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Description
Corrections Sub Committee March 9, 2021- House Hearing Room 4
A
A
B
C
C
Now
and
it's
it's
all
good,
a
pleasure
to
serve
our
military,
but
also
a
pleasure
to
serve
with
you
folks
here-
and
I
forget
how
small
this
committee
room
is,
mr
chairman
and
committee.
This
is
something
I
have
been
working
on
the
last
few
years
and
working
with
community
corrections
and
then
trying
to
figure
out
how
to
get
them
a
pay
increase
and
understanding
that
judicial
reform.
Prison
reform
is
is
a
big
issue.
It's
a
financial
burden
to
the
state,
and
I
I
ask
with
some
lobbyists
in
working
up
this
bill
now.
C
Mr
chairman,
I'm
going
to
talk
about
this
bill,
read
some
items
into
the
record,
but
then
I'm
going
to
be
taking
it
off
notice.
It's
it's!
Basically
a
bargaining
chip
with
department
of
corrections,
and
I
just
want
to
shine
the
light
on
on
a
a
situation.
That's
taking
place
that
when
the
governor's
package
comes
before
you
it'll
help,
you
ask
some
questions
and
see
what
we
can
do
for
the
community
corrections.
C
Folks
and
I
want
to
start
off-
and
it's
we
all
remember
joe
pitts
who's
now,
the
mayor
of
of
clarksville
and
he
sent
the
montgomery
county
delegation
which
I'm
part
of.
As
you
know,
the
community
corrections
program
in
montgomery,
county
robertson
counties
has
a
very
impressive
and
effective
track
record
in
holding
offenders
accountable
with
intensive
supervision
and
individualized
services,
keeping
in
mind
all
branches
of
government
services
departments
and
all
of
that
they've
got
issues
and
maybe
not
spending
money.
C
Doing
what
they're
going
to
say,
they're
going
to
do
or
or
do
so
it's
I,
I
can't
speak
for
all
of
the
community
corrections,
folks
out
there
in
the
different
departments,
but
because
my
district,
I
have
houston
county,
we
have
a
community
corrections
there,
as
well
as
the
one
in
montgomery
county.
But
after
I
started
working
on
this
bill.
C
With
regards
to
the
aforementioned
criminal
justice
reform
legislation
keeping
in
mind,
they
did
not
know
that
I
had
this
bill,
so
it
was
just
their
concerns
to
me
as
a
state
representative
of
what
they're
seeing
from
the
governor's
office
since
1985,
the
state
of
tennessee
has
enjoyed
the
services
of
community
corrections,
which
has
helped
steer
tens
of
thousands
of
minor
offenders
away
from
our
jails
and
prisons.
The
program
has
enjoyed
years
of
success
working
with
all
of
the
stakeholders
in
the
judicial
system,
including
judges,
district
attorneys,
public
defenders
and
the
individuals
facing
criminal
charges.
C
There
are
18
community
correction
organizations
across
the
state
currently
managed
by
several
public
agencies
serving
88
counties
in
our
judicial
districts.
To
be
sure,
they
are
very
much
appreciated
as
an
important
partner
in
the
judicial
system.
The
community
corrections
program
currently
supervises
over
7
000
offenders
statewide.
C
Additionally,
they
have
around
300
employees
statewide
many
with
20
plus
years
of
service
to
our
state.
The
employees
of
community
corrections
have
proven
to
be
extremely
loyal
and
effective
in
their
work.
The
state
funding
for
community
corrections
is
only
1.2,
which
is
about
14
million
of
the
department
of
corrections
current
budget.
This
clearly
indicates
that
they
are
tremendously
successful
return
on
the
investment
from
the
state.
There
is
currently
a
proposal
which
would
be
the
house
bill,
784
in
the
form
of
criminal
justice
reform
that
will
abolish
community
corrections
in
our
state.
C
There
is
an
increasing
need
for
additional
prisons
and
jail
bed
spaces.
It
seems
counterintuitive
to
abolish
a
program
that
has
tremendous
track
record
of
success
and
whose
sole
goal
is
to
help
people
be
successful
and
avoid
ending
up
in
jail.
Moreover,
we
personally
know
the
commitment
put
forth
by
these
tenured
employees,
especially
during
the
pandemic,
as
they
have
continued
to
go
to
work
each
day
serving
our
state.
We
do
believe
in
effectively
dis
dismissing
effectively
dismissing
them
during
this
time
is
the
best
course
of
action.
C
Best
regards
larry,
j,
wallace,
presiding
circuit
court
judge,
and
so
with
that,
mr
chairman,
that's
information.
I
wanted
to
share
with
you
folks,
yes,
I've
been
visiting
with
the
department
of
of
corrections
and
I
think
it
needs
to
be
an
ongoing
conversation
just
to
shine
the
light
on
the
situation
that
we
currently
have
with
those
folks,
also
with
governor
lee,
and
and
see
what
kind
of
compromise
that
we
can
come
out.
I
understand
it.
B
Thank
you,
mr
chairman,
and
thank
you
chairman
reedy.
I
got
the
same
letter
so
we're
kind
of
in
the
same
boat,
but
I
realized
where
we're
at
at
the
end
of
the
day
here
as
well,
so
appreciate
the
work
that
you've
done
and
again
I
got
the
same
letter
so
we're
all.
I
think
all
of
us
may
have
that
have
the
same
situation.
So
thank
you
very
much.
E
No,
I
just
want
to
thank
the
sponsor
for
for
bringing
this,
and
I
hope
the
governor's
office
does
listen.
This
is
vital
so
to
our
community
here
in
davidson
county,
so
I
hate
that,
for
whatever
reason
we
seem
to
be
getting
away
from
this,
because
I
think
it's
vital
and
reasons
you
demonstrated
and
mentioned
so
thank
you
and,
and
hopefully
the
governor's
office
will
listen
and
we
can
continue
to
work
on
this
and
find
the
funding
thanks
appreciate.
A
D
Mr
chairman,
thank
you,
and
let
me
also
thank
you
all
for
in
the
past,
of
helping
on
the
house
for
the
fastest
thing
unanimously,
and
let
me
also
say
that
it
feels
good
to
be
back
in
the
saddle.
It's
like
you
know.
This
kobe
thing
is
like
I'm
out
of
joints,
but
it
feels
good
to
kind
of
get
back
in
the
groove.
This
is
self-explanatory,
as
it
deals
with
the
13th
amendment.
D
Obviously,
we
think
that
this
amendment
does
not
totally
say
who
we
are
as
a
state.
Under
those
circumstances,
do
we
think
that,
under
any
conditions,
should
slavery
be
a
thing
that
we
even
consider
that
exists
and
I'm
pretty
sure,
that's
the
reason
this
has
been
passing
on
on
the
senate
side,
the
house
side,
the
whole
nine
yards,
and
this
what
it
will
do
is
just
simply
correct
that,
and
that,
basically,
is
simply
what
it
does.