Basic Information

(1) Statutory Authority: The standards contained in this document are authorized pursuant to T.C.A. § 41-4-140 to establish minimum standards for the inspection of local jails, lock-ups, workhouses and detention facilities. (2) Categories Covered by Standards: The minimum standards established and recorded herein will cover the following categories: (a) Physical Plant (b) Administration/Management (c) Personnel (d) Security (e) Discipline MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR LOCAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES CHAPTER 1400-01 (f) Sanitation/Maintenance (g) Food Services (h) Mail and Visiting (i) Inmate Programs and Activities (j) Medical Services (k) Admission Records and Release (l) Hygiene (m) Supervision of Inmates (n) Classification (3) Other Standards: Nothing contained in these standards shall be construed to prohibit a city, county, or city and county agency operating a local correctional agency from adopting standards governing its personnel and facility, provided such standards meet or exceed and do not conflict with the standards established and recorded herein. Nor shall these standards be construed as authority to violate any state fire safety standards, building standards or health and safety codes. (4) Validity: In determining the application of these minimum facility standards, the Tennessee Corrections Institute Board of Control has enacted the following: (a) Standards contained herein shall apply to specific types of local correctional facilities as noted at the end of each standard. For the purpose of this document, primarily adult jails or workhouses that house inmates for over seventy-two (72) hours will be considered Type I; primarily adult jails that house inmates for no more than seventy- two (72) hours will be considered Type II; and primarily adult jails that house inmates no more than twelve (12) hours will be considered Type III. Type III does not include facilities used primarily for fingerprinting, photographing, interviewing or interrogating. A Type IV Facility is a municipal government facility, either permanent or mobile, used for in-processing, booking, fingerprinting, photographing, and bonding, of primarily adults and where they shall be released or transferred to another type of facility within two (2) hours of arrest. A Type IV Facility shall submit a Letter of Assurance to the Tennessee Corrections Institute outlining the facility’s intent to adhere to all applicable standards and required time parameters. All types of facilities shall comply with the applicable standards, state law and adopted rules, and the Tennessee Corrections Institute has the authority to inspect all facilities annually to verify compliance and report results of inspections to the Board of Control. (b) Detention facilities shall be classified according to construction date. Facilities constructed after June 2000, shall be considered as new, while facilities constructed prior to or during the month of June 2000, shall be considered existing facilities. (c) An existing facility must meet all applicable standards referring to such facilities and all other applicable standards. A new facility must comply with all applicable standards referring to such facilities and all other applicable standards. (d) Any additions or renovations to existing facilities must comply with all applicable standards for new facilities. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR LOCAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES CHAPTER 1400-01 (e) The number of inmates awaiting transfer to the Department of Correction penal system may be discounted from any computations used to determine compliance with standards (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7) of Section 1400-01-.04 Physical Plant under the following conditions: 1. The Governor must have invoked the power of delayed intake pursuant to T.C.A. § 41-1-504(a)(2) and/or a federal or state court has delayed intake into the Department of Correction penal system and, 2. More than six percent (6%) of the county's total average inmate population over the preceding ninety (90) days in all of its correctional facilities consists of inmates sentenced to the Department of Corrections whose commitments have been delayed pursuant to 1 then, 3. The number of inmates awaiting transfer to the Department of Correction at a particular facility in excess of six percent (6%) shall not be used in any computations used to determine compliance with the above stated standards. (5) Certification of Facilities: Facilities that meet all applicable standards as determined by an annual inspection by Tennessee Corrections Institute shall be recommended for certification by the inspecting party to the Tennessee Corrections Institute Board of Control during the first board meeting following the completion of the inspection. Facilities that do not meet all applicable standards shall be recommended for non-certification. Facilities whose annual inspections are completed prior to the fifteenth (15th) of the month shall be recommended for certification or non-certification to be effective on the first (1st) day of the month during which the inspection was completed. Facilities whose annual inspections are completed after the fifteenth (15th) of the month shall be recommended for certification or non-certification to be effective on the first (1st) day of the month following the month in which the inspection was completed. The Judicial Cost Accountant in the Office of the Comptroller shall be immediately notified of any proposed change in a facility's status. (6) No currently certified local facility shall be decertified if the local government has submitted a plan of action within sixty (60) days of the initial annual inspection that is reasonably expected to eliminate fixed ratio deficiencies in that facility and cause that facility to remain certified.