Prisons and Reformatory Institutions

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not explicitly remove the requirement for state funding but allows TRICOR to operate commissary programs independently of state appropriations.

TRICOR Program Expansion

This bill amends Tennessee's TRICOR program to allow it to operate commissary programs within state prisons and generate revenue from these programs.

What This Bill Does

• Amends the mission of the TRICOR program to include generating revenue through the operation of commissary programs in state prisons.
• Authorizes the TRICOR board to operate commissary programs inside state prisons based on free enterprise principles.

Who It Names or Affects

• The Tennessee Department of Correction and its inmates.
• TRICOR program administrators and staff.

Terms To Know

TRICOR

Tennessee Rehabilitative Initiative in Correction Inmate Program, a state initiative aimed at reducing the costs of incarceration through various revenue-generating activities.

Commissary programs

Services within prisons that allow inmates to purchase personal items and food using their own money or funds sent by family members.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how the revenue generated from commissary programs will be used.
• It is unclear what specific products TRICOR currently sells in prisons, as this information is not provided in the source material.

Official Summary Text

Present law provides that it is the intent
of the general assembly

that
the
Tennessee rehabilitative initiative in correction inmate program
("
TRICOR
")
has as part of its mission to offset the costs of incarceration by generating revenue through the sale of products in lieu of state appropriated funds.
This bill adds that the mission may also offset the costs of
incarceration by generating revenue through
the operation of commissary programs within state prisons
in lieu of state appropriated funds.
This b
ill authorizes the
TRICOR board, within the principles of free enterprise,
to
operate
such
commissary programs within state prisons.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 2117
By Jackson

HOUSE BILL 2242
By Hurt
HB2242
011939
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 41,
Chapter 22, relative to TRICOR.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 41-22-414(a)(1), is amended by
deleting the language:
TRICOR has as part of its mission to offset the costs of incarceration by
generating revenue through the sale of products in lieu of state appropriated
funds.
and substituting instead:
TRICOR has as part of its mission to offset the costs of incarceration by
generating revenue through the sale of products and the operation of
commissary programs within state prisons in lieu of state appropriated funds.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 41-22-414, is amended by adding
the following as a new subsection:
(c) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the TRICOR board, within the
principles of free enterprise, and for the purpose of carrying out its legislative intent as
stated in subsection (a), may operate commissary programs within state prisons.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.