Prison ministry fundraising for visitor lodging facility in Gatesville

Cindy Culp at the Waco Tribune Herald had a story picked up by AP about a prison ministry effort by the Central Texas Hospitality House to establish a facility for inmate families visiting prisons in Gatesville - including TDCJ's biggest women's units - for inmate families to stay overnight when visiting relatives in prison. Reported Culp:

Counties seeking jail population reductions

A pair of stories out of smaller jurisdictions provide examples of ways Texas counties are attempting to save money by reducing jail populations:

• Coryell Commissioners discuss using probation to reduce jail overcrowding
• Angelina 'rocket docket' shows jail numbers going down

In Coryell County, commissioners are hoping local judges will begin using personal bonds more frequently for non-violent defendants, allowing them to be supervised pretrial by the probation department to clear up space in the jail. Meanwhile, in Angelina county a retired judge is assisting to process cases more rapidly, reducing the jail population by more than 50 people per month in a facility with a capacity of 279.

Newest TX jail proposal may be financed by US Ag Department

The latest jail building project in Texas may be financed by the US Department of Agriculture, strangely enough, if Coryell County (Gatesville) accepts a $22 million loan the USDA offered them this week. The Killeen Daily Herald reported:

The Coryell County Commissioners Court voted to accept conditions for a $21.9 million loan to build a new jail and law enforcement center, but the conditions are not binding and acceptance of the loan will ultimately be decided by voters in November.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Farm Service Agency is offering the loan in response to an application the county filed in September, hoping to get a grant.

The interest rate for the loan will be either 4.6 percent, or the rate at the time of loan closing if it is lower. The county will repay the loan over 40 years.

Renovating the current 92-bed capacity jail or building a bigger facility altogether has been the topic of much discussion by Coryell County commissioners since 2010, when a report from the Texas Commission of Jail Standards projected the facility would need no fewer than 144 beds daily by 2027 to house inmates.

That said, some locals seem to think the voters won't go for it because repaying the loan would require a tax increase:

County Sheriff Johnny Burks pointed out accepting the loan would mean taxes would increase.

County residents Ron Poston and Norm Whitelend said they didn't think voters would approve the measure in an effort to keep taxes down.

Still, Commissioner Daren Moore said the court should move forward.

"I think we have to do something," he said. "I think it would be irresponsible for us to not at least move forward and let the voters decide where they want us to go."

The court unanimously approved the measure, which gives it one year to meet the conditions outlined in the letter and does not obligate it to do anything further. [County Judge John] Firth said if the court wanted to back out before April 2012, it could do so.

I find it bizarre that the federal government is financing local jails in any event, but it's particularly odd for such funds to come from the Department of Agriculture as opposed to the Justice Department or some other thematically related agency. What's not surprising is that local voters might reject new jail construction out of concern over taxes, which has become a recurring theme in such county-level debates.

RELATED: US Department of Agriculture should stay out of the jail building business

Will county cost cutting doom empty, speculative jail in Waco?

In Waco, a jail built on spec remains less-than-half full, and the local newspaper is fretting that trends toward greater use of diversion programs may reduce demand for McLennan County Jail beds. Reported the Waco Tribune Herald ("Programs to reduce inmates could affect McLennan County jail," Nov 21, subscription only):

State trends are leaning less toward brick-and-mortar jails to solve inmate overcrowding, but local officials are confident the county’s new detention center will eventually reach capacity, with or without programs to divert low-level offenders out of the system.

County administrations around the state are seeking new alternatives, such as pretrial diversion services, to keep inmate populations down, reducing the strain on jails and shipping fewer prisoners to neighboring facilities, state officials said.

This news comes at a time when McLennan County's speculative new jail built to house out-of-county prisoners can't find contracts sufficient to pay back its taxpayer guaranteed debt:

McLennan County’s recently opened 816-bed Jack Harwell Detention Center partially relies on taking inmates from outside counties to generate revenue and pay off the $49 million bond used to construct the facility. But despite having contracts with at least two large counties to accept outside inmates, the center has not reached more than 50 percent capacity since its opening in June.

According to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, the center reported Nov. 1 that only 39 percent of its beds were in use.

Coryell County, which has been sending overflow inmates to McLennan, has instituted a Supervised Pretrial Services program to identify inmates who should be eligible for personal bonds. "During the program’s pilot period from May 31 through July 31, the county was able release 17 eligible defendants, saving more than $25,000 per month, according to a report by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. The program cost about $150 per week to implement, the report stated." The Trib reports that "About half of the Coryell County Jail pretrial inmates qualify as indigent." It's also interesting to learn that Coryell's use of pretrial supervision was specifically a reaction to the need to raise taxes to expand the jail: "Coryell County has been considering constructing a new, larger jail to alleviate the overcrowding, but residents may balk at raising taxes to fund the venture, said Coryell County Sheriff’s Lt. Kenneth Green."

McLenan County, says the Trib, "has never had a large-scale pretrial diversion services program." And I'm guessing they won't anytime soon, since if they don't maximize the number of inmates in their new, privately run jail the whole thing becomes a "doomsday deal." What a mess.

One interesting if somewhat tangential tidbit at the end of the story relates to the Legislature's penchant for creating new crimes and increasing criminal penalties:

although the detention center is still low on inmates, which could create problems in paying back the facility’s construction bond, Lewis expressed a different fear as the 82nd Texas Legislature prepares to convene.

He’s worried the Legislature could approve new criminal penalty enhancements, either by increasing the minimum sentencing terms for state jail felonies, or by classifying more offenses as felonies.

“Actually, what I’m afraid of is a jail backlog,” he said.

I disagree with Lewis about the jail, but I'm as discouraged as he sounds about the Legislature's fetish with boosting criminal penalties every two years.

Interestingly, according to another Trib story, Harris County has been keeping overflow inmates in the McLennan jail since May but as of last week had yet to pay anything. "County Auditor Steve Moore said Harris County owes about $324,000 in housing costs incurred from June to October." Harris County Sheriff spokesman Alan Bernstein told the paper "a series of mishaps delayed the county in processing the payment," which he said was in the mail.

RELATED:

• While we're on the subject of pretrial services, the Austin Statesman this weekend had an informative little article (with no particular newshook that I can identify) describing the workings of Travis County's much-more well developed pretrial detention program.
• See also a recent report from the Pew Charitable Trust on jail overcrowding and pretrial detention titled "Local Jails: Working to Reduce Populations and Cost" (pdf)

See prior, related Grits posts on the McLennan jail fiasco:

• Waco taxpayers likely on the hook for jail they were promised would pay for itself
• 'Doomsday Deal': Prison for profit scheme in Waco going bust for lack of inmates
• McLennan County private jail deal creates perverse incentives

Coryell County seeks overbuilt jail to attract private vendor

In Coryell County (Gatesville), commissioners want to build a jail twice the size the Commission on Jail Standards says they need because they want to contract with a private prison contractor to lease out extra beds. Reports the Killeen Daily Herald (Dec. 29):

County Judge John Firth said recommendations made by TCJS staff are a 152-bed facility with the ability to expand to 500 beds over the next 20 years.

"That's way below what the commissioners and sheriff would be needing," Firth said.

As a result, the court will send a letter to TCJS Executive Director Adan Munoz Jr. to counter the staff's recommendations.

"We disagree with the staff recommendation and will include a feasibility study that was done two years ago that said 250 beds with an expansion capability of up to 500 beds over the next 20-year period," Firth said.

"There's a break in there where it doesn't become cost-effective to spend the amount of money on a 197-bed facility based on in 20 years what we would spend sending them out versus what we will spend, and that 197 is not going to cover us for 20 years," Commissioner Elizabeth Taylor said.

Commissioner Jack Wall said if the county decides on a private jail facility, "the secret number is 300.

That's the number of beds we have to have."

Firth will send a letter to Munoz with the county's recommendation of a minimum 250-bed facility that can expand up to 500 beds.

Counties overbuilding their jails to provide extra space for private vendors have sometimes seen that decision come back to bite them. Cameron County now ships pretrial detainees out of county because so many beds are taken up with contract prisoners, while Gregg County at one point had to stop arresting people for all but serious felonies for the same reason. In Lubbock, commissioners overbuilt their jail hoping to fill it with contract prisoners and now taxpayers must eat the extra costs. Exacerbating the situation, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has stopped leasing beds from county jails because of its own successful efforts to keep the state prison population under control. And with immigration arrests down as a result of the flagging economy, demand for federal detention beds seems likely to decline in the near future.

As of December 1, Coryell County housed 75 prisoners in a facility designed for 92 - that's a far cry from the 250-300 beds commissioners want to build. The county would do well to scale back their jail building ambitions to focus exclusively on their own citizens' needs, not the needs of some prospective private vendor.

DRC Net dishes Texas drug war corruption, with a side helping of Grits

I've mentioned approvingly how the weekly Drug War Chronicle performs the mitzvah of cataloguing stories of drug-war-related law enforcement corruption across the country. I might turn supplementing their Texas stories into a regular feature. They always seem to have some Texas cases, and there always seem to be a few more lying around Grits' cutting room floor that together add up to a real post.

Most officers never engage in severe misconduct or corruption, but when they do it's a serious breach of public trust. Gathering anecdotes on the blog has been a useful tool for me to identify recurring problems with drug task forces and snitching. Over time patterns arise - like incidents where officers steal confidential informant payments - that you don't always see looking at official reports from open records requests. Similarly, watching DRC Net's compilation every week, the same types of episodes crop up again and again.

This week's installment mentions two Texas cases - one an undercover narc stealing from the confidential informant fund, the other two Border Patrol agents who tried to cover up after shooting a drug dealer in the ass. Reported DRC Net:

In Gatesville, Texas, a Coryell County Sheriff's Deputy who serves as an undercover investigator was placed on paid leave February 22 after being accused of stealing money intended for use in drug buys by the Narcotics Division, KCEN-TV reported. Senior Deputy Gary Medford, a 21-year veteran, is being investigated by the Texas Rangers. Although the investigation began early last month, it was not made public until last week.

In the other Texas case, the story was not about cash-or-drug related corruption but the deeply entrenched blue wall of silence, or whatever that ugly, greenish color would be for the Border Patrol:

In El Paso, Texas, two Border Patrol agents who shot a fleeing drug courier in the buttocks were found guilty March 9 of assault, weapons crimes, tampering with evidence, and deprivation of civil rights. Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean face at least 10 years in federal prison for shooting Osvaldo Andrade Davila, a Mexican citizen, as he fled back across the border when they interrupted his effort to carry a package of drugs into the US. Ramos and Compean also conspired to cover up the shooting by removing spent shell casings from the scene. The pair turned down a plea bargain for 18-month sentences. They have been suspended with pay since the February 2005 incident, and Border Patrol officials said they will now consider firing them.

It's really a great service for the Drug War Chronicle to keep track of these anecdotal examples. Last week DRCNet covered the Troup, TX police department's closure for alleged distribution of dope from the evidence locker.

But they missed a couple of other recent Texas cases. (Who can keep up with them all? I missed the ones they wrote about.) For example, prison guard Curtis Hinson from the Stiles unit in Beaumont was caught near the border last month after a brief highway chase with 21 pounds of marijuana stuffed into the spare tire of his truck. He claims he was set up.

And here's a doozy: In Odessa, Texas, guards at the Ector county jail were allegedly dealing drugs to their obviously captive audience. A local TV-news station reported that:

Three jailers have been arrested and are accused of selling drugs and other contraband to inmates in an Odessa detention center.

Six witnesses, including inmates, assisted authorities in a sting that led to the February arrests of 32-year-old Anthony Moya, 31-year-old Fernando Nieto and 30-year-old David G. Anaya.

Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson fired the three after the arrests.

The former Ector County Detention Center jailers are accused of taking contraband to inmates -- including cocaine, marijuana, tobacco and a cell phone.

Prosecutors say in return, the jailers received money and weapons from people the inmates knew outside the jail.

Jailers vending coke, pot, cigarettes and cell phones to inmates - that's what qualifies as room service in the county jail, I guess. I'm reminded of a Grits commenter who once queried, if we can't keep drugs out of prisons and jails, what makes anyone think we can keep them out of schools? It's a good question.

Anyway, that's DRC Net's account of drug war corruption in Texas for the week, with a helping of Grits on the side.