Privatizating Harris County Jail would save money by cutting guard pay, benefits

Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack is suggesting privatization of the Harris County Jail, a lockup that's collectively larger than the prison systems of 20 US states. According to Mike Morris in the Houston Chronicle ("Privatizing county jail on commissioners' agenda," April 18), Radack said:

"We need to look at trying to save taxpayers' money and try to see if there's a cheaper way of operating the Harris County jails," ... "I think the best way to do that is to put the request for proposals out on the street to see who's interested and what their proposals are."

The resulting ideas could result in a limited contract — for food or medical services, for instance — or total privatization, Radack said.

State law allows commissioners courts to privatize jail operations. In most Texas counties, the court needs written approval of the sheriff to do so. However, in counties with a population of 2.8 million or more, including Harris, the sheriff does not need to approve if the contract meets or exceeds standards set by the state Commission on Jail Standards. ...

County Judge Ed Emmett said it never hurts to seek efficiencies, but said he has reservations about the proposal. 

"I wouldn't be in favor of moving forward at all until somebody comes forward and says, 'This is why privatization would be good,' and gives me some concrete examples," Emmett said. "Clearly, it would be a massive change that would be undertaken neither lightly nor quickly. … It's one thing to say we're going to privatize a jail in a very small rural setting, but to talk about a jail like ours, where not only is it a jail but it's currently the largest mental health facility in the state of Texas — this is a large undertaking."

Since Judge Emmett is interested in concrete examples of how privatization would save money, it might behoove commissioners to listen to the recent discussion of privatizing state jails at the Legislature. State Rep. Erwin Cain told the House Corrections Committee that privatization would save money by reducing "state exposure to pension and healthcare costs." TDCJ chief Brad Livingston told the committee that any savings comes because private vendors pay their staff less money and have a less favorable benefit package than state employees.

So essentially it'd be the deputies whose ox gets gored under a privatization scheme in Harris County, assuming there's any savings to be had at all. Ironically, though the article portrays this suggestion as an attack on Sheriff Adrian Garcia, the suggestion probably plays into his hands politically by setting the Sheriff up as a champion against privatization in they eyes of the deputies union, who otherwise aren't his biggest fans.

RELATED (4/22): Harris County Jail scaling back visitation hours.