Chairman [Oliver] Bell commented that the closure of the Central Unit has been a positive story and stated he was pleased the current trends have allowed the board and the TDCJ to be able to close a unit. The Central Unit has been studied for closure for the last six to eight years. Crime rates are down and offender populations are relatively flat. If the trends continue, Chairman Bell stated it might be possible more prisons could close in the future.TDCJ executive director Brad Livinsgston told the board that "the closure of the Central Unit is a success story that the TDCJ can tout." I'm glad that's the board's perception. Given the budget situation, they'll need more of the same in 2013 to avoid prison costs spurring significant tax hikes.
Friday, February 03, 2012
TDCJ board chair: Future prison closures possible
Reader Texas Maverick emails to point out this passage from the board minutes (pdf) of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's August 2011 meeting:
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15 comments:
Unless prison populations can be lowered, there is no chance of closure of more. Even the Central Unit closing, amid the elimination of numerous prison and community programs, necessitated TDCJ adding 2000 beds in existing units, according to Grits' previous postings. How is that such a raging success? Prison census is flat, maybe, but it won't remain flat unless some of these programs funding is reinstated. Am I missing something, Scott?
I think that if we have a smaller number of prison beds available then we cannot incarcerate people on a whim anymore and you can say all you want that we dont but I been there done that and I know from where I speak. So, Police Officers will now have to think about what they are doing they will have to make choices based on intelligent criteria. District Attorneys can no longer throw MHMR patients in jail, there are no beds for them. We cannot in good Conscience allow serious felons to walk the streets to prey upon citizens. Courts must now think about the public Welfare rather than conviction rates, ( Because right or wrong, like it or not , D A offices are all about conviction rates, quit whining you knew it as well as me and everyone else) So, we must now become people who care about our communities instead of round belly rednecks who havent a clue. Somehow I feel the next few elections will be game changers lets see if we have progressed as a society or are we still spitting tobacco juice out of the courthouse window. Hey Im just sayin.
Thats my story and Im stickin to it.
Cowboy - define "serious felons". Would those be individuals who consistently disobey the rules while within prison and are consistently violent towards themselves or others, or would they be those who commit one crime deemed to be "violent" but who otherwise have no recent record of violent behaviour?
Don, the "raging success" is that before diversion programs were created, Texas was supposed to have 17,000 more prisoners than they do now.
I do agree they have to change policies to close more prisons, they can't do it without adjusting criminal penalties or reducing probation/parole revocations further.
I wasn't questioning the success of diversion programs, Scott. I was questioning the success of the closing of the Central Unit, but defunding programs that could provide a commensurate reduction in prison populations.
Sunray, I define Serious Felons as those who commit "Crimes Against Persons" Rbbery Rape Murder Assault with bodily injury etc,, Severe repeat offenders, you know the offenders that if you see them coming you swap sides of the street.
I continue to beat this drum: Allow good time and work time to actually count toward parole consideration for every offender. I didn't say to parole every offender; I said to allow good time and work to be part of the consideration. That is not the case now, but I think it would help relieve the high population numbers we have now without jeopardizing public safety.
Cowboy and David ~ I would take both your approaches. For those who commit Cowboy's "serious" crimes, if they continued to disobey the rules within prison, then they would serve the majority of their sentence (which would already be a long time). However, if they committed a crime that was "serious", but had no recent record of violent behaviour and remained largely within the rules while in prison, there should be a meaningful system of time earned as well as time served - and this should not be seen as "playing the system" as I have heard several guards comment elsewhere. It is NOT easy to keep out of trouble while in TDCJ, and it gets harder if you are connected to gangs or have cognitive behavioural issues that are unaddressed.
There are very many inmates who are violent and still breaking the rules, and who should not be released. There are also, I suspect, a good number of inmates serving time for violent offences, who have stayed out of trouble and not had a single violent outburst while in prison, and would make good candidates for parole earlier than the state would currently consider them.
It is quite concerning that the focal point is on "Closing Prisons." The focus should be on an exchange of limited expensive prison beds for more cost effective community based programs. If the probation offender population is going to increase there needs to be funding allocated to provide services. No doubt there will be substantial savings compared to the number of offenders served dollar to dollar.
The "incentive bill" passed last session is a good example. It intends to fund probation for reducing overutilization of prison beds. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN because there is no funding to back the bill and it requires TDCJ to identify the funding to send to participating departments.
Finally, if prisons are closed and money does not follow this population increase to probation, the end result will be increased recidivism and crime rates. And once again we are building new prisons.
Congrats TDCJ Board! After six to eight years of study the Central unit is closed.
When will the Huntsville unit be closed? After at least 26 years of "study" by numerous TDC/TDCJ Board members this unit is still open. Could it be the real estate in Huntsville is not as "pricey" as Sugerland?
Retired 2004
Next TDCJ needs to close Jester 1 and Jester 2. Both are very small units. Jester 1 is a county drug rehab. Jester 2 is a faith based prison. Most 80 % inmates in jester 2 go their to get out early. They hide behind the Bible.
The sentence that stood out when I read the minutes was "Crime rate is down." For the Chair to recognize there is room for change in the system because of a change in society is huge IMO. Attitudes must change in response to reality before change can take place in any system environment. Yes we need more funding, but the attitudes must change and acknowledge the need before that happens. So, back to the Legis. Quote the Chair and ask the body to fund the programs to reflect the changes that have taken place WITHOUT their help. Just imagine what would take place WITH their help.
Dawson State Jail and Mineral Wells will possibly be the next two closures. Dawson State Jail is on valuable land in downtown Dallas. Mineral Wells is just mismanaged. Riots and contraband have plagued this prerelease unit. This guys should be on there best behavior seeing they are prerelease offenders.
I agree with Cowboy that criminal activity and the ways we define and punish need to be re-evaluated. We do need protection from predators and those who seek to gain for themselves by harming others. I believe in harsh sentencing for harsh crimes. If they are not safe to let out, then the sentence is apparently not severe enough. But, if the state says the sentence is for example 10 years, then after that period their "Debt to Society" should be paid. No more hounding Non-predatory offenders for the rest of their lives, keeping them from getting a decent job where they can be a contributing member of society, rather than restricting where they can work, where they can live, and so on. How is a person supposed to live within the boundaries of society if we block all the entrances?
If you buy a refrigerator, you may put money down, and then make payments (like jail or prison time followed by probation or parole) but after you make the last payment, does Sears or Lowes (or whatever) come hounding you for payments the rest of your life? NO! It is paid for, it's over! I say again, if the crime is so severe that it requires a lifetime of punishment, then they should not let them out. However, if they are done, keep it on record for courts, should they commit crimes again, but not for the public.
But there are some, who have made perhaps even several mistakes and finally come to there senses, or overcame their drug or alcohol problem and all they want is a chance. Is there to be no hope for them? Then what motivation is there for them to behave. Why are so many surprised when people go back?
And faith based programs are used as a hustle for some to "get over" on the system, but some actually do change and grow because of these, and most of them are facilitated by volunteers -No cost to the State, or the Public! And the numbers for recidivism are reported to be much lower for participants than those who are not. Counseling, Mentoring, helping to develop skills for living and at no cost to the public? Why wouldn't you want this available in EVERY prison and Jail?
Governor Ann Richards first built these extra units for Drug Rehab and G.W. Bush said let's turn them into prisons.
I challenge the first person who has never ever made a mistake never clocked in 5 minutes before you were ready to work, taken anything that didn't belong to you (even a pen or paperclip) or told even the smallest white lie, to stand up and show themselves. All others should be grateful they were never caught and subjected to this type of Hippocratic "Justice".
We are not perfect. And our system is far from it. But I believe we can do better for us, for them, for society as a whole.
I agree with the last comment that anonymous posted on 3/7/12. I believe there is a harsh punishment for every harsh crime. With that said the Texas Justice system has been broken!!!! They lock everyone up for the smallest of crimes. My brother is curently serving 15 years behind writing letters to a minor. Mind you this minor and him would be the equivalant of a freshman and senior in high school. He was charged with indecency with a minor. My brother is now 25 and has lost his entire life. He is a good person inside and out. Do you really think being a sex offender, anyone is going to give him a chance to prove anything? His life as we all know will be miserable. There is never going to be a chance at a normal life for him. Texas stole my brothers life and who knows how many others lives right out from under them. Its ALL ABOUT MONEY AND POLITICS. It is not innocent till proven guilty .... it's GUILTY till proven innocent. We wouldnt have the need for all these blogs if the justice system everyone continously counts on weren't so broken. We need to join together and force Texas to fix the Justice system.Cowboy said it right, it doesn't matter whether you're guilty or innocent to the D.A., they are trying to convict for numbers, not justice. people have become a commodity. The more they have the more they can get money for. It's us who is paying for it. My husband spent two years for defending himself against someone attacking him with a knife. Now he has been outcasted as a felon and denied jobs he really wanted, such as a police officer to protect people, but instead he has to settle for what he can get to care for his family. Even though the D.A. new he was innocent, she did her best to convict him of something. How is that JUSTICE? Closing prisons is not fixing anything!! CHANGING THE BROKEN SYSTEM WILL!!
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