Tennessee Renews $168 Million CoreCivic Prison Contract Despite Deaths and Fines, Exposing Corporate Capture

In May 2023, Tennessee’s State Building Commission approved a three-year, $168 million contract renewal with CoreCivic to operate the South Central Correctional Facility, despite the private prison corporation’s documented record of inmate deaths, safety violations, and nearly $18 million in contractual penalties. The contract renewal—enthusiastically endorsed by Governor Bill Lee as a partnership with “a good partner”—exemplifies the corporate capture of Tennessee’s corrections system through systematic campaign contributions that have funneled millions of dollars to state political leaders while insulating CoreCivic from accountability for deadly conditions in its facilities.

CoreCivic operates four prisons in Tennessee through state and federal contracts worth $233 million annually, housing thousands of inmates in facilities plagued by chronic understaffing, violence, and preventable deaths. Between 2022 and 2023, the Tennessee Department of Correction levied more than $17.7 million in penalties against CoreCivic for failing to meet basic contractual requirements, primarily for severe staffing shortages that left facilities dangerously undermanned. Despite these massive fines—representing CoreCivic’s systematic failure to fulfill its contractual obligations—Tennessee officials not only renewed the company’s contract but subsequently proposed increasing CoreCivic’s total annual payments to $243 million, a $13 million boost that would reward the company’s documented failures with higher compensation.

The continuation of Tennessee’s lucrative relationship with CoreCivic directly correlates with the company’s aggressive political spending in the state. From 2010 to 2024, CoreCivic spent more than $2.7 million lobbying Tennessee lawmakers and contributed another $1 million in campaign donations, making it among Tennessee’s top political spenders. Since 2019 alone, CoreCivic has spent $3.6 million on lobbying and political donations to Tennessee legislators—predominantly Republicans who control the governorship and legislative supermajorities. The company has donated approximately $146,000 to the campaigns of 65 current Tennessee General Assembly members since 2006, ensuring widespread support across the legislature.

Governor Bill Lee has been a particularly significant beneficiary of CoreCivic’s political largesse. The company’s political action committee donated $23,600 to Lee’s initial 2018 gubernatorial campaign, providing the maximum allowable contribution of $11,800 in both the primary and general elections. Overall, CoreCivic has contributed approximately $69,000 to Lee’s campaigns, including funds for his inauguration. The company was one of the top contributors to Lee’s 2022 re-election campaign, cementing a financial relationship that has protected CoreCivic from accountability throughout Lee’s governorship.

This financial relationship has translated directly into political protection for CoreCivic. When the U.S. Department of Justice announced an investigation in August 2024 into conditions at CoreCivic’s Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility—following reports of inmate deaths, violence, and systemic failures—Governor Lee defended the company just two days later, calling CoreCivic “a very important partner” in operating Tennessee’s prisons. Lee’s immediate defense of a corporation under federal investigation for potential civil rights violations while operating state facilities exemplifies how campaign contributions purchase political loyalty that supersedes public safety concerns.

Tennessee Democratic Representative John Ray Clemmons bluntly described the political dynamics: “There’s a handful of people on the other side of the aisle that say they care. They really don’t. But at the end of the day, if they go against CoreCivic, they jeopardize a lot of campaign contributions.” Memphis criminal defense attorney Mike Working characterized the arrangement more starkly: “Politicians who are bought by the company limit liability for the company.” The CoreCivic relationship represents textbook regulatory capture: a private corporation operating a critical government function (incarceration) uses campaign contributions to purchase protection from the very officials responsible for holding it accountable.

The human cost of this corporate capture manifests in the conditions inside CoreCivic facilities. Chronic understaffing—the primary cause of the nearly $18 million in fines—creates dangerous environments where inmates face increased violence, inadequate medical care, and preventable deaths. Yet Tennessee’s response to these documented failures has been to renew CoreCivic’s contracts and propose increasing payments to the company, rewarding failure with higher compensation. This inverted accountability structure—where contractual failures result in increased payments rather than termination—demonstrates how political corruption fundamentally perverts government function.

The Tennessee-CoreCivic relationship also exemplifies how the private prison industry’s business model depends on maintaining high incarceration rates and resisting criminal justice reform. CoreCivic’s financial interest lies in maximizing prison populations and contract values, creating a structural conflict with evidence-based criminal justice policies that would reduce incarceration. The company’s millions in political spending help ensure that Tennessee maintains its position as a high-incarceration state with minimal investment in alternatives to imprisonment, generating steady profits for CoreCivic shareholders while imposing massive social and fiscal costs on Tennessee communities.

By 2024, CoreCivic’s total contract value with Tennessee had grown to $233 million annually for operating four facilities, with the Department of Correction seeking to increase this to $243 million despite the company’s documented failures. This trajectory—rewarding a corporation for systematic contractual violations through renewed and expanded contracts—illustrates the complete capture of Tennessee’s corrections policy by corporate interests. The arrangement serves CoreCivic’s profit imperative and politicians’ fundraising needs while subordinating public safety, fiscal responsibility, and basic government accountability to the interests of a private prison corporation whose business model requires filling cells regardless of social cost.