News & Information
TCI BOC and Staff Meeting December 6. 2023: Pictured from Left to Right – Back Row: Michael Donahue, Jason Cate, Jacob Hillis, Christopher Allen, David Elola, Jeff Smith, Brian Grisham. Middle Row: Gwen Beavers, William R. Kane, Stephanie Harding, Jarrod Campbell, Will Wall, James Jackson, Dara Keeton, Albert Medina, Joey Smith. Front Row seated: Jason Smith, Joanne Pogue, Shari Scott, Tonya Stacey, Bob Bass, Heather Huppe-Daniel, Jaime Madison, Nicole Meece.
Executive Director Will Wall was recognized as the recipient of the J. D. Abston Outstanding Training Officer of the Year award at the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Officer’s Association conference. Will humbly accepted the award on behalf of all Tennessee Corrections Institute staff. Through this award, TLETOA wanted to recognize the hard work, dedication, and major changes that TCI has made over the past year to bring specialized training (including leadership and defensive tactics courses) to the jails, grant writing training to Sheriff’s Offices, and program training such as MRT to the jail’s program staff. These are just the tip of the spear for the many meaningful and impactful changes TCI has initiated to meet our vision of being the nation’s premier jail inspection, training, accreditation, and technical assistance provider.
The award was named after Jerry Dale Abston, former Director Abston’s son who was a
long-time training officer from Putnam County who died of cancer in 2014.
Congratulations to Gwen Hyde and Stephanie Harding for completing the TGMI course this week! (11/30/2023)
Stay tuned for more grant opportunities coming in 2024!
TCI Company Picnic 2023, Cedars of Lebanon State Park
MORE CLASSES FOR GRANT WRITING TO COME IN 2024! STAY TUNED FOR SCHEDULED DATES!
JAIL GRANT OPPORTUNITIES 2023 - more to come in 2024!
We want to welcome Heather Huppe-Daniel to TCI as our official
new Middle Tennessee Detention Facility Specialist. Heather officially starts
on Monday, November 27, 2023, and will be the DFS for the northern Middle
Tennessee area. Heather lives in Montgomery County and her last assignment was
at the Dickson County Sheriff’s Office where she was serving as the Jail
Security Administrator with the rank of Lieutenant. She has about a decade of
experience in corrections and extensive experience with inmate classification,
facility operations, security assessments, and much more. She earned her
Bachelor’s of Criminal Justice: Criminal Justice/Crime Scene Investigation from
Purdue University in 2018. Heather also spent time in the private sector before
joining the DCSO where she helped streamline processes.
We are excited to announce a big welcome aboard to our newest Detention Facility Specialist Jacob Hillis! Jacob began his Corrections career at Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office full time in 2015.
In 2017, he obtained his Bachelor’s in Social Sciences from Tennessee Tech.
University. He then transferred his employment to the White County Sheriff’s
Office in 2018. In 2019, Jacob attended the TCI 3T Instructor Development
Training and was promoted to Lieutenant and Facility Training Coordinator for
the WCSO. Since then, Jacob was a certified instructor through Axon, Defense
Technologies, and PepperBall for his agency as well as the PREA Coordinator and
Investigator.
The Tennessee Department of Health still has funding available to mitigate and detect COVID-19 in confinement facilities. This funding is called the ELC grant. The funding is designed to help jails and workhouses hire staff, buy supplies and equipment, do training, etc. as it relates to the detection and mitigation of COVID-19. Please watch this 12-minute video (ELC GRANT WEBINAR, link below) from the Tennessee Department of Health for more information on the grant and how you can apply.
(updated 12.28.2022)
Joey B. Smith, Training Officer West Tennessee: Mr. Smith started his law enforcement career at the Chester County Sheriff's Office as a dispatcher and soon transitioned to Corrections Officer. Joey has 13 years’ experience as Facility Training Officer and 10 years’ experience as Jail Administrator. Joey earned his associates degree from Jackson State Community College in 2006, and joined the TCI Training division as the Training Officer for West Tennessee. Welcome aboard Joey!
Jarrod Campbell, Detention Facilities Specialist: Mr. Jarrod Campbell is a 2012 graduate of Tennessee Technological University and Nashville State Community College where he attended classes such as Computer Forensics and Law. He began his career in public service in 2011 as a Correctional Officer with Van Buren County. He has worked in numerous positions in Law Enforcement and Corrections to include Chief Deputy and Jail Administrator. He was instructor for both the Patrol and Corrections divisions prior to leaving his former agency. In 2018, he was recognized as the Facility Training Officer of the year by Tennessee Corrections Institute. Campbell worked closely with many State and Federal partners to include being a Task Force Officer with the United States Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force. He is certified externally in several topics.
James D. Jackson, Detention Facilities Specialist: James Jackson has joined our team from Maury County Sheriff’s office. He served as a Corrections Officer, Booking Officer, Training Sergeant, and Facility Compliance Officer. Mr. Jackson began his law enforcement career in 2016 at the
Maury County Sheriffs Department where he began as a corrections officer. He then became the classification officer for the department in 2018 in which position he was promoted to sergeant, then later was promoted to training coordinator. We are excited to have James as an addition to our team!
Albert Medina, Detention Facilitiies Specialist: Albert joins us from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office where he was the Jail Administrator for the past four years. Prior to that, Albert worked as a Jail Captain for two years, and he has 16 years of experience as a Sheriff’s Deputy. Albert is a Veteran having served our country in the United States Marine Corps. He also has experience in commercial construction. We are elated to have Albert join our team as a DFS for East Tennessee.
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left to right: TCI's Executive Director William Wall, Chief Counsel Brian Grisham, Programs and Operations Manager William "RK" Kane, Deputy Director Bob Bass, Director of Administration Jason J. Smith
Tennessee Corrections Institute is excited to welcome Mr. Brian Grisham as our new part-time Chief Counsel!
Mr. Grisham has an extensive background in law enforcement having retired from the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy where he was the Director. Brian was previously the Executive Secretary of the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission for over a decade, and he is a graduate of the Tennessee Government Leadership Institute, FBI National Law Institute, appointed to the Governor’s Subcabinet for Public Safety, and much more. Brian has experience at TCI as well having been its Interim Executive Director at one time. Brian earned his law degree from the Nashville School of Law in 1989, and he will be providing legal guidance to TCI’s Board of Control and Executive Director.
We are exceptionally pleased to have Brian onboard!
TCI is proud to honor Retired Detention Chief Brian Bivens of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Bivens has dedicated nearly 30 years to the Correction’s Profession and is recognized nationally for his expertise in Leadership, correctional operations, and PREA. His dedication and leadership to correctional officer development and inmate programming in the state of Tennessee has and continues to be unquantifiable. Tennessee Corrections Institute is honored to present this award to a great partner. Congratulations Chief Bivens, we look forward to a continued partnership!
Congratulations on the retirement of Chief Tom Rudder, Jail Administrator of Madison County Sheriff's Office, with 34 years of service!
Tennessee Sheriffs and Jail Administrator’s gathered at TCI in Nashville on October 14th and 15th 2021 to discuss correctional officer hiring and retention.
The two-day workshop, covering 9 areas of hiring practices and considerations. The group identified 37 secondary points of concern and 5 key areas for consideration and offered solutions. Participants represented each of the 3 grand divisions of our state.
Attendees listed below.
- Sheriff Karl Jackson Obion County
- Sheriff Russell Barker Anderson County
- Sheriff Tommy Jones Monroe County
- Sheriff Jack Stockton Roane County
- Sheriff Eddie Farris Putnam County
- Curt Vokoun Putnam County
- Sheriff Jeff Box Dyer County
- Tonya Fisher Haywood County
- Frank Rezac Carroll County
- Andrew Howdeshell Blount County
- Jerry Scott Sumner County
- Lee Carswell Sullivan County
- Jeff Bledsoe TSA
- Bob Bass TCI
- William R Kane TCI
- Will Wall TCI
- Shari Scott TCI
TCI Is very pleased to announce the newest addition to our team, Jason J. Smith!
Jason J. Smith is the Project Manager for Tennessee Corrections Institute. Jason specializes in collaborating, coordinating, facilitating, and assisting in the successful planning, execution, and operations of phenomenal projects and programs. Jason graduated from Valdosta State University in 2001 with his Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and then moved to Nashville where he has worked with the TN Board of Probation and Parole, the TN Department of Corrections, and the Office of Criminal Justice Programs. His favorite quote is, "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work" (John C. Maxwell), and he strives to ensure customers, stakeholders, and teammates are heard, helped, and satisfied in his quest to make Tennessee State Government the best it can be.
TCI would like to congratulate Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy Director
Brian Grisham on his retirement, having over 40 years of service to the
citizens of Tennessee. Director Grisham once served as the Interim Director of
the Tennessee Corrections Institute during a period of transition which
provided the agency with impeccable guidance as the agency moved into the
future. Your leadership and passion will be greatly missed.
Below are pictures of the National Institute of Corrections' inmate behavior management course recently completed in Rutherford County. Thank you to the National Institute for Corrections, Rutherford County Correctional Work Center and Adult Detention Center for helping TCI provide progressive training to Tennessee's local jails and the jail administration team from Lafourche Parish, Louisiana!
