Parole and Furlough Improvements for Tennessee: Medical and Geriatric Release
The Tennessee Legislature has a golden opportunity to improve the parole system and better allocate criminal justice resources toward those who pose the greatest public safety threat to communities. HB 36 would bring Tennessee’s geriatric and medical parole program in line with those of neighboring states, increasing access to parole for those who are elderly, seriously ill, and/or incapacitated. The goal is for more of these individuals to live out their final days in the care of loved ones rather than in carceral facilities where their medical expenses unnecessarily place a significant burden on taxpayers.
One year of incarceration in Tennessee currently costs an average of nearly $40,000 per inmate, with state and local governments spending a combined total of nearly $1.5 billion annually. The state is well poised to find ways to shrink criminal justice spending while maintaining public safety. This is particularly important in this fiscal year, as many of the funds sent down to states during the pandemic are drying up or reaching their expiry and new federal initiatives are set to further reduce overall spending. Fortunately, smart changes proposed in HB 36 would set the state on a trajectory of savings regardless of external factors.
Current Tennessee law sets the minimum age for medical and geriatric parole at 70 and requires that individuals have served a minimum of five years in custody. Compared to surrounding states, this age requirement is quite high. Lowering the age requirement to 55 while simultaneously increasing the time-served requirement to a minimum of 10 years as proposed in HB 36 would bring Tennessee’s criteria more in line with neighboring states like Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina. This measured approach represents the necessary balance between reasonableness, respect, and accountability—both within the system and among those who have harmed their communities.
In addition to maintaining the requirement that any individual seeking eligibility under these new criteria be “chronically debilitated or incapacitated,” the bill would also keep current exclusions for ineligibility, including those serving life without parole. These exclusions are important for community confidence in public safety. When paired with a growing body of compelling research indicating that individuals age out of crime, it becomes clear that increasing access to parole for this population is smart, practical policy.
As amended, HB 36 includes new guardrails for public safety in addition to those it maintains. It clarifies that the section only applies to inmates who “can be released into the community without a substantial risk that the inmate will commit a crime while on parole.”
The bill would also make changes to the medical furlough program, outlining the exact criteria that makes a person eligible under current law: when they are “no longer able to perform at least one of the activities of daily living in a prison environment.” This clarification is still tied to the standing requirement for medical prognosis of mortality within one year.
Research demonstrates that incarceration beyond what is truly necessary for public safety yields little to no return, particularly as long sentences do not deter crime. This is especially true of aging populations, whose total expenses to the state—and therefore to taxpayers—grow alongside their medical demands. Allowing more eligible individuals to access parole or medical furlough and be sent outside of state custody is smart policy with public safety and fiscal benefits that Tennessee lawmakers should work to advance by backing HB 36 as it comes before them.