MARYVILLE, TENNESSEE – Blount County Sheriff James Lee Berrong is proud to announce that Tennessee Corrections Institute renewed the Sheriff’s Office Correctional Facility Tier 1 & Tier 2 accreditation in December in Murfreesboro.
Tennessee Corrections Institute (TCI) originally awarded the Sheriff’s Office Tier 2 accreditation in December 2022 and received re-accreditation in December 2023. Tier 1 and Tier 2 accreditation standards apply to local correctional facilities that voluntarily adopt accreditation for purposes of improving access to evidence-based inmate programming to help insure inmates’ successful reentry into society, reducing recidivism within the agency’s jurisdiction, improved rehabilitation services, and increased reimbursement for state-sentenced inmates.
The Blount County Sheriff’s Office is one of a handful of agencies in Tennessee that were awarded Tier 2 accreditation, with Anderson County Sheriff’s Office the only other agency in East Tennessee to receive Tier 2 accreditation.
“I am proud of our corrections staff for continually striving to maintain excellence in our correctional facility,” Sheriff Berrong said. “As part of our accreditation, we have a set of 50 TCI standards, many that focus on education, life skills, and behavioral health for inmates, and we met 46 of those standards. We will continue to work to improve on all of the standards to keep our facility running safely and efficiently.”
The Sheriff’s Office will undergo re-accreditation through TCI in December 2025.
Pictured from L to R: Bob Bass, TCI Deputy Director, BCSO Sgt. Andy Howdeshell, BCSO Capt. Keith Gregory, Gwen Hyde, Chief Detention Facilities Specialist, and Will Wall, TCI Director.
