Texas Prison Bid'ness

Texas CapitolThe 81st Texas Legislature is in session under the dome in Austin.  One of the topics on the table will be private prison oversight.  We have already posted that State Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) filed legislation to address one aspect of private county jail contracts earlier this year.

The state senate criminal justice committee provided direction when it released its Interim Charge recommendations last year in anticipation of the legislative session.  In the committee's interim report, several recommendations are offered for private prison oversight. Those suggestions include:

• The Commission on Jail Standards review current standards for private vendors housing out-of-state inmates and audit all facilities providing this service.
• Any vendors not meeting the requirements should be given a specified period of time to address any problems.  If concerns are not addressed, contracts should be canceled and inmates should be moved.
• All vendors should be required to disclose any information supporting terminated contracts as a result of the vendor not fulfilling their obligations in a Requst for Proposal.  The vendor must also disclose how they have addressed past concerns.

In addition, State Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-El Paso) asked the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for specific information regarding private prisons.  Hinojosa requested:

• That TDC provide a 3-year numerical comparison between the agency's secure correctional facilities and its secure contracted facilities to include te following stastics: inmate deaths, suicide attempts, allegations and confirmation of abuse, physical and sexual assaults (among both inmates and staff), and riots; and
• A request that factors such as a vendor's history of lawsuits, inmate or employee deaths, judgments, and other indicators of ethical and economic liability be included as performance indicatoars in TDCJ's request for proposal (RFP) review process.

No word yet on whether TDCJ has complied with the senator's request, but we sure are anxious to learn of any responses.

We will keep y'all posted on any further developments at the legislature with the interim charge recommendations or Hinjosa's requests.