It’s been two years since the U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation into one of Tennessee’s most dangerous prisons. But violence, deaths, and harmful and inhumane conditions have continued to plague the facility, and the status of the investigation has largely been kept quiet.
On Aug. 20, 2024, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division — then under the control of the Biden administration — announced an investigation into Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, a penal facility in Hartsville, roughly 50 miles northwest of Nashville and run by Brentwood-based private prison operator CoreCivic.
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The federal investigation was prompted by numerous reports of violence, fatalities, sexual abuse, mismanagement and chronic understaffing at the 2,500-plus-bed prison.
“Publicly available information suggests that Trousdale Turner has been plagued by serious problems since it first opened its doors,” Henry Leventis, then-U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said in 2024.
“This includes reports of staffing shortages, physical and sexual assaults, murders, and a 188 percent turnover rate among prison guards just last year. Although CoreCivic owns and operates Trousdale, the State of Tennessee is ultimately responsible for the safety of the people incarcerated there. This investigation seeks to determine whether Tennessee is meeting its constitutional obligations.”
At the time, this appeared to be a major step toward justice for people incarcerated at Trousdale Turner and their families, who have long pleaded for reform at the facility. But just a few months after the investigation launched, Donald Trump was elected. The Trump administration asserted control of DOJ operations in January 2025, leaving many unanswered questions surrounding the status of the Trousdale Turner investigation.
Reuters reported in 2025 — just a few days after Trump took office — that the DOJ ordered the Civil Rights Division to pause any unresolved litigation from the Biden administration. It’s unknown whether that freeze is ongoing.
The Scene reached out to the DOJ asking whether the investigation remains ongoing or has been closed. In response, the DOJ sent an email reading, “We will decline to comment on the status of an investigation.”
Ryan Gustin, a spokesperson with CoreCivic, tells the Scene: “We have not received any updates on the status of the DOJ investigation, nor do we have any timeline on when they anticipate finalizing things.”
In the past nine years, the prison has cycled through nine separate wardens — four of them in the past two years. The facility has seen multiple recent deaths, along with a string of lawsuits reiterating claims of gang violence, physical and sexual assault, extortion and medical neglect.
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“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 one 2025 lawsuit.
A riot at the prison in June 2025 resulted in injuries to both correctional officers and incarcerated individuals. Since the riot, more than 500 people have been moved out of the facility. But according to Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada, the riot was the result of shortcomings by Trousdale Turner correctional officers — not CoreCivic. Strada, along with many other state officials, has continuously referred to CoreCivic as a “good partner.”
While federal intervention does not seem likely anytime soon, there have been a handful of state-led efforts to increase accountability in CoreCivic-run prisons, including a particular focus on Trousdale Turner.
The Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill this year to create a one-year body camera pilot program at Trousdale Turner. The bill allows for correctional officers and employees of the prison to be equipped with body cameras, an effort lawmakers say will increase safety and transparency at the facility. Strada expressed his opposition to cameras being brought into the prisons, citing the technology’s cost if implemented in all of the state’s facilities.
The state legislature also passed legislation to create a state family advisory board made up of family members of people who are currently or were formerly incarcerated in Tennessee.
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Almost a year ago, CoreCivic opened a candidate processing center in Hartsville, the aim of which is to speed up the hiring process at Trousdale Turner. The company also says it has seen an increase in hiring since increasing the hourly pay for correctional officers.
Meanwhile, CoreCivic — a multibillion-dollar-corporation — has capitalized on incarcerating tens of thousands of individuals across the U.S. The company’s recent profit surges have come from its contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to open immigration detention facilities, including an agreement with the West Tennessee town of Mason.
The company’s political action committee and its former CEO Damon Hininger donated to President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump’s inauguration committee. CoreCivic and its leaders’ campaign donations extend to other major Republican politicians, including Tennessee gubernatorial frontrunner and U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Gov. Bill Lee, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and state House Speaker Cameron Sexton.
