MORGAN COUNTY, Tenn. — Tennessee has a population of more than 22,000 people incarcerated in state prison facilities. More than 30% do not have high school education equivalency which makes it difficult to succeed in life after prison.
Criminal justice reform and lowering incarceration rates has been a priority for Governor Bill Lee. Tuesday he stopped by to tour the Morgan County Correctional Complex to see how their partnership with the Tennessee College of Applied Technology is working. It's one of the largest correctional facilities in the state.
Since taking office Governor Lee has worked to improve public safety and reentry of nonviolent offenders back into their communities.
Reports show the state's incarceration rate is 10% higher than the national average. The Governor believes he can change that by focusing more on educational opportunities for nonviolent offenders.
Numbers show 95% of people incarcerated will eventually reenter back into society. But studies say, nearly half of inmates released from Tennessee state prisons will be back in custody within three years.
"We have to be tough and justice needs to be certain, but at the same time we need to be smart," said Governor Lee. "We know they'll have a 40% less likelihood of returning to prison if they have a certificate of attainment in an educational program."
He said the educational programs at MCCC are doing a great job so far by helping inmates.
"What they're doing is training folks that are going to reenter society giving them skills, training that will give them hope but will also give them a much better success rate in reentry and that's the goal," he said.
Lee believes similar programs throughout state prisons will not only help reduce the high incarceration rate, but will also create safe neighborhoods, save taxpayer dollars and change lives.
"I want us to lead in the country in how we're smart on crime and tough on crime at the same time," he said.
The end goal is to have people pay the due penalty for their crime, but rehabilitate instead of just incarcerate.
"Even among those incarcerated, there's hope when they have an understanding that there's opportunity from them once they get out," said Governor Lee.
The Criminal Justice Investment Task Force that Governor Lee assembled in June will release its report this week on what comes next for improvements within the criminal justice system statewide.