United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Henry C. Leventis and Assistant Attorney General Kristin Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced this week that the Justice Department has opened an investigation into the conditions at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, a prison located one hour north of Murfreesboro in Hartsville, TN.
Evidently, the department has found significant justification to open the investigation, including state audits that have flagged dangerous understaffing and safety concerns since Trousdale Turner first opened in 2016. The investigation will examine whether Tennessee protects those incarcerated at Trousdale Turner from harm, including physical violence and sexual abuse.
Several inmates housed in the correctional facility located in Trousdale County once called Rutherford County home. Inmates convicted and sentenced for crimes committed in the Murfreesboro, Smyrna, and LaVergne areas are serving time for various offenses, with sentences lasting an indeterminate number of years.
One of the more recent individuals convicted in a Rutherford County courtroom and sent to the prison in Hartsville was involved in the murder of Terry Barber. Barber was killed inside his Christiana home in 2019, and the final court case surrounding his death concluded in 2023. Devan Gailey, 25, will be 79 years old upon completing his sentence. Gailey was convicted on one count of first-degree murder and one count of especially aggravated kidnapping. He was one of three individuals arrested and convicted in the Barber murder case.
In the prison investigation, “Publicly available information suggests that Trousdale Turner has been plagued by serious problems since it first opened its doors,” said United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis. “This includes reports of staffing shortages, physical and sexual assaults, murders, and a 188% 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.”
Located next to TVA’s defunct nuclear power plant, the prison sits on a relatively quiet tract of land; however, the inside of the facility appears to be anything but quiet. Over a period of 11 months, nearly 200 assaults, 15 deaths labeled as accidental, 2 murders, the confiscation of 97 knives, and 90 incidents of sexual misconduct were reported at the prison between July 2022 and June 2023. The Tennessee Department of Correction facility is operated by CoreCivic, a private correctional management company, and is the largest correctional facility in the state.
“People are incarcerated at Trousdale Turner as punishment for their crimes, but in our legal system, punishment does not and cannot include violence and sexual abuse,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke. “The Justice Department is launching this comprehensive investigation to determine if there are systemic constitutional violations regarding the treatment of people in this privately-run correctional facility. We are committed to protecting the constitutional rights of people held inside jails and prisons across our country.”
In 2016, a Lascassas man, David Sanders, was indicted on multiple charges, including three counts each of aggravated rape, statutory rape, aggravated statutory rape and sexual battery. The victim in the case was a 15-year-old girl, while Sanders was 58 at the time of the crimes. In 2017, Sanders appeared in a Rutherford County courtroom and, through a negotiated plea agreement, pled guilty to one count of rape. He was sentenced to ten years in prison and sent to Trousdale County. Sanders’ sentence was scheduled to end this year, but he passed away in Hartville last January.
The Justice Department notified State officials of the investigation on Tuesday and pledged that the department will work cooperatively with them in conducting the investigation and identifying solutions to any problems that are uncovered.
In another case that resulted in a conviction and sentencing that sent an inmate to the prison in Trousdale County, Lynn Frank Bristol was convicted on two counts of aggravated sexual battery in Coffee County and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Records indicate Bristol's sentence ends in 2037, at which time he will be 80-years-old.
The department has not reached any conclusions regarding the allegations in this matter. The investigation will be conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. This statute gives the department the authority to investigate systemic violations of the rights of individuals in institutional settings, including prisons.
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee is conducting this investigation jointly with the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section. Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via phone at 888-392-7031 or by email at community.trousdaleturner@usdoj.gov.
- Additional information about the Civil Rights Division’s work regarding correctional facilities is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt/rights-persons-confined-jails-and-prisons.
