Texas Prison Bid'ness

State Represenative, Kevin Bailey (D-Houston), requested an Attorney General (AG) opinion on whether it is legal for a sheriff to accept a fee for work with a private prison company, according to the Waco Tribune ("Texas House member asks state to rule on whether sheriff's pay from work with private detention company is legal," September 21).

Bailey currently chairs the House Committee on Urban Affairs. His AG requests comes after several private contract scandals surfaced. Over the last year, sheriffs in Bexar County and McLennan County have come under scrutiny.

McLennan County officials have rationalized why they believe the payments from private contractors are acceptable. According to an attorney that represents McLennan County, Sheriff Lynch receives a $12,000 salary supplement -- paid to the county from CivicGenics -- for administrative services associated with leasing the county's downtown jail to the private prison company.

Bailey's request asks for certain clarifications in current law.

“Although the sheriff may not actually be a shareholder of the private organization and hold a shareholder’s interest in the private organization, there can be no doubt that the sheriff would have a ‘financial interest’ in the private organizations’ contract with the county if the sheriff receives a sizable administrative fee after approving of the contract if the contract includes such an administrative fee to the sheriff,” Bailey wrote in his letter. “Thus, such an arrangement would violate the spirit and intent, if not the language of the law.”

There are over 256 counties in Texas. Each elects a sheriff that runs and manages the county jail. There is extremely limited oversight these sheriff's actions and their management of the jail. So, further clarification by the AG would be helpful. We will keep you posted on the AG's opinion.

For related coverage see the following posts:

• Private Commissary Contracts Lead to Corruption in Bexar County
  
  

• Bexar County Sheriff Indicted
  
  

• Grits Covers Jail Commissary Contract Scandal
  
  

• Sheriff’s Confidant Pleads Guilty in Bexar County/Premier Management Scandal
  
  

• Potter County Sheriff Bribed by Jail Commissary Manager

Via Grits for Breakfast, The Associated Press's Andrea Jackson has an excellent expose ("Idaho's out-of-state prison population grows," September 21) on the state of Idaho's "Virtual Prison Project," the practice of sending its inmates to out-of-state private prisons, including a number here in Texas. The results of sending prisoners thousands of miles away from family members, support networks, and attorneys has been, predictably, not good:

Drashner, convicted of repeat drunken driving, is one of three Idaho inmates who have died in the custody of private lockups in other states since March 2007. He was the first this year.

On Aug. 18, Twin Falls native Randall McCullough, 37, was found dead in his cell at the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas. McCullough was serving time for robbery and authorities believe he committed suicide.

State Department of Correction officials say he left a note, although autopsy results.

His family says he shouldn't have been in Texas at all.

Two of the three deaths in out-of-state private prisons were suicides occuring in GEO Group facilities in Texas. Scot Noble Payne died tragically in the GEO Group's Dickens County Correctional Center after complaining of squalid conditions at the facility. A subsequent report from the Idaho Department of Correction's Health Director called the prison the worst facility he'd ever seen. This summer, Randall McCullough took his own life after spending more than a year in solitary confinement at the Bill Clayton Detention Centerin Littlefield, Texas after a fight in which no criminal charges were filed. According to the story, conditions at Bill Clayton are fairly appalling:

During recent visits to the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas — where about 371 Idaho inmates are now held — state inspectors found there wasn't a legal aid staffer to give inmates access to courts, as required by the state contract. Virtual Prison monitors also agreed with Aragon's assessment of the facility.

"No programs are offered at the facility," a state official wrote in a recently redacted Idaho Virtual Prison report obtained by the Times-News. "Most jobs have to do with keeping the facility clean and appear to be less meaningful. This creates a shortage of productive time with the inmates.

"Overall, recreational activities are very sparse within the facility — Informal attempts have been made to encourage the facility to increase offender activities that would in the long run ease some of the boredom that IDOC inmates are experiencing," according to a Virtual Prison report.

The prison has since made improvements, the state said.

Only one inmate case manager worked at Bill Clayton during a recent state visit, but the facility did increase recreation time and implemented in-cell hobby craft programs, Virtual Prison reports show. Other inmate complaints center around the way they the were transported out of state.

Clearly, Idaho is making a mistake in sending prisoners to private prisons out-of-state. The state has options, including investing in drug treatment programs and alternatives to incarceration programs that might have a better success rate than sending folks to lock-ups across the country. As Kathleen reported last year here at Texas Prison Bid'ness, an enormous amount of Idaho's prison population is addicted to drugs or alcohol:

A more rational system would actually look first at whether or not these folks need to be incarcerated, and especially how many of them would benefit from drug treatment in the community. Both Montana and Idaho are stuffing their prisons with folks who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Idaho's Understanding Growth report from 2006 explained that over 85% of their offenders have substance abuse issues. Montana's in similar boat: they reported last fall that 93% of folks in pre-release have a substance abuse problem. Investments in treatment will get us more of the results we want, and stop the relentless swing of the "revolving door" on state prisons. But instead we get higher prison budgets and less money for drug treatment in and out of prison.

In addition to being poor policy on the part of Idaho's state lawmakers, it's also bewildering that the state of Texas, which has its share of private prison problems, would allow an out-of-state entity to continue to ship prisoners into the state. This especially true when at Texas agency, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, is charged with overseeing these facilities. It may be time for state lawmakers to revisit this policy. In the words of Randall McCullough's sister:

"Idaho should step up to the plate and bring their prisoners home," said his sister, Laurie Williams.

Our pal Scott at Grits for Breakfast recently discussed the Potter County jail commissary contract scandal ("Commissary vendor pleads guilty to organized crime charges," September 12).

This latest development emphasizes that as elected officials, Sheriffs, are quite susceptible to corruption and bribery. This is particularly troubling since Sheriffs are the public officials that manage jails and contribute a great deal to local criminal justice policies.

Sheriffs directly impact who comes into their jails and how long they stay. As a result, the fact several sheriffs including those in Bexar and Potter county are known to have taken bribes from private contractors is disgusting.

The Magic Valley Times-News' Andrea Jackson had an important piece last week ("Inmate died in solitary confinement," August 28th) on the death of Idaho inmate Randall McCullough at GEO Group's Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas. Unfortunately, the article does not appear to be online anymore, but this is an excerpt:

An Idaho prison inmate held at a private facility in Texas through the state's Virtual Prison Program was in solitary confinement for more than a year when he apparently killed himself, authorities have confirmed.

Idaho Department of Correction is still investigating the cause and manner of death for the inmate, Randall McCullough, 37, who was found unresponsive Aug. 18 in his cell, which measured 7.5 feet, by 12 feet, by 8 feet, said Idaho Department of Correction Spokesman Jeff Ray.

McCullough had been segregated from other inmates since Dec. 13, 2007, after he allegedly assaulted a staff member at the Bill Clayton Detention Center run by Geo Group Inc., said Ray.

He apparently wasn't criminally charged for that alleged assault in Texas. "It's our understanding that the prosecutor in Texas had not made a decision on whether or not to file charges," said Ray. "The staff assault occurred in Texas and would be considered a Texas crime. IDOC would not have a direct connection to it."

If GEO is dealing with potential crimes committed within their prisons by not referring them to the criminal justice system and instead simply remanding prisoners to solitary confinement, Idaho and other clients should ask major concerns about GEO Group operations. Of course, Idaho shouldn't need any more evidence that sending prisoners to GEO's Texas prisons is a bad idea.

Read more about the latest tragedy in a Texas GEO Group prison here.

This story should be added to the always growing list of private prison scandals, Mineral Wells Index ("Teen Caught with pot near prison" August 25, 2008):

A 14-year-old male was taken into custody late Thursday night near the Corrections Corporation of America facility after they were notified of a “suspicious person” in the 700 block of Heintzelman Road.

According to police reports the youth attempted to send two footballs stuffed with marijuana and cell phones.

Corrections Corporation of America has launched The CCA 360.com a website for the corporation to respond to critics. You'd think that a leading corporation in a billion dollar industry such as private prisons would be able to come up with something more catchy than "The CCA 360" for a website, but apparently not. The website is a response to ongoing criticism of the private prison industry generally and CCA's operations more specifically. According to a front-page post by CEO John Ferguson:

For people seeking the unfiltered, full 360-degree view of CCA, we have created this Web site - TheCCA360.com. This site provides greater detail about news coverage of CCA, including the publicized tragic death of an inmate in a CCA facility, and viewpoints we’ve shared with our customers and employees.

The website apparently was developted to take on criticism of the company's operations by non-governmental organizations and activists though Texas Prison Bid'ness has not yet made the company's hit-list! Our friend Alex Friedmann, the former CCA prisoner whose efforts seem to have de-railed the federal judicial nomination of former CCA chief counsel Gus Puryear has. The website also addresses critics of CCA's T. Don Hutto family detention center claiming, as ICE has in the past, that improvements at Hutto had nothing to do with public protests, a litigation settlement, or widespread media scrutiny.

As soon as CCA was selected to assist ICE with this pressing need, ICE and CCA began working together to renovate the facility to meet the needs of its new population. While extensive media coverage has implied that reforms were the result of litigation, ICE maintained a deliberate and systematic program for the development of the Hutto facility throughout the period of the contract. That contract and that development process are still ongoing.

I'm not sure that I believe that, seeing as none of the improvements to Hutto were apparently made before the facility was condemned in a series of protests and news articles starting in December 2006. Regardless, this new CCA website should give private prison opponents an interesting look into the company's public relations machine.

Just over a week after McLennan County voted not to privatize their existing jail and only two days after the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas asked for an investigation into suspicious dealings between the county and private prison company CEC/CiviGenics,
the McLennan County Commissioners Court has voted to authorize a new
871-bed jail to be operated by CEC/CiviGenics. According to the Waco Trib blog,

A split McLennan County commissioners court voted Wednesday to renew its contract with Community Education Centers of New Jersey to operate the downtown McLennan County Detention Center and authorized CEC to finance, build and operate a new 871-bed jail adjacent to the one on State Highway 6.

With Commissioners Lester Gibson and Joe Mashek voting against the proposal, County Judge Jim Lewis and Commissioners Ray Meadows and Wendall Crunk voted during a budget work session Wednesday to allow the private company to build the new jail at no cost to the taxpayers.

Commissioners recessed their regular Tuesday morning meeting instead of adjourning it, which allowed them to take action at Wednesday’s session.

The fact that this decision was reached in a special session, outside the watchful eye of the law enforcement officers that have opposed privatization, against the advice of the local paper, and with a split Commission will not make this decision any more popular. I have a feeling this isn't the last we've hear on the McLennan County private jail fight.

Are tents catching on as the latest fad in private prison construction in Texas?

It's bTent Cityeen widely reported that Management and Training Corporation's Willacy Detention Center in Raymondville is home to 2,000 detainees contracted from Immigration and Customs Enforcement living in windowless Kevlar tent-like structures. The facility has become known as "Tent City." Another 1,000 detainees reside at the WDC in brick-and-mortar buildings the company calls "firm structures." The facility's tents had to be evacuated in the run-up to Hurricane Dolly last month.

Now Sierra Blancacomes word out of west Texas that Emerald Corrections is constructing a tent-like addition to its Hudspeth County Regional Correctional Center in Sierra Blanca. The Hudspeth facility was built as a U.S. Marshal's facility, and drew controversy over its financing mechanism, and is most likely housing immigrants being criminally prosecuted for immigration-related crimes.

I first heard that the facility was expanding from Sierra Blanca environmental and social justice actiSierra Blancavist Bill Addington, and it's now confirmed in pictures from Border Ambassador and frequent private prison protestor Jay Johnson-Castro. These structures look fairly similar to the Raymondville facility, though I've heard they may be constructed out of a foam-like structure. The facility may have to worry about failing federal reviews, as many federally-contracted private prisons have in the past several years, as reported by the Texas Observer.

It's certainly a disturbing trend in private prison development. We'll keep you posted.

We've received a steady stream of reader tips about unsafe conditions at Corrections Corporation of America's Mineral Wells' prison, a TDCJ-contracted facility. The latest comes from a reader who reports:

There was a major prison riot in Mineral Wells on 07-23-2008 involving over 50 inmates. CCA was unable to handle the situation as usual and the inmates where ship back to TDCJ.

Racial tensions were the motive for the riot. The white offenders ended up at the Byrd Unit in Huntsville and the black offenders ended up at the Goree Unit in Huntsville, after the riot.

These inmates all had low custody and trustee custody levels being G1-G2. This shows again, CCA is unable to even handle minimum custody offenders.

We're unable to verify these claims at the moment, but have submitted an Open Records Request to determine what exactly is going on at Mineral Wells. As some readers may remember, Mineral Wells was home to a major disputurbance last summer and an escape in May 2007, and drew reader concerns over safety after metal coverings were placed over dorm windows in March. We'll keep you posted on developments from Mineral Wells and all CCA prisons.

The Austin Chronicle discusses the origins of Texas' Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facilities (SAFPF) in it's latest edition. The article provides an interesting overview of Texas' treatment prisons which is particularly important given the current focus on prison alternatives. Despite, the current dialogue around diversion, Texas still expanded prison capacity in recent years through SAFPF and other in prison treatment programs.

According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), SAFPF are an intensive six-month therapeutic community program (nine-month program for offenders with special needs) for offenders who are sentenced by a judge as a condition of community supervision or as a modification of parole/community supervision.

The Senate Criminal Justice committee will meet this fall to discuss the legislative appropriations to in prison treatment programs administered in SAFPF lock ups. During 2007 the Legislature appropriated $234 million to TDCJ as a part of a prison expansion initiative. The state proposes to increase SAFPF funding by $63.1 million during 2008-09. Vendors like the Chicago based Gateway Foundation manage lucrative contracts with TDCJ to run SAFPF programs.

Currently, TDCJ contracts with Gateway to run the Ellen Halbert Unit in Burnet County. As with many private prison contracts there are reports of mismanagement and abuse at the Halbert Unit. As a result the Senate Criminal Justice committee will to discuss the lockups and the monies allocated to them. The Chronicle states that SAFPF prisoners collected testimonies to disclose their experiences in the correctional facilities. According to the testimonies of former prisoners:

the SAFPF program – in theory a substance-abuse treatment alternative to hard prison time – instead relies heavily on dubious forms of psychological and physical abuse. Several inmates describe a group punishment known as "tighthouse," during which inmates are forced to sit upright in plastic chairs, unmoving and silent, for as long as 16 hours a day and for weeks to months on end – a "mind-crushing" form of cruelty that has resulted in mental breakdowns and suicide attempts.

The September hearing should provide an interesting overview of the current state of SAFPF lock ups and other in prison treatment programs. We'll be sure to keep you posted!