Tennessee senators’ unannounced prison visit irritates correction commissioner

Three Tennessee senators’ unannounced visit to the Morgan County state prison where an officer was killed this year caused a flare-up for the Department of Correction commissioner, according to one of the state lawmakers.

Sen. Tom Hatcher of Maryville, chairman of the Senate Corrections Oversight Subcommittee, Sen. Ed Jackson of Jackson and Sen. Ken Yager of Kingston, chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, went to the prison in May to see how it was operating following the February murder of officer Dustin Pedigo.

Shawn Phillips, the warden of the Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg in East Tennessee, was “cordial” and answered multiple questions, but he also received two phone calls from Correction Commissioner Frank Strada during their visit, according to Hatcher. 

“I can verify that, yes, we did show up unannounced, and the commissioner was not happy with us being there unannounced. But it is what it is. We’re the oversight committee, and I didn’t know that we, as senators, had to get permission from anybody to visit a state office anywhere,” Hatcher told the Lookout Monday.

Faulty locks were blamed for enabling an inmate, Reginald Steed, now indicted for first-degree murder, to get out of a cell in February. Steed was moved to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, according to reports.

Department of Correction spokesperson Dorinda Carter declined to comment on the matter Monday.

Hatcher said he understood it was his constitutional right, as a state senator, to visit state offices and facilities. 

“My job as a senator is to make sure the citizens’ tax dollars are being spent wisely. And we had a murder of a prison guard, so I think as chairman of the oversight committee, I should be able to go up there,” Hatcher said.

The three senators wanted to see where the murder took place in the prison and check on progress on the cell locks, which now have temporary restraints, according to Hatcher. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the officer’s death, he added.

Yager, whose district contains the prison, confirmed that the warden received two phone calls during their unannounced visit. Yager said he understood that inmates were able to use a piece of paper to jimmy the locks and get out of their cells.

“We want to find out what’s going on and get a better picture so we can identify problems that need to be fixed, not only in Morgan County but at other prisons across the state,” Yager said.

Yager said he wasn’t “privy” to the phone conversations but said “you could assume” that Strada was upset and was tipped off that they were visiting the prison. Yager and Hatcher said they haven’t spoken with Strada since the visit.

“This is a very serious matter to me . . . Correctional Officer Pedigo was my constituent among other things. But even far more important than that, he’s a human being, and a state employee was killed in the line of duty,” Yager said. “I think I owe it to make sure we do everything so this will never happen again.”

Yager, who clashed with Strada during budget hearings this year, said he believes the locks should have been fixed before Pedigo was killed. They are repaired, he added, “but, sadly, too late.”