Reforms to Tennessee’s community supervision system—including to parole, probation, and community corrections—are necessary and can lead to improvements in the challenges of overcrowding and reentry.

Key points:

• The decreasing number of inmates released on parole means an increasing number of inmates who complete their sentence. This is a concern because those who complete their sentence are released into the community without any supervised reentry.
• Tennessee needs to reduce its probation terms.
• Community corrections may need to be placed within the authority and supervision of the Tennessee Department of Correction for additional oversight, structure, and accountability.