A Tennessee state Senate committee wants to hold off on a partnership that would look for ways to reduce the state’s prison population.
The Tennessean newspaper reports the number of inmates in Tennessee state prisons or local jails has grown from about 25,000 to more than 30,000 since 2003. Officials with Tennessee’s Department of Correction expect another 2,500 prisoners in the system by 2018.
In December, the non-profit Vera Institute of Justice agreed to study Tennessee’s criminal justice system and to make recommendations on ways to slow that growth.
But yesterday, the Senate State & Local Government Committee asked that the Senate Judiciary Committee and other panels that have oversight review the plan before it goes forward.
