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Committee approves bill to create legislative ombudsman for Department of Correction after competing testimony
Summary
House Bill 4 54, establishing a legislative ombudsman to receive complaints and review Tennessee Department of Correction operations, passed the committee after testimony from the department expressing operational concerns and from supporters who said the office will provide independent oversight.
The State and Local Government Committee approved House Bill 4 54, which would create a legislative office to receive complaints and to review certain Department of Correction operations.
Representative Hurt, sponsor of the bill, told the committee the measure is intended to “help make government work more efficient” and is not intended as an indictment of the department. The bill would create an ombudsman office reporting to the legislature with authority to investigate complaints and to review conditions, operations and administrative responses within the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC).
TDOC Deputy Commissioner Richard Muckle testified in opposition to the bill’s current language, saying the department’s concern is the breadth of the proposed office’s investigative authority and the potential for overlapping or diverting resources from criminal and administrative investigations conducted by TDOC. Muckle said the department’s constituent services platform handled more than 4,000 inquiries in a recent year and warned that an ombudsman office without resourcing and a narrower framework could create a significant operational burden.
Supporters including John Gleason of the Action Now Initiative urged the committee to approve the bill and stressed that similar statutes exist in other states; Gleason said the drafted language is modeled on existing ombudsman offices and that legislative staffing levels can be adjusted over time.
Representative Hurt said he had met with TDOC leadership and that the bill was not intended as criticism but as a measure to strengthen oversight and public confidence.
The committee recorded a vote of 23 ayes and 0 nays and sent the bill to Finance, Ways and Means. Committee members requested clarity on standards of proof and resource implications for the proposed office as the bill proceeds.
