Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole Admits to Monitoring the Dead

Troubling news for many in the state came when Tennessee’s Board of Probation and Parole reported that dozens of dead offenders were alive and being monitored, according to a state comptroller report released earlier this month. The office claimed that at least 82 dead people on probation or parole were still alive. In a stunning understatement, the state’s comptroller attributed the mistake simply to “inadequate supervision.”

State Senator Brian Kelsey boiled the problem down quite well, saying, “With that many dead people supposedly being supervised, it makes you wonder how many live people were also not being supervised.”

One good example of the kind of problems revealed in the report is a criminal who died in October 2011 but who was reported to be bedridden at home by the Board of Probation and Parole. In another instance, an officer continued turning in documentation of visits with a parolee who, the auditors later learned, had been dead for 19 years.

The individual officers responsible for the shoddy work have not been identified and the Board has not said if anyone has been disciplined for the errors. The Comptroller did admit that the report raises concerns about how the office’s nearly $100 million budget is being spent. “If parole officers are supervising dead people, this is a waste of taxpayer dollars and makes us wonder about the supervision of parolees living in our communities.”

Supporters of the Board have pointed out the economic downturn has stretched the office thin. With increasing numbers of criminals added to the rolls, some officers have found themselves supervising about 100 offenders. Many say this number is simply too large to do a good job.

So far, the Board has said only that staff would be trained to better detect deceased offenders by the end of the year. We can only hope it doesn’t take that long to train officers to be able to detect if a parolee is dead.

The full report is available here.

Read: “Parolees monitored, but no longer alive,” by Bobby Allyn, published at Tennesseean.com.

Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Affirms Positive Drug Test Means Incarceration

by Lee Davis

• State of Tennessee v. Terry Maurice Thomas

Terry Thomas appeals the revocation of his community corrections sentence in a recent case before the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, claiming that the trial court erred by ordering him back to confinement for a twenty year sentence after a failed drug test. The Court here found no issue with the trial court’s ruling and affirmed it. 

Thomas was charged with possession of more than .5 grams of cocaine in a school zone, intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia, carrying a knife with a blade longer than four inches and driving on a suspended license. He pled guilty and was given a 20-year sentence to be served on community corrections. 

In April 2011 a violation warrant was issued for Thomas after he tested positive for additional cocaine use. At the revocation hearing the community corrections officer, April Story, discussed how Thomas tested positive during a drug screen earlier that month. Thomas never asked for a second, confirmation test and Ms. Story admitted that besides the one positive test and occasional spotty attendance at drug treatment classes, Thomas had been in compliance with the rest of the terms of his sentence. 

Thomas claims to have been shocked by the positive test, denying he used cocaine. He said he had been working as an apprentice for an electrician and attended HVAC classes at night. He said friends had used the drug at his home recently but he had not shared in the experience. Thomas did admit to not living with his father as he had said he would and to not attending Bible college as promised. He further admitted to spotty drug treatment attendance but blamed his rigorous work schedule. 

The trial court considered the matter carefully and ultimately decided to revoke his community corrections placement, ordering that he serve the balance of his time in confinement. The court deemed the defendant’s testimony at the revocation hearing “not credible” and said it had to act to protect the health and safety of the citizens of Tennessee. 

The defendant believes the lower court abused its discretion by ordering him back to confinement and turned to the Court of Criminal Appeals for help. The Court mentioned that despite Thomas’ shock at his positive test he never took the next step of asking for a retest or even contesting the result. The Court held that the record supports the trial court’s decision and, as Thomas had been shown plenty of leniency by the judicial system, the Court was not inclined to give Thomas relief. 

To read the full opinion, click here.

Earlier: 

Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals: Probation Revocation Fine if Not Done Arbitrarily

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals: Sentence can be revisited if ‘based on’ revised crack cocaine guidelines

Davis & Hoss attorneys represent people in criminal cases in all courts in Tennessee.

Tennessee Supreme Court says Lawyers must advise Clients of Mandatory Supervision in Sex Cases

Jason Calvert was represented by two lawyers after an indictment in Davidson County on numerous sex offenses. He and his lawyers met at least 6 times. They provided him discovery. They went over the materials with him. After these meetings, he entered a written plea agreement to several offenses, two of which were aggravated sexual battery. Calvert received a sentence of 10 years suspended after he served 9 months in jail. During the plea colloquoy, the Judge believed the sentence was illegal because aggravated sexual battery was non-probatable. After consulting with his lawyers, Calvert changed his plea from two counts of aggravated sexual battery to two counts of rape. Neither his attorney nor the Court advised him that rape carries with it mandatory lifetime supervision.


In revieweing Calvert's post-conviction petition, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that a lawyers failure to advise their clients of such an important and adverse consequence such as mandatory lifetime supervision when the client is considering a plea consitututes ineffective assistance of counsel under the 6th Amendment. The Supreme Court further held that because the Defendant testified that he thought it would have made a difference in his decision, that such deficiency constitutes prejudice.


Practice Note: Slow down attorneys. The Court has made it clear that even if your client is considering a plea that carries lifetime supervision, that you must advise of the possible supervision requirements. In Calvert, This issue got past the Judge and both Defense Attorneys who did not mention it. The one person it did not get past was the District Attorney who checked the box on the Judgment form. However, the DA never announced that condition in the plea colloquoy transcript. Had he announced it on the record, how much time could have been saved avoiding a post-conviction hearing and appeal?

• JASON CALVERT v. STATE OF TENNESSEE