Tennessee.gov News Center

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Internal Affairs agents with the Department of Correction have arrested a Chattannoga 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.
Investigators discovered two weapons inside a package delivered […]

HENNING, Tenn. -A veteran Tennessee corrections professional has been named Warden of the West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Henning, Tennessee. Commissioner George Little appointed Henry Steward as warden of the maximum-security facility effective October 1, 2008.
Warden Steward is a 22-year veteran of the TDOC. He began his career as a correctional officer at the former […]

Wartburg, Tenn. -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. “This is a serious threat to the safety and security of both staff and inmates at the institution,” said Commissioner George M. […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - 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 […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - 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 […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -The Department of Correction has been awarded a $540,000 federal grant to help offenders find employment upon release from prison. The grant, from the U.S. Department of Justice, will allow the TDOC to provide transitional employment servies to offenders released to the Davidson County area as part of a new program called Nashville […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -When a crisis occurs in a Tennessee prison, employees will now receive help dealing with the emotional effect. The Department of Correction has teams of trained experts available to respond in the event of a critical incident. More than 80 TDOC staff members across the state are now able to help their fellow […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A former prison escapee is back in TDOC custody after 27 years on the run. TDOC Special Agent Scott Miller tracked the inmate to a home in Millersville, TN on Tuesday, August 5.
Estill Murray, 50, escaped from the former Memphis Community Service Center in 1981 while on work release. At the time […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -Department of Correction Commissioner George M. Little has been elected to the Board of Governors of the American Correctional Association. The ACA is the oldest and largest international correctional association in the world. ACA members voted to elect Commissioner Little to the Board of Governors during the organizations’ 2008 General Election. “This is […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Internal Affairs Agents with the Department of Correction have arrested three women suspected of smuggling illegal and dangerous contraband into a state prison. The women are accused of mailing a pound of marijuana, 52 cell phones and tobacco to the Turney Center Industrial Prison in Hickman County on February 22, 2008.
Agents arrested […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -An inmate who escaped from TDOC custody on June 10, 2008 has been arrested. Yolanda Denise Barefield walked away from a work detail at the Rachel Jackson Building in downtown Nashville Monday evening. She was arrested by Metro Nashville Police Wednesday afternoon while walking along a Nashville street.
Barefield was serving a six-year sentence […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Department of Correction is asking for the public’s help in locating an inmate who escaped TDOC custody Monday evening.
Inmate Yolanda Denise Barefield walked away from a work detail at the Rachel Jackson Building in downtown Nashville around 5:00 p.m. She was serving a six-year sentence for theft of property and cocaine […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The oldest inmate on Tennessee’s death row has died of apparent natural causes. Richard Austin was found dead in his cell at the DeBerry Special Needs Facility in Nashville on Saturday, June 7.
Austin was sentenced to death in 1978 after a conviction of accessory before the fact to murder in Shelby County. […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -What may be the central reason most people commit crimes is also one of the more difficult problems to solve. Nearly two-thirds of the nation’s prison population can trace their criminal activity to drug and/or alcohol addiction.
The Department of Correction will tackle that issue during the Criminal Justice Treatment Conference planned for […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - An effort to reduce recidivism and save taxpayer money is getting a boost in several Tennessee prisons this week. For the first time, a partnership of volunteers from local congregations and 36 national faith-based organizations will visit two Tennessee prisons as part of the Operation Starting Line program.
The event is sponsored by […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -An inmate who escaped from the Department of Correction in 1994 is back in prison. Floyd J. Swayney was captured Wednesday, May 28 at a residence in Knoxville. Swayney was taken into custody without incident by TDOC Internal Affairs Agents.
Special Agent Richard Metcalfe located Swayney at a home on Highland View Drive where […]

TULLAHOMA, Tenn. - The Department of Correction will conduct an emergency management exercise at the Tennessee Correction Academy (TCA) in Tullahoma on Wednesday, May 7.
The exercise will run from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. on Wednesday. The public may notice brief interruptions to traffic flow, and emergency vehicles will be traveling in the area around […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A partnership between the Department of Correction, Middle Tennessee State University and the Great Books Foundation is allowing inmates at three Tennessee […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - What happens when an offender is released from prison depends greatly on how the public reacts to him or her.  Currently, more than 4,000 Tennesseans […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - In an effort to improve the public safety of all Tennesseans, the Department of Correction has launched the first of its kind program to provide the skills […]