The Northwest Correctional Complex is a state prison located in Tiptonville, Lake County, Tennessee. It is owned and operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction.[2] The facility can hold 2,391 inmates at a range of security levels.[3][4] It has the second largest capacity of any state prison in Tennessee after the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center.[3] As of May 31, 2020, there were 1,958 in the facility.[3] It is the primary educational prison in the state system. In addition, inmates provide more than 100,000 hours of community service to state and local governments, and non-profit agencies annually.[1]
In July 2015, eight NCC inmates sustained knife wounds in gang-related stabbings. The prison, as well as the state's Northeast Correctional Complex, was put on lockdown. The disturbances were attributed by The Tennessean to understaffing and a "severe manpower shortage" following Tennessee's decision to reconfigure correctional officers' schedules to save money on overtime.[5]
In May 2020, it was reported that 394 cases of COVID-19 had been linked to the NCC. Specifically, 381 inmates and 13 staff at the prison had tested positive for the disease as of May 15.[6] As of June 3, 2020 a total of 612 inmates and 28 staff members have tested positive; 382 of those inmates have recovered and 10 staff members have returned to work.[7]
History
The Lake County Regional Correctional Facility (now called Site 2 within the complex) opened in Tiptonville in 1981, with a capacity of 500 inmates.[4] The Northwest Corrections Center opened on the site in 1992 and is called Site 1.[4]
