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Troubled Tennessee prison gets new warden after years of safety lawsuits and violence

New warden appointed at Trousdale Turner
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HARTSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A troubled Tennessee correctional facility is getting new leadership after years of safety problems and multiple lawsuits over inmate care.

CoreCivic has brought in a veteran correctional leader with 30 years of experience to try to turn around Trousdale Turner Correctional Center. The facility has had riots, understaffing, and violence that's generated about 90 new criminal cases a year for the local prosecutor.

The newly appointed Senior Warden Allen Beard Jr. is a 21-year Air Force veteran with experience at Tennessee, Maryland, and federal prisons. He will work alongside two new assistant wardens with a combined 50 years of correctional management experience.

The leadership shake-up comes as CoreCivic faces multiple lawsuits over inmate safety, accused of problems with drugs, violence, and poor medical care.

CoreCivic said this leadership transition is part of a broader plan to improve staffing and operations at the facility.

Watch our full report and share your thoughts about prison reform with us at Eric.Pointer@NewsChannel5.com.

This story was reported by Eric Pointer and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Eric Pointer and our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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Students help relaunch donation drive for Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt

Young or old, we all love to play board and card games! Those games become even more important when you are indoors and don't have the ability to get outside, like patients in a hospital. Austin Pollack shares the story of students in a Nashville family who have helped re-launch the Red Wagon project to collect games for patients at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

- Lelan Statom