Riots. Inmate deaths. Understaffing. Inadequate medical care. In recent years, these issues have plagued facilities run by Brentwood-based CoreCivic, the country’s largest private prison operator.
Most recently, one inmate was killed and two others were hospitalized Aug. 7 following a fight at the CoreCivic-run South Central Correctional Facility in Wayne County. For the past year, the U.S. Department of Justice has been pursuing an investigation into conditions at the operator’s Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville — the facility that has reported some of the most harrowing claims of violence and death in CoreCivic prisons.Â
Department of Justice opens probe into Tennessee’s largest prison following reports of violence, understaffing and sexual abuse
Amid these accounts, lawsuits against the corporation are piling up. Since the start of 2025, roughly 100 lawsuits and legal complaints have been filed against CoreCivic and its subsidiaries, wardens, medical staff, correctional officers and others working in the facilities. About a quarter of those complaints have been filed in Tennessee, where CoreCivic runs four prisons. Dozens of other suits have been filed elsewhere, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas. In recent years the corporation has seen more than a hundred legal complaints annually — nearly 700 have accumulated since 2020.Â
Many of the legal filings allege civil rights violations and failure to protect inmates from harm.Â
A lawsuit filed in May by Trousdale Turner inmate Charles Anderson alleges that Anderson was a victim of repeated acts of gang violence, sexual assault and extortion. Anderson says no members of the prison staff intervened while he was assaulted in a dayroom. He claims he was denied a new housing assignment afterward despite previous and ongoing threats.Â
“There is a well-settled custom at CoreCivic facilities, and TTCC particularly, that inmate-on-inmate violence was and is tolerated and accepted, with no meaningful recourse for the victimized inmates or their families,” reads the lawsuit.
Derek Avery, another Trousdale Turner inmate, filed a lawsuit in June alleging similar acts of physical and sexual assault by gang members that resulted in him being stabbed four times in his abdomen, back and head with an improvised knife. The lawsuit claims Avery did not receive medical attention for more than an hour after the attack, and that the prison nurse falsified the time of his injuries in her reporting and did not immediately request emergency medical services.Â
Among the hordes of lawsuits, a common claim is that CoreCivic is aware of its understaffing and mismanagement and fails to protect inmates who have been repeatedly threatened or assaulted by other inmates.Â
Forty-year-old inmate Clay Andrews was killed in CoreCivic’s Hardeman County Correctional Facility last year. According to an April 22 lawsuit filed on Andrews’ behalf, his death was a “preventable murder.” The suit describes the attack, in which Andrews was stabbed 60 times by other inmates with contraband weapons, and says no correctional officers attempted to stop the assault, which was caught on multiple surveillance cameras.Â
“To maintain its profit margin — and as a result of its chronic and profit-motivated deliberate indifference to inmate health and safety — CoreCivic serially underinvests in prison staff, security, and inmate healthcare at its prisons, leading to predictable and horrific results,” the lawsuit reads.Â
A name that continuously appears in lawsuits is Vince Vantell — the former warden of Trousdale Turner who was placed on administrative leave earlier this year before resigning in April. CoreCivic has said Vantell’s resignation was not related to the DOJ investigation. Inmates allege Vantell neglected to address violence among inmates within the facility and, in some cases, attempted to cover up reports of assault. A June 21 lawsuit filed by a former correctional officer cites civil and human rights violations and racist and homophobic actions by Vantell.Â
The Scene reached out to CoreCivic for comment on recent lawsuits. Spokesperson Brian Todd responded with a written statement.Â
“For more than 40 years, CoreCivic has provided services to fulfill the needs of our government partners at the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC),” reads the statement. “Each of our facilities undergo multiple layers of oversight and are closely monitored by TDOC for compliance with established policies and procedures.
CoreCivic inmate populations at facilities company operates could be cut if deaths continue
“The safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care and our dedicated staff at all our facilities, including our Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) is our top priority. We’re proud of our dedicated team at TTCC, as with all of our Tennessee facilities, who work hard every day to keep those in our care safe while providing for their needs. Staff at each of our facilities are trained and held to the highest ethical standards as part of our commitment to CoreCivic’s comprehensive Human Rights Policy.”
Earlier this year, state lawmakers passed legislation that would require CoreCivic to reduce inmate populations if death rates in its facilities continue to increase. Meanwhile, the State Building Commission renewed a $168 million contract with CoreCivic to run the South Central Correctional Facility. The operator also signed a deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this year to expand four of its prisons to hold more ICE detainees — something the publicly traded company has credited for a recent boost in revenue.
CoreCivic reported $538.2 million in earnings for the second quarter of this year, up by nearly 10 percent from this time last year.
Correction:Â A previous version of this article featured a photo of CoreCivic's former headquarters on Burton Hills Boulevard in Brentwood. The company relocated from that building in 2019. We apologize for the error.
