Tennessee Department of Corrections under microscope following unfavorable audit

A scathing audit for the Tennessee Department of Corrections was discussed before a joint committee in Nashville Monday. The review by the State Comptroller’s Office had 18 significant findings including:

*Leadership needing improvement in ensuring compliance with laws and regulations while making their facilities safer for the public

*Unmet staffing levels for medical and mental health care

*Questions concerning the validity of deaths and inmate incidents inside prisons

Rep. Mike Stewart – “All of the deaths in the prisons being of natural causes. Well the Comptroller’s people determined that, no, many of them were not from natural causes. They were from causes like murder, drug use. The accreditations that we’ve apparently received from these national groups are based on false information.”