Why Texas' corrections costs are (relatively) low and why it's an illusion

Why are Texas' prison costs growing slowly compared to other states, and can we expect the trend to continue?

As a starting point for the discussion, Doc Berman points to this new article on Stateline.org comparing corrections cost increases by state. The author cites Texas as a state focused on diversion alternatives that is "putting off building new prisons," but regular Grits readers know that while the Legislature definitely expanded diversion programs this year, that hasn't stopped our prison building binge.

Stateline.org created a chart comparing states' corrections cost increases (see below), and it's telling to note that Texas ranked on the lower end of the list. There are several key reasons for Texas' relatively low cost growth, and also strong evidence that it's only a short-term phenomenon.

First, Texas' correction budget is low because of draconian budget cuts in 2003, so brutal that El Paso Republican Pat Haggerty called them criminal and said the Legislature should be behind bars for making them. Most in-prison drug treatment and many educational and therapeutic programs were summarily axed that year. The result made costs lower, but also worsened recidivism and contributed to Texas' failure to achieve crime reductions as great as other large states.

Guard understaffing is another big reason Texas' costs appear low on paper. Some institutions are only 62% staffed, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is chronically 3,000 guards short. What's more, even that understates the real need because TDCJ supplements guard shortages by using parole eligible "trustees" who would otherwise be released to do jobs that should be done by guards or state employees.

Yet another reason Texas' costs are low: We dramatically underspend on inmate healthcare to the point where UTMB officials in charge of prisoner health told the Legislature last year the state is "very close" to failing to provide the constitutionally required level of minimum care. Compounding the problem, long sentences are filling prisons with more elderly prisoners than ever before, and their costs are much higher than younger inmates. If Texas ever decides to improve prisoner healthcare - either through its own rational choices or when forced by litigation - our cost-per-prisoner figure will certainly increase.

Finally, Texas' community supervision system is bloated and overwhelmed, with many probation officers manageing caseloads of 140 probationers or more. Instead of funding probation programs, Texas has larded fees onto probationers supervision conditions until today probation fees cover about half local probation departments' budgets. But there's a limit to how much frequently-indigent defendants can pay, so this practice has caused the number of technical violations to rise and restricted departments' funding in ways that reduce public safety.

Several trends, though, make me think Texas' low spot on the chart may be short-lived. For starters, the amount of General Revenue funds just-approved budget for TDCJ increased nearly 10%, with spending on EXISTING PRISONS increasing $375 million alone. Another $200 million or so replaced the treatment and diversion spending cut in 2003 and added new treatment beds. Figures in the Stateline.org article don't account for these dramatic increases in the '08 and '09 budgets.

New prison construction approved by the 80th Legislature will contribute more to growing corrections budget, costing $2.151 billion over the next 20 years, or around $106 million per year for debt and operations for three new prison units.

Texas was already underspending on our massive probation system, which supervises more people than any other state. With Governor Perry's ineffable veto of HB 3200, that trend will likely worsen and create a near-term underfunding crisis for local probation departments. (Some version of the bill will have to be revived in 2009, if by then it's not already too late.)

Last but not least, Texas cannot continue forever to understaff its prisons, particularly if we're going to be building more. Including staff duties currently performed by prisoner trustees, TDCJ is probably 5-6,000 guards short of optimal staffing before a single new prison is built. That makes prisons less safe for staff and inmates alike. If TDCJ hired the number of guards it needs, though, its budget figures wouldn't come in so low.

So Texans should take the chart below with a grain of salt. Our corrections costs may appear to be lower, but the reasons all have more to do with our failures than any successes.