Savannah Chrisley is concerned for the safety of father Todd Chrisley and mother Julie Chrisley as the former Chrisley Knows Best stars serve out their respective 12- and 7-year prison sentences following their convictions for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax fraud.
Savannah opened up to Entertainment Tonight about her newfound passion for prison reform ahead of her Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test debut later this month, claiming that the facilities where her parents are serving their time are unsafe. “You have no air conditioning. It can be 115 degrees inside. You’re padlocking ice machines, you’re not giving proper medical care, you’re giving people the wrong medication,” Savannah claimed of Todd’s Florida prison and her mom’s Kentucky facility.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“I have a hard time when we’re giving billions of dollars to other countries overseas and we’re not even taking care of the people that are within our own system,” she continued. “I’ve spoken out about it. I’ve had a lot of lawyers jump on board to where there is the potential of a huge lawsuit. It’s just sad.”
Savannah feels it’s her “responsibility to do better” in the wake of her parents’ sentencing, which is why she’s being so vocal about their conditions. But she does fear that her advocacy could result in repercussions for her parents like guards potentially placing “contraband” on them to “have them shipped to a higher security prison.”
The former beauty queen said it’s not her goal to “create this divide” but to “create love,” which is why she wants to advocate for prisoners to have access to “mental health treatment and all these different things to prepare them to enter back into society.”
Meanwhile, the reality personality is trying to stay connected to her parents, speaking with them multiple times a day and seeing one or the other “every weekend.” Having custody of her younger siblings, Grayson and Chloe, makes it tough, but “playing ping pong” back and forth between Kentucky and Florida is worth it. “It’s so great seeing them, because I get to hug on them, love on them, we get to catch up on all the things,” she said. “I think it’s just hard when you just sit back and realize how much life goes on without those people there.”
