TN.gov Newsroom

NASHVILLE - Sociologist call them some of the most at-risk children in America today.  In Tennessee, there are thousands of children with incarcerated parents. 

NASHVILLE - The effort to rehabilitate criminal offenders has just received a boost in Tennessee.  The Department of Correction has teamed with AmeriCorps Vista in the first of its kind program to help get much needed services to offenders upon their release from prison.

PIKEVILLE - The Tennessee Department of Correction will hold a public meeting to gain input from residents on the proposed expansion of the Southeastern Tennessee State Regional Correctional Facility in Pikeville, Tennessee.  Once completed, the facility will add more than 1,440 new beds and will be named the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex.

NASHVILLE — Tennessee First Lady Andrea Conte will address the National Association of Victim Services Professionals in Corrections on Friday, October 17, at the Holiday Inn Express Downtown. She will discuss the role that crime victims have in the corrections process and pre-release programs for incarcerated individuals to teach the impact that crime has on victims.

CHATTANOOGA - Internal Affairs agents with the Department of Correction have arrested a Chattanooga woman suspected of smuggling loaded guns into a Tennessee prison.  Tiara Monique Ward, 27, is charged with Introduction of Contraband into a Penal Facility.  She is being held at the Morgan County Jail.

HENNING - A veteran Tennessee corrections professional has been named Warden of the West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Henning, Tennessee.  Commisioner George Little appointed Henry Steward as warden of the maximum-security facility effective October 1, 2008.

WARTBURG - The Department of Correction is currently investigating the discovery of weapons smuggled into the Morgan County Correctional Complex.  Two guns were found inside a package delivered to the institution this morning.

NASHVILLE - The seventh annual "Jaunt in the Joint" will be held this Wednesday at the Charles Bass Correctional Complex.  The marathon, half marathon and 5-K run is sponsored by the Nashville Striders and helps raise awareness of health living and behavioral issues among inmates.

NASHVILLE - Six TDOC employees are the subject of an internal affairs investigation into allegations of inappropriate relationships with current and former inmates, introduction of tobacco products into the institution and staff misconduct.  The employees, at the Tennessee Prison for Women, have either resigned, been terminated or been placed on administrative leave pending a disciplinary hearing.

MEMPHIS - The future of corrections will be one of several topics discussed during the first annual Corrections Symposium to be held in Memphis next week.  Corrections and law enforcement professionals from Tennessee and surrounding states will gather for the 2008 Corrections Agencies of West Tennessee(CAWT) Symposium.  Experts will tackle issues including offender reentry, managing gangs, recruitment and retention of staff.