Find West Tennessee State Penitentiary Releases

West Tennessee State Penitentiary Release Paths

West Tennessee State Penitentiary is a Tennessee Department of Correction institution, not a Lauderdale County jail. Its residents are sentenced state offenders. A person may leave physical confinement on parole, reach a sentence expiration, later become inactive in TDOC's public system, or move to another TDOC prison. Only the first categories may represent a return to the community. A transfer is still incarceration even though the West Tennessee State Penitentiary location changes.

Parole is conditional release before sentence expiration. TDOC states that a Board grant does not itself mark the physical exit, because pre-release conditions and release-plan approval can remain. A probation and parole officer must approve the plan before release. At sentence expiration, the record may follow a different route toward inactive or discharge status. Preserve FOIL's precise words and dates rather than translating every non-prison status into the same form of release.

Confirm West Tennessee State Penitentiary Release

The TDOC Felony Offender Information Lookup, called FOIL, is the main public search for a former or current West Tennessee State Penitentiary resident. FOIL covers felony offenders currently or formerly in TDOC custody or supervision. It may show a photograph, status, location, offense, sentence facts, parole-hearing status, and release information. “May” matters because no one field or date is promised on every result.

Search by exact name with the available matching controls, or use a TOMIS/TDOC ID or State ID. Complete the CAPTCHA and open a result only after comparing date of birth, photo, offense, and identifier. The full Lauderdale County release search helps when the last custodian is unclear, but a known WTSP resident belongs on the TDOC route.

1. Open FOIL and search by state identifier when one is known; otherwise use first and last name.
2. Match date of birth, photograph, offense, and facility before relying on the result.
3. Record the exact status, location, date labels, and access date without renaming them.
4. If dates are missing or unclear, submit a TDOC sentence-information request under the state-prison branch.
5. Use TDOC archived records for an older release or discharge trail that FOIL no longer displays fully.

West Tennessee State Penitentiary FOIL Records

FOIL can carry the public trail beyond physical confinement, which makes it more useful for a West Tennessee State Penitentiary release than a current-custody jail roster. Still, the official overview does not promise a universal field literally called “Projected Release Date” or “Tentative Release Date.” A result may use Release Eligibility Date, sentence expiration, or another label. Record that label exactly. Eligibility, actual release, and sentence discharge are not interchangeable.

If FOIL shows parole, the person is physically outside the prison but continues under TDOC supervision. Probation is imposed by a court and does not prove that the person served a term at WTSP. An inactive label needs its dates and sentence facts read closely. When the public record is incomplete, TDOC Sentence Information can explain state computations, while Records Management and GovQA provide the historical route.

Release Eligibility Date

A date tied to eligibility under controlling law, not a guaranteed exit.

Parole

Conditional community release before sentence expiration.

Discharge

The end of the sentence or supervision authority shown by the official record.

TOMIS number

The TDOC identifier used to distinguish offenders with similar names.

Note: Match the displayed date label to the judgment and offense date before drawing a conclusion about when release occurred.

West Tennessee State Penitentiary Contact

TDOC operates West Tennessee State Penitentiary at the Green Chapel Road complex in Henning. Facility materials list the main complex telephone and an Associate Warden of Treatment contact. These lines are useful for current routing and general facility questions, but staff do not promise to disclose protected details about an individual. Public release status should begin with FOIL, followed by the official records channels.

The sentence-information request should identify the committed name, TOMIS number when known, date of birth through the secure channel, approximate custody dates, and the particular sentence or release information needed. Do not prepay an archive charge. TDOC says it will notify the requester after completion when a charge applies.

West Tennessee State Penitentiary Facility Facts

TDOC's FY 2025 annual report describes West Tennessee State Penitentiary as a male, minimum-to-maximum “time-building” facility. It opened in 1990, and Johnny Fitz was named as warden in that report. The figures below are dated operational measures, not release totals. They should not be used to estimate how many people leave the prison or when any named person will be released.

A headcount is a point-in-time institutional measure. It does not distinguish arrivals, transfers, parole exits, sentence expirations, or discharge. For a person-specific release question, return to FOIL and the state sentence record instead of inferring from capacity.

West Tennessee State Penitentiary Supervision

Lauderdale County is served by TDOC District 61 at 2155 St. Johns Avenue in Dyersburg. The directory says the office serves Dyer and Lauderdale counties and marks the site as a new location as of November 3, 2025. Its telephone is 731-288-7910. This is the supervision office, not the Tennessee Board of Parole. The Board decides parole, while TDOC supervises parolees and probationers.

The TDOC field office directory is the source for District 61 supervision routing. Staff may not disclose protected information merely because someone calls. A final parole decision can be requested from the Board with the person's name and TDOC number. Even a grant can precede physical release while plan approval and conditions remain. FOIL and the actual release event close that timing gap.

Note: Parole means prison confinement ended while the sentence continues under conditions; it is not the same as full sentence discharge.

West Tennessee State Penitentiary Federal Handoffs

An ICE detainer or handoff to another federal custodian does not establish a community release from West Tennessee State Penitentiary. Keep the TDOC exit event and the receiving agency's intake event as separate facts. ICE's online locator is oriented to current detention and is not a release archive. A no-result may arise from scope, timing, spelling, or transfer. Historical ICE custody and transfer records use the agency's FOIA process.

Likewise, the Bureau of Prisons locator concerns federal custody, not TDOC. A person can leave state custody for federal authority without being free of detention. The receiving agency, the relevant court, and TDOC records must be reconciled. The correct statement is that TDOC custody ended or changed on a recorded date, followed by whatever the next official record shows.

Lauderdale State Prison Release History

Lauderdale County combines the sheriff's jail with WTSP and the Women's Therapeutic Residential Center near Henning. That makes the county's release landscape more state-prison focused than many rural counties. West Tennessee State Penitentiary opened in 1990 and spans minimum-to-maximum custody. WTRC operates on the same grounds, but it retains its own institutional identity. Neither should be treated as a wing of the Lauderdale County Jail.

TDOC reported that 120 people at WTSP and WTRC graduated education and training programs in June 2025. That fact supplies local pre-release context, not proof that any graduate was released or qualified for a certain path. Program completion, parole eligibility, a Board grant, physical release, supervision, and sentence discharge are separate events.

For an older WTSP record, use the TDOC archived-record process with the person's identifiers and approximate custody period. For an active or recent sentence question, use the sentence-information portal. This division is more reliable than trying to reconstruct a state release through Lauderdale County court or sheriff records, which do not control a TDOC prison exit.