 1955. The state legislature established Adult Probation and Parole in 1961.
The General Assembly created the Division of Rehabilitation in 1970. Currently, the Pardons and Paroles Board Chairman is elected by Board members, not the Commissioner of Corrections.
The Board of Pardons and Paroles became independent in 1979 after the Department of Correction moved to the State Office Building. The Department of Correction Supervision and Rehabilitation Fund was created the same year. However, the fund's payout changed from TDR to TDOC in 1982.
Convicts filed a federal case citing overcrowding and poor conditions in the mid-1980s. As a result, there was an enactment of the Comprehensive Correction Improvement Act of 1985, which cost the General Assembly over $320 million. Tennessee's prisons were de-federalized later in November 1994.
Facilities
The TDOC oversees state and private prisons. It administers 14 state prisons, handling ten directly and four via a private business, CoreCivic. TDOC classifies these amenities by location. Three state prisons in each of the East, Middle and West regions. Four privately managed prisons make up a separate category. The TDOC website has a complete list of Tennessee state prisons with links to their websites.
The Department's Structure
The Department of Youth Services took over all juvenile activities from the Department of Correction in 1989. Further, the privatization of the South Central Correctional Center was in March 1992 by the Corrections Corporation of America. The American Correctional Association certified the department's final two institutions in 1994, making it the first adult correctional system. The regional concept was phased out in 1995.
Information On Felony Offenders Mobile Application
This Application offers information regarding felony offenders in the TDOC's custody. The data comes from several Tennessee jurisdictions. As such, it's important to contact the originating jurisdiction for confirmation or clarification.
Citizens may freely see an individual's current;
- Status.
- Location.
- Photo.
- Active sentences.
However, it's the Board of Parole's website that lists hearing dates. You can click Search Now and enter a name or TDOC #. Alternatively, you can download MyTN on your phone and then perform the Search.
Services For Victims
The Board assists parolees and also takes Victim Impact Statements and registrations. They also help victims understand the parole process and even attend hearings.
The TDOC keeps the identities of the registered victim, their family, or bystander a secret. The Division's main goal is to preserve victims' rights during parole and encourage full victim participation in parole. The Division also achieves victim inclusion in communal efforts to punish perpetrators, avoid future damage, and promote community safety.
Other services include:
- Issuing a Letter from BOP's Victim Services Director.
- File a Victim Notification Request.
- File a Victim Impact Statement.
- File a Change of Address Form.
- Find a Victim Services Person in Your Area.
- Parole Hearing Handbook for Victims & Their Families.
- Victim Services Newsletter.
- Contact Victim Services.
The Parole And Probations Board
The Board of Parole has nine divisions. These divisions have distinct functions and responsibilities to ensure the Board follows the law.
The main goal is to schedule parole hearings, send out notifications, and issue release certificates as fast as possible. The department achieves this main mission through interdepartmental units, which include:
- Certificate Unit Docket Unit
- Clemency Unit (Executive)
- File Room Unit
- Unit of Psychology
Additionally, the Board also does the following tasks:
- Setting up parole hearings promptly.
- Attending to inquiries about parole hearings.
- Publicizing parole hearings to interested parties and law enforcement personnel.
- Issuing certificates of pardoning.
- Offender hearing data safekeeping.
- Requesting that hearing authorities request psychological examinations.
- Processing applications for Executive Clemency.
- Assisting the Board in making parole decisions by providing information and documents.
- Acknowledging, examining, and also distributing any Incoming communication.
Inmate Records In Tennessee
Tennessee prisoner records are official data gathered by correctional institution personnel about inmates in Tennessee prisons and jails. The records contain administrative and personal data about prisoners, including:
- Name.
- Gender.
- Race.
- Birthdate.
- Booking photo.
Moreover, the administrative records track inmates' admissions, incarcerations, transfers, and releases. The TDOC makes most of this information public. Hence, the citizens may access them at any time.
Tennessee Doc Inmate Search
The Tennessee Felony Offender Information website has search options. You may utilize it to look up their information if you have the offender's TDOC or state ID number. You may also use a first and last name combination (at least one last name), a code, and the 'Search' button.
The next page is a list of all current and former inmates in Tennessee who fit your criteria, including:
- Aliases.
- Full name.
- Date of birth.
- TDOC ID number.
- Incarceration status; whether inactive, paroled, incarcerated, or deceased.
- The facility of incarceration or parole officer they report to.
However, TDOC advises the user to input the correct details to get the correct information about inmates for a successful search. The website will give you the following details about the offender:
- A complete physical description.
- Sentence information (including parole eligibility/results and prospective release dates), and
- Specific details on the crime committed.
Tennessee State Prisoner Lookup
Individuals must note that the TDOC does not regularly update the prisoner location service database. The fact that individuals get arrested, imprisoned, accused, convicted, and sentenced to jail without their identification being recorded by the institution is also worth highlighting. For example, some illegal immigrants may choose not to reveal their identities to update prisoner locators.
Tennessee State Facility Locator
Tennessee DOC has a facility locator search engine. This platform provides information on how to locate a prison and conduct a state Prisoner lookup. In addition, it provides details about the state prisons and jails. The information includes:
- Visitation hours.
- Phone numbers.
- Locations.
- Direct website connections.
Note that the TennesseeDOC offender locator is specifically for inmates in the state prison. Hence, if your loved one is in a federal, county, or municipal jail, their information may not be available in the website results.
But that shouldn't worry you as there is also an online platform that can help you locate an inmate from the county Jail.
However, the sex offender registry is not the responsibility of the TDOC rather the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations. Hence, to conduct a sex offender search, you may visit the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's official website.