Tennessee’s Department of Correction is asking Gov. Bill Lee to give the state’s private prison operator CoreCivic a $13 million pay boost this year, despite having fined the publicly traded company more than $44 million over the last three years for chronic contract violations.

TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada presented his agency’s $1.66 billion budget request , including $86 million in new funding requests, to Lee at the State Capitol on Nov. 4.

See Full Page