Safekeepers won’t face solitary with no review

Tennessee prison officials promise a thorough review before deciding whether someone not convicted of a crime should be housed in solitary confinement at a state prison, the latest proposed change to the controversial “safekeeping” program.

The pledge came the same day Gov. Bill Haslam signed a law banning the housing of juveniles awaiting trial in adult prisons and mandating regular reviews of all safekeeping orders.

The changes were the first to safekeeping law in more than 150 years and followed an investigation by The Marshall Project and The USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee.

Tennessee Department of Correction spokeswoman Neysa Taylor said Monday evening the department supports the revisions in law and is “finalizing” a review of its own safekeeping policies.

“The department plans to look at each safekeeper and take into consideration their specific and individual needs to determine their placement in restrictive housing and facility assignment,” Taylor said.

“In addition, the department expects that inmates will no longer be placed in restrictive housing without an individualized assessment.”

In Tennessee, local judges and prosecutors can determine local facilities are insufficient to house people accused of a crime and awaiting trial in jail. For “safekeeping,” those pre-trial detainees are transferred to the custody of the Tennessee prison system.

Until now, Department of Correction policy required those people be housed in solitary confinement, regardless of their potential to harm or threat to others. Many spent months, if not years, in solitary confinement awaiting trial.

The joint investigation found from January 2011 through 2017, more than 320 people in Tennessee were declared safekeepers. Many have medical problems, mental illness or behavioral issues.

A snapshot from Dec. 31 shows the average stay of safekeepers was 328 days. Fifteen of the 57 people in safekeeping on that day had been held longer than a year.

Taylor did not immediately say how many safekeepers are currently in state custody or whether the department would review their cases to determine if solitary confinement is still appropriate.

It was not clear whether safekeepers would be housed with people already convicted of a crime if an assessment deemed solitary confinement unnecessary.

When Haslam signed the legislation Monday, the law immediately changed to make it illegal to house juvenile safekeepers in adult prisons. Currently, 16year-old Teryiona Winton is in West Tennessee State Penitentiary awaiting trial on a murder charge. She previously spent months in solitary confinement in Nashville, 200 miles away from her family in Memphis.

Taylor did not say when Winton would be moved from the prison or where she would be transferred.

The law also mandates any court that creates a safekeeping order must review that person’s case every 30 days to determine if safekeeping is still necessary. That portion of the law change does not take affect until 2019.