The stakes for the hearing definitely jumped up a notch or three last week after Lt. Gov. Dewhurst's endorsement of more prison building. One would expect the two chairman to query agency staff about some of Gov. Dewhurst's odd assumptions.
Heading into that hearing, I wanted to recap Grits' recent analyses of interim reports from these two committees and the Sunset Advisory Commission on the major criminal justice issues facing the 80th Texas Legislature:
TDCJ Sunset Advisory Commission Report
Senate Criminal Justice Committee
- Understaffing at youth lockups caused skyrocketing abuse rates
- Number of mentally ill inmates, parolees rising
- Senate committee weighs prison alternatives
- Somebody please get Sen. Estes a copy of the Texas Constitution
- Whitmire: Texas may turn two juvie facilities into adult prisons
- 80th Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee membership
- House Corrections Committee looks to private prisons to expand capacity
- House Corrections: Community based treatment more effective for sex offenders
- More details emerge on Texas prison alternatives
- Details emerge on Texas plan for alternatives to prison
- Who's on Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committees?
- House Corrections Highlights
- Juvenile justice bashed and defended
- Advocates: Texas needs stronger probation
- More Texans on probation than any other state
- Criminal Justice Gets Preview of Legislature's return