Northwest Correctional Complex

Northwest Correctional Complex
Interactive map of Northwest Correctional Complex
Location
StatusOpen
Security classClose
Capacity1,776
Opened1981
Managed byTennessee Department of Correction
DirectorHenry Holiday

The Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) is a state prison located in Tiptonville, Lake County, Tennessee. It is owned and operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction. The facility can hold 1,776 male inmates at security levels from minimum to close. It has the second largest capacity of any state prison in Tennessee after the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center. It is the primary educational prison in the state system. In addition, inmates provide more than 100,000 hours of community service to state and local governments, and non-profit agencies annually.

History

The Lake County Regional Correctional Facility (now called Site 2 within the complex) opened in Tiptonville in 1981, with a capacity of 500 inmates. The Northwest Corrections Center opened on the site in 1992 and is called Site 1.

In July 2015, eight NWCX inmates sustained knife wounds in gang-related stabbings. The prison, as well as the state's Northeast Correctional Complex, was put on lockdown. The disturbances were attributed by The Tennessean to understaffing and a "severe manpower shortage" following Tennessee's decision to reconfigure correctional officers' schedules to save money on overtime.

In May 2020, 394 cases of COVID-19 were linked to NWCX. Specifically, 381 inmates and 13 staff at the prison tested positive for the disease as of May that year. By June, a total of 612 inmates and 28 staff members had tested positive; 382 of those inmates quickly recovered and 10 staff members returned to work.

On October 25, 2026, an inmate named Jacob Morley escaped from NWCX, but was captured a week later in Missouri. Morley had been serving a life sentence for murdering Cody Birchfield in 2022.

Notable inmates

Inmate name Register number Status Details
Letalvis Cobbins 00459699 Serving a life sentence without parole. Convicted of the 2007 kidnapping, rape, and murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom.
George Geovonni Thomas 00464319 Serving a sentence of 50 years. Eligible for parole in 2053. Also convicted of the previously mentioned 2007 kidnapping, rape, and murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom.
William Riley Gaul 00593432 Serving a life sentence. Eligible for parole in 2069. Perpetrator of the 2016 stalking and murder of Emma Jane Walker, his ex-girlfriend.
Jim Adkisson 00450456 Serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole. Perpetrator of the 2008 Knoxville Unitarian Universalist church shooting, in which he murdered two people and injured six others.
Joel Michael Guy, Jr. 00624102 Serving a life sentence. Convicted of the 2016 murders of Joel and Lisa Guy, his parents.

References

  1. 1 2 As of 2026; see "Northwest Correctional names new warden". State Gazette. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Northwest Correctional Complex". Tennessee Department of Correction. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 Tennessee Department of Correction (May 31, 2020). Tennessee Bed Space and Operating Capacities Report (PDF).
  4. 1 2 3 Grimes, Bud (2009-05-22). "He Holds the Key". Tennessee Alumnus. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  5. ↑ Wllemon, Tom (25 July 2015). "8 Tennessee prisoners hospitalized after knife fights". The Tennessean. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  6. ↑ Smith, Ashley (14 May 2020). "401 COVID-19 cases in Lake County Tenn., 394 linked to Northwest Correctional Complex". KFVS-TV. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  7. ↑ Tennessee Department of Correction (June 3, 2020). "TDOC INMATES COVID-19 TESTING" (PDF).
  8. ↑ Carlson, Amelia; Kozlowski, Hannah (November 3, 2026). "Escaped Tennessee inmate Jacob Morley captured in Missouri following second vehicle theft, multi-state manhunt". WBBJ-TV. Retrieved November 3, 2026.
  9. ↑ "'We got our man' | Newsoms describe behind-the-scenes work to get Boyd on trial". wbir.com. 5 September 2019.
  10. ↑ "Detailed Results".
  11. ↑ "Football player found guilty of killing cheerleader ex-girlfriend - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2018-05-09. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  12. ↑ "Teen Football Player Convicted of Murdering 16-Year-Old Cheerleader Ex". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  13. ↑ "They seemed like picture-perfect high school sweethearts, but their toxic relationship ended in murder". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  14. ↑ "Man gets life sentence in church shooting". NBC News. 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  15. ↑ "Two Dead In Tenn. Church Shooting - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2008-07-27. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  16. ↑ "Son charged with killing, dismembering parents in Tennessee". AP News. 2016-12-01. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  17. ↑ "Cops: Tennessee man killed, dismembered parents over Thanksgiving weekend - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2016-12-01. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  18. ↑ "Life in prison: Joel Guy Jr. convicted of brutal 2016 murders, dismemberment of parents". WFTV. 2020-10-14. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  19. ↑ "'Horrific': Man dismembered his parents after Thanksgiving dinner, police say - UPI.com". UPI. Retrieved 2024-02-12.

36°24′56″N 89°27′12″W / 36.415602°N 89.453440°W / 36.415602; -89.453440