There are two directions a death or a serious illness can travel through a prison wall, and a family usually only thinks about it when it is already happening.
One direction is from the outside in. Someone in the family is dying or has died, and you need the prison to tell your incarcerated person, and you are wondering whether they can be there for it. The other direction is from the inside out. Your person is the one who is sick, or who has died in custody, and you are trying to find out what happened and what you are allowed to do. This article walks both directions for Tennessee, run by the Tennessee Department of Correction.
I am going to tell you something up front, because I learned it the hard way and I do not want it to land on you cold. An approval that has been granted is not the same as your person being there. Those are two different things, and the gap between them is where families get hurt.
When the Death or Illness Is on the Outside
If someone in the family is gravely ill or has died and you want your incarcerated person notified, the channel is the facility, usually through the chaplain or the assigned counselor. Call the institution, explain the emergency, and be ready to provide verification, such as the funeral home's information or a death certificate for a death, or a hospital or physician confirmation for a serious illness.
Notification is the part that tends to work. Whether your person can leave the prison to be there is a separate and much harder question.
Attending a Funeral or a Bedside Visit in Tennessee
Tennessee handles emergency trips through a furlough, which is written into state law. By statute, the Department of Correction may grant furloughs on an individual basis, under reasonable conditions, and one of the listed reasons is the serious illness or death of a member of the inmate's immediate family. Read the following as the realities, not as promises, and confirm the current process with the facility, because the detailed rules are set by the Department.
It is individual and discretionary. The law allows furloughs on a case-by-case basis under conditions the Department sets, and a furlough can be revoked if it is not used for the purpose it was granted. Approval depends on custody level, security, the verified relationship, and the circumstances, and people in higher custody levels are generally not eligible.
Expect it to be guarded, and confirm the details. Depending on custody and the type of furlough, expect supervision and conditions, and confirm with the facility whether the trip would be escorted, how long it can last, and what it will cost, since families are often responsible for costs.
Ask about the alternatives in the same breath. When an in-person trip is denied or not feasible, ask the chaplain or counselor about a phone call and whether a video option for a funeral or bedside farewell can be arranged. Ask directly, and ask early.
Now the part I promised you.
I was told I had a five-hour furlough to attend my mother's funeral. I was told to get dressed and wait for the escort. I got dressed. I waited. The escort never came. Word going around was that the warden had been moved or was on leave, and the assistant warden denied it. Nobody walked up to me with a form. The day just passed. What I got, in the end, was a free phone call.
I tell you that not to make you bitter before you start, but to make you smart. An approval that exists on paper is not a person standing at a graveside. Administrators change. Acting wardens reverse decisions. Escort details fall through. If you are pinning the family's grief on the hope that they will physically be there, you are building on sand. Plan the service around the family that can be there. If your person makes it, that is a mercy. If they do not, you were not depending on it, and the grief is heavy enough without that.
When the Illness or Death Is on the Inside
The other direction is harder, because you have less control and the information comes slower.
If your person is seriously ill in custody. Push for medical information, knowing that medical privacy rules limit what staff will share unless the incarcerated person has authorized release of information to you. Encourage your person, while able, to sign a release naming you. If the condition is terminal or grave, learn about Tennessee's medical furlough now, not later.
Tennessee medical furlough. Tennessee has a specific medical furlough process, separate from the emergency funeral furlough, for inmates who are terminally ill or seriously ill and who are no longer a threat to public safety. The goal of the policy is to identify inmates who meet these criteria and refer them for medical furlough so they can be released for care. The process is initiated inside the prison: the institutional physician initiates the medical furlough request, working with the warden, the assistant warden of treatment, and the health services administrator, and the request has to be fully documented to support the decision. Final consideration rests with the Department of Correction.
What families can do here. Because the medical furlough starts with the prison physician, the most useful thing you can do is push the medical side. Make sure the prison's medical staff and the institutional physician know about the diagnosis and prognosis, ask in writing that your person be evaluated and referred for a medical furlough, and help line up where your person would live and receive care, since a workable plan helps. Document everything, and consider an attorney. Start early, because the steps take time and a terminal illness does not wait. If your person is approaching a parole date, ask the counselor whether parole timing also matters, since Tennessee furloughs are also tied to parole status in some cases.
If your person dies in custody. The Department notifies the family using the emergency contact your person has on record, which is exactly why that contact must be correct now. Make sure the listed person is reachable and will tell the rest of the family.
The medical examiner, and the autopsy. Tennessee uses a county medical examiner system, with a state Office of the State Chief Medical Examiner overseeing it, and the death of an incarcerated person or a person in state custody is one of the deaths the county medical examiner is required to investigate. The county medical examiner determines the cause and manner of death and may order an autopsy, and when an autopsy is ordered the medical examiner notifies the district attorney general and the chief medical examiner. In addition, custodial deaths in Tennessee are commonly investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. So a prison death is examined by the county medical examiner and, frequently, an outside state law enforcement agency, rather than being decided inside the prison.
Getting answers, and claiming the body. The county medical examiner, working through a regional forensic center in many areas, determines the cause and manner of death, and you request the autopsy report from that office. The medical examiner system also works to locate and notify the next of kin. The body is released to the next of kin, generally through a funeral home, once the medical examiner's work allows. Make your intention to claim your person known promptly, and be clear about who the legal next of kin is, because Tennessee law sets an order of next of kin for these decisions, and disputes between family members slow everything down. Be aware that if no one assumes responsibility for final disposition, the body may be held and, after a set period, handled by the state, which is one more reason to act quickly. The death certificate is available through Tennessee vital records. If the family cannot afford a funeral, ask the funeral home and the county about assistance.
What Families Can Do Before a Crisis
Most of the pain in these situations comes from decisions that were never made in calm times. A few things you can do now, while no one is dying:
Make sure your person has the correct emergency contact and next of kin recorded with the Department, and keep it current. This determines who the prison calls.
Have your person sign a release of information naming the family members who should be allowed to speak with medical staff. Without it, privacy rules will keep you in the dark.
Learn your person's custody level, because it affects whether an emergency furlough to a funeral or bedside is realistic, and ask the chaplain in advance about phone and video options.
If your person is terminally ill or seriously ill, do not wait. Ask in writing that the institutional physician evaluate and refer your person for a medical furlough, document the diagnosis, and help build a care plan for where your person would live and receive treatment.
Keep the funeral home's contact information ready, both to verify an outside death so your person can be notified, and to claim your person if they die inside.
State Resources
Tennessee Department of Correction: contact the institution directly; use the TDOC website and Felony Offender Information lookup for facility, chaplain, and counselor contacts.
Tennessee Board of Parole and the Department of Correction: for parole and for the medical furlough process for a terminally or seriously ill incarcerated person.
County Medical Examiner or Regional Forensic Center, and the Office of the State Chief Medical Examiner: for the cause and manner of death, the autopsy, and the records.
Tennessee Department of Health, Office of Vital Records: for certified copies of the death certificate.
Tennessee 211: dial 2-1-1 for grief support, funeral assistance resources, and counseling referrals.
Frequently asked questions
How do I notify a Tennessee prison of a death?
Call the institution and ask for the chaplain or your person's counselor. Explain the emergency and be ready to provide verification, such as the funeral home's information or a death certificate for a death, or a hospital or physician confirmation for a serious illness. The staff will notify your incarcerated person. This step is separate from whether your person can be approved for a furlough to attend a funeral or visit a seriously ill relative, which is its own discretionary process under Tennessee law and Department rules.
Can a Tennessee inmate attend a funeral?
Sometimes, through a furlough. Tennessee law allows the Department of Correction to grant furloughs on an individual basis, and the serious illness or death of an immediate family member is one of the listed reasons. Approval is discretionary and depends on custody level, security, and the verified relationship, and people in higher custody levels are generally not eligible. The furlough can be revoked if not used for its purpose. Because approval is uncertain, ask the chaplain about a phone call or video option as a fallback.
Will the prison tell my relative about a family death?
Yes. Call the institution and ask for the chaplain or counselor, explain the emergency, and provide verification such as funeral home information, a death certificate, or a physician confirmation for a serious illness. The staff will notify your incarcerated person. This notification is separate from the harder question of whether your person can be approved for a furlough to attend the funeral or visit a critically ill relative, which is discretionary and decided under Department rules.
How is family told if an inmate dies in Tennessee?
The Department notifies the family using the emergency contact in your person's record, which is why that record must be correct now. Make sure the listed person is reachable and will inform the rest of the family. Separately, because the death of a person in state custody must be investigated by the county medical examiner, that office determines the cause and manner of death, and custodial deaths are commonly also investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
What is a medical furlough in Tennessee?
It is Tennessee's medical release route, separate from the emergency funeral furlough, for inmates who are terminally ill or seriously ill and no longer a threat to public safety. The policy is meant to identify qualifying inmates and refer them for release for care. The institutional physician initiates the request, working with the warden, the assistant warden of treatment, and the health services administrator, and it must be fully documented. Final consideration rests with the Department of Correction.
Can family request a medical furlough in Tennessee?
Family cannot grant it, and the request is initiated by the institutional physician, but you can push it forward. Make sure the prison's medical staff and physician know the diagnosis and prognosis, ask in writing that your person be evaluated and referred for a medical furlough, and help line up where your person would live and receive care. Document everything and consider an attorney. Because the threshold is terminal or serious illness, start early, since the process takes time.
Who can claim the body after an inmate dies in TN?
The next of kin, generally through a funeral home. The body is released once the medical examiner's work allows. Tennessee law sets an order of next of kin for these decisions, so be clear about who that is, since disputes cause delay. Make your intention to claim your person known promptly, because if no one assumes responsibility for final disposition, the body may be held and later handled by the state. To get the cause of death and autopsy report, contact the county medical examiner or regional forensic center.
Is there an autopsy when an inmate dies in Tennessee?
Often. The death of a person in state custody is one the county medical examiner is required to investigate, and the medical examiner may order an autopsy in custodial, suspicious, or unnatural deaths. When an autopsy is ordered, the medical examiner notifies the district attorney general and the chief medical examiner. Custodial deaths are also commonly investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. So a prison death is examined by the county medical examiner and frequently an outside state agency rather than decided inside the prison.
How do I get the cause of death in Tennessee?
The cause and manner of death are determined by the county medical examiner, often working through a regional forensic center, not by the prison. Contact the county medical examiner or regional forensic center for the county where the death occurred and ask about its process for releasing the cause and manner of death and the autopsy report to the next of kin. The death certificate, which lists the official cause of death, is available through the Tennessee Department of Health's vital records once the findings are complete.
What can I do before a serious illness becomes a crisis?
Make sure your person has the correct emergency contact and next of kin on file and keep it current, since that decides who is notified. Have your person sign a release of information naming family who can speak with medical staff. Learn the custody level and ask about phone and video options. If your person is terminally or seriously ill, ask in writing that the institutional physician evaluate and refer your person for a medical furlough, document the diagnosis, and help build a care plan for where they would live and receive treatment. ---
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