NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) will begin accepting applications for the fall 2025 Citizens’ Correctional Academy on Tuesday, August 12. This six-week program is designed to give Tennesseans an in-depth look at the state’s largest law enforcement agency and the work of more than 5,000 correctional professionals.
NASHVILLE – Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling and upon consultation with the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, the Governor determined that it was lawful to carry out the jury’s sentence of death given to Mr. Black.
NASHVILLE – The Turney Center Industrial Complex partnered with multiple organizations over the weekend to host a Build-A-Guitar workshop for inmates in the facility’s Music Club. President Emeritus of Belmont University, Dr. Bob Fisher, who now sits on the Board of Directors at the Tennessee-based nonprofit, Instrumental Horizons, coordinated the event - where inmates received expert instruction from one of Nashville’s top luthiers and crafted 10 handmade guitars to be used at the facility.
Media wishing to report on the August 5, 2025, scheduled execution of Byron Lewis Black #126220, held at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution (RMSI), must RSVP by 12 p.m. CST on July 28, 2025, to TDOC.Communications@tn.gov.
MOUNTAIN CITY, Tenn. – Security staff at the Northeast Correctional Complex intercepted a significant amount of contraband before it could enter the facility on July 2.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In accordance with state law, the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) is now accepting applications from recognized Tennessee news organizations to serve as statutorily required witnesses for the scheduled execution of death row inmate Byron Lewis Black #126220. The execution is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. (CST) on August 5, 2025.
Tullahoma, Tenn. – The Tennessee Department of Correction welcomed its largest class of new correctional officers during a graduation ceremony held at the Tennessee Correction Academy on Friday.
HENNING, Tenn. – Last month, 120 inmates at the West Tennessee State Penitentiary and the Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center (WTRC) graduated from education and career training programs – equipping them with the essential skills and credentials needed to be productive, successful citizens upon release.
NASHVILLE – Today, by order of the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Department of Correction carried out the death sentence of Oscar Franklin Smith by means of lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.
Mountain City, Tenn. – Seventeen inmates at the Northeast Correctional Complex graduated with an associate’s degree in general studies on Thursday night.
Media wishing to report on the May 22, 2025 execution of Oscar Smith #136424, held at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution (RMSI), must RSVP by 12 p.m. CST on May 9, 2025, to TDOC.Communications@tn.gov.
Nashville, Tenn. – Governor Bill Lee has issued a proclamation designating May 4-10, 2025, as Correctional Professionals’ Week in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE – In accordance with state law, representatives from the following news media agencies have been selected to witness the execution of inmate Oscar Franklin Smith #136424.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In accordance with state law, the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) is now accepting applications from recognized Tennessee news organizations to serve as statutorily required witnesses for the scheduled execution of death row inmate Oscar Franklin Smith #136424.
Johnson City, Tenn. – Eighteen participants graduated from the Tennessee Department of Correction’s Day Reporting Center in Johnson City on Tuesday.