Auditors Find Deficiencies in Tennessee Prison Operations

by David M. Reutter

A performance audit of the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) was released in September 2012 by the state’s Comptroller of the Treasury. It made five findings related to security, information protection, weaknesses in monitoring contractors, abnormalities in reporting incidents, and minor noncompliance with prisoner trust fund policies.

The audit focused on TDOC operations for fiscal years 2010 through 2012. It examined all aspects of TDOC 12 prisons, which as of July 12, 2012, held 19,829 prisoners; 18,622 males and 1,207 females. Three of those prisons are operated by Corrections Corporation of America.

The report found potentially serious security risks with inadequate proof of staff exiting prisons and the training academy returning state-issued property. The audit found that four prisons and the Tennessee Correction Academy failed to document the return of uniforms, picture IDs, and TDOC badges by personnel leaving TDOC employment.

TDOC has in place a policy and form to document the issuance of state property to TDOC employees. The policy requires certain items to be returned within 72 hours of leaving TDOC’s employ. Failure to do so is supposed to result in a deduction from the last paycheck to cover the cost of the property, but the auditors found inconsistencies in this occurring due to where and how forms on the issue are filed and maintained.

Issues with information systems security, which increases the risk of fraudulent activity, were not mitigated, the auditors found. The vulnerability was identified only as a failure of staff to always follow the Management Information Services Procedure Manual, as further disclosure “could present a potential security risk by providing readers with information that might be confidential.”

A risk of fraud, waste, and abuse was found to be increased by TDOC staff and contractors’ failure to always follow Inmate Trust Fund policies. The auditors reviewed a month’s activity for prisoner withdrawal requests. Of the 40 in the random sample, six of the prisoners had failed to sign the withdrawal request or the commissary form/pick list.

Additionally, two-state operated prisons failed to report all prisoners with more than $2,000 in their accounts to determine if they should contribute towards their incarceration costs as required by statute. Also, the Whiteville Correctional Facility was 59 days late completing its 2012 first quarter report on prisoner accounts. Finally, there was one instance of a prisoner’s identification number being incorrect on a receipt, which resulted in a delay on the money being posted to the prisoner’s account.

Next, the auditors found unclear policies as to TDOC reporting incidents in its prisons. This can lead to misunderstandings and inconsistencies in how and when incidents are reported. It also may require the public and policy makers reviewing incident statistics to need additional explanation to understand what those statistics mean and how they were calculated.

TDOC interprets the reporting policy to mean a single incident may include several infractions, but each infraction is not counted as an incident. “For example, an inmate may get into a fight with his cell mate and upon searching the cell; the officer finds a weapon, drugs, [or] cell phone,” the report states. “In this scenario, only one concern (fight, weapon, drugs, or cell phone) would be recorded as an incident, but a disciplinary [ticket] may be given for each infraction.”

The auditor’s concern was that the policy could be interpreted differently by staff, resulting in inconsistent reporting and statistics.

The report further found numerous weaknesses in the monitoring of private contractors. It made a finding on the mental health contract and discussed without a finding issues with monitoring CCA. The weaknesses increase the risk the state may not receive the services it pays to receive.

From July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2012, TDOC contracted with MHM Correctional Services for mental health care. That contract was worth $28,858,200. Effective July 1, 2012, TDOC contracted with Corizon, which was created by Correctional Medical Services and Prison Health Services merging, services for fiscal years 2013 through 2015 at a cost of $42,920,653.

It was found that TDOC cited MHM numerous times in several areas for noncompliance with its contractual obligations. TDOC assessed liquidated damages, which the auditors found did not appear to compel compliance. The contract had three levels of damages: $100, $250, and $500.

The report recommended TDOC increase the penalty for noncompliance. It also found TDOC failed to perform evaluations quarterly, allowing 5 to 12 months to pass without monitoring, which permits noncompliance to go unnoticed.

As to monitoring CCA, the auditors found noncompliance assessments, but insufficient documentation prevented them from determining the violation in most instances.

TDOC concurred with each of the findings and had taken action to correct the matter or had its policies under review to make changes. The Performance Audit, Department of Correction, September 2012 is available on PLN’s website.