February 2008

Grits for Breakfast has been doing some excellent reporting on a proposed private county jail and detention center in Grayson County, in the far northeast part of Texas. County Judge Drue Bynum has been promoting the prison scheme as a way tax-payers can avoid having to foot the bill for a new jail.

Although the articles don't specifically mention it, I'm assuming that the facility would be financed using a Public Facilities Corporation, an increasingly common way of financing private prison proposals. PFCs are quasi-governmental agencies that can float bonds for "revenue-generating" projects without public approval. How does a jail generate revenue? By importing prisoners from other jurisdictions, most federal detainees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the U.S. Marshals or another state, possibly Idaho?

Of course, the down-side of these financing schemes is that if the prisoners fail to materialize, or the private prison operator poorly performs (remember Dickens County?) and the contracting agency pulls its prisoners, the county is left with millions of dollars in prison debt. In Willacy County, every resident caries a staggering $8,700 in debt for the county's multiple private detention centers financed this way.

A close look at Considering a Private Jail, Prison or Detention Center? might be a good idea for public officials and residents in Grayson County.

An opportunity has arisen to bring the issue of the families detained at the T. Don Hutto to the caucuses coming up on March 4th. Here's how it works. On March 4th, after the polls close, people will gather at their respective precincts for caucuses. Anyone who attends the caucus can introduce resolutions and platform issues. Once a resolution is submitted, those who attend will debate the proposed resolution as well as vote. If the item is approved, it will be passed on to the County platform committee, which will discuss incorporating the proposal at the County level. At the County level, if approved, it will be forwarded on up to the State level.

More on the process is available at the blogs Grits for Breakfast (check out Grits for other prison-related resolutions) and Burnt Orange Report. Anyone can introduce a resolution at the caucuses, but it helps tremendously for the resolutions to be submitted in many precincts around the state. Below is a draft resolution for the Democratic caucuses that can be easily adjusted for the Republican caucuses by changing the party name.

Resolution re: Alternatives to Detention of Immigrant and Asylum-seeking Children

WHEREAS, The Texas portion of the border between the United States and Mexico comprises more than half of the nearly 2,000-mile boundary between the two countries; as a result of this proximity, the State of Texas is uniquely aware of the importance of border protection to the security of the nation as a whole and sensitive to the impact of immigration on the economic and social well-being of both countries; and

Due to the election cycle, we stand to learn a great deal about public officials and their relationships to private prison companies. A prime example are the recent reports found in the Waco Tribune that disclose private prison corporation CiviGenics paid $12,000 a year to McLennan County Sheriff Larry Lynch.

... Lynch’s salary being boosted by an extra $12,000 a year and paid by CiviGenics, a private detention company that has been leasing the downtown county jail since before Lynch became sheriff.

In the article, Lynch states that the CiviGenics payments go back ten years before he became Sheriff, netting Lynch and his predecessor a total of $120,000. According to the Sheriff, the stipend is a feature of the contract authorized by the McClennan County Commissioners Court.

This story is the latest example of how private prison contractors acquire influence with public officials at all levels of government using money and other strategies. According to the article, the county has sent 100 prisoners to CiviGenics for the past six months despite 250 beds being available downtown in recent weeks.

We will continue to post information regarding the relationship of public officials to private prison companies. It is more than likely that these details will continue to surface over the next few months.

A new report by Texans for Public Justice and Grassroots Leadership on private prison oversight, effectiveness, and influence in Texas shows a some interesting trends. The full report is available online.

Amongst the findings:

Private Prison Lobbying Expenditures Increase in Wake of Scandal. The report shows that private prison corporations with state prison or youth detention contracts spent up to $1.1 million on lobbying in Texas in 2007, three times the amount from the previous legislative session. The GEO Group, in particular, increased its lobbying expenditures after the Coke County scandal forced the state to close the company's youth lock-up. We reported on this back in October when Senator John Whitmire, chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee complained that GEO had sent in its lobbyists after the scandal focused scrutiny on the company.