DALLAS — With the second largest prison population in the nation, Texas is looking to ease the strain on its facilities through an upcoming bond election as state officials seek new ways to reduce traditional incarceration. “It’s always been safer politically to build the next prison rather than stop and see whether that’s really the smartest thing to do,” Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, told lawmakers in the last legislative session. “But we’re at a point where I don’t think we can afford to do that anymore.”Facing a projected shortfall of 17,000 prison beds over the next five years, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice this year recommended adding 4,000 beds at a cost of nearly $400 million. In seeking alternatives, lawmakers consulted with the Council of State Governments Justice Center, a partner of the Public Safety Performance Project.Based on research from the council, lawmakers developed a plan to reduce the need for beds by dealing with repeat offenders. Two-thirds of prison admissions are people whose parole or probation was revoked, according to state research. Out of 23,202 probationers, 54% returned to prison in 2006 were sent back for technical violations of their releases.The new plan, approved by the Legislature in late May, authorizes $200 million in treatment and diversion programs. It also shortens probation for some property and drug offenders from 10 to 5 years. That allows tighter supervision during the earlier years, when studies show that offenders are mostly likely to commit new crimes.While the legislation authorizes funding for three of the eight prisons originally requested, the dollars are linked to other efforts to reduce the inmate population.“Perhaps one of the biggest public misconceptions was that TDCJ was seeking to address capacity issues solely by requesting funding for new prison construction,” said agency spokeswoman Michelle Lyons. “In reality, the bulk of our funding requests were for expanding initiatives aimed at managing the projected population requirements — substance abuse treatment for probationers, in-prison substance abuse treatment, increased funding for the local community supervision and corrections departments, mental health funding, and additional halfway house beds.”On Nov. 6, voters will decide whether the TDCJ gets $273 million for the three prisons and rehabilitation of existing facilities. The funding is part of a $1 billion authorization for the Texas Public Finance Authority to issue bonds for various state agencies.The bond issue comes in the form of a proposed constitutional amendment that raises the cap on TPFA facilities debt from $850 million to $1 billion.Before voters decide on that issue, the authority plans to include $50 million for the TDCJ in an upcoming $100 million bond sale that is expected to win approval from the Texas Bond Review Board this week. The other $50 million will go toward non-prison related facilities in the state.The TDCJ will use $10 million of the bond money for repairs to its Galveston hospital and the other $40 million is for major repair projects throughout the state. The hospital takes up a floor on the John Sealy Hospital that is served by the University of Texas Medical Branch. Repairs on other facilities include roofing projects, water and wastewater repairs, and security and safety enhancements.In addition to the bond money, lawmakers provided funding for the conversion of two Texas Youth Commission facilities into adult prisons, Lyons said.“TDCJ was fortunate in that lawmakers not only approved our requests for funding for these programs, but funded them in amounts that exceeded our requests,” she said. “For example, while we requested funding for 150 additional halfway house beds for parolees, we were allocated funding for an additional 300 halfway house beds. These 300 beds will allow for 1,200 additional placements annually, and will relieve some of the prison system’s population pressures.”With an annual budget of $2.5 billion, the department operates 106 correctional facilities statewide, including prisons, state jails, and substance abuse felony punishment facilities. Texas also contracts with privately operated jails for inmate housing.Even after adding 100,000 beds since the 1980s, the prisons are expected to fall 17,000 beds short of capacity in five years. Projected growth in inmates outpaces the population growth in a state that already has the nation’s second highest rate of incarceration at 691 prisoners per 100,000.In the 1990s, Texas sold more than $1.5 billion of bonds to finance the largest prison building binge in its history. New, 2,250-bed maximum-security units were built in Abilene, Beeville, and Jefferson County, with 1,000-bed medium-security sites in Childress, Freestone, and Frio counties. The prisons have also become major industrial centers. In addition to license plates, prison industries produce stainless steel, retreaded tires, garments, mattresses, cardboard boxes, woodwork, shoes, refinished furniture, highway signs, soap, and wax. The prison system also operated a print shop, textile mills, and a bus-repair shop.To educate prisoners, the TDCJ operates its own certified school district.In addition to state prisons, Texas has seen rapid growth in federal and private prisons, according to the nonprofit Urban Institute. Between 1979 and 2000, Texas exceeded all other states in prison growth with 137 new prisons representing a 706% increase.“Texas is in a league of its own,” said Jeremy Travis, co-author with Sarah Lawrence of a 2004 Urban Institute study called “The New Landscape of Imprisonment: Mapping America’s Prison Expansion.”“Texas added the most prisons, saw the largest percentage increase in its network of prisons, entered the new century with the largest number of prisons, had the biggest growth in counties that are home to at least one prison, and had the most counties increasing their prison count by three or more facilities,” Lawrence said.Bricks and mortar solved only part of the problem in Texas’ rising inmate population as the agency struggled to keep the facilities staffed. Texas ranks 47th in compensation for correctional officers, with starting pay at $23,040 for a job that is often fraught with danger.While the TDCJ works to relieve overcrowding at the adult facilities, the Texas Youth Commission that handles offenders under the age of 18 is reeling from a scandal over widespread abuse of inmates and other problems. A special task force recently called for sweeping changes in the TYC system, saying the commission persisted in using a failed approach to juvenile justice. The task force said youth incarceration rates were too high, leading to too many ending up in adult prison.The task force reported that the “tough love” policies that led to rapid expansion of the inmate populations under then-Gov. George W. Bush had failed.Last week, two advocacy groups filed suit to stop the TYC from using pepper spray to subdue unruly juvenile prisoners before other forms of restraint.The suit was filed on behalf of three 15-year-old incarcerated youths with mental disabilities who said they were sprayed. TYC officials last month issued a directive allowing the use of pepper spray before other forceful restraints, arguing that it would reduce injuries to staff and inmates and lower workers’ compensation claims. A hearing on the lawsuit is set for Oct. 2.
